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caheaton
super member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 156
Loc: SW Ohio
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Hello...I've had my XT10 out a couple of times so far. Nice scope, but the narrow FOV of my existing plossl's has left me wanting more real estate in the EP. I've already decided to get the OWL 30mm Ultra as my finder (still need to order it) and am no looking for a nice medium power EP to use as my primary viewing lens. (Some thing around a 13mm FL, which seems to offer a nice balance between FOV and dark sky and still a decently large exit pupil for faint fuzzies). After extensive research, I think I've narrowed it down to the following:
Hyperion 13mm
This one has a nice large viewing lens (which I like) and having owned a 21mm Stratus in the past (alas, I sold it...wish I had it now!) I really liked the view these offered in an F/5 refractor. The big lens made me feel as if I was looking through a picture window. I would anticipate similar performance in my F/4.7 Newtonian.
Meade UWA 14mm
This EP's greatest asset is that it offers a considerably greater FOV then the Hyperion. I've never looked through one before, though so I don't know if it's viewing lens will have as immersive a feel as the Hyperion. Another drawback is that it costs $40 more.
Both EP as I mentioned will be my general purpose viewing EP, but will also serve planetary duty barlowed.
Given these choices, which would you prefer and why?
Craig
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Philadelphia
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The Hyperion 13mm is a really great eyepiece. I've had several hyperions. They perform very nicely--the only complaint I would have is the eyepiece cup has some difficulties (i.e. coming loose) if you don't pull it up just right. I personally would take the UWA if I chose between the two. Many will say that the Meades don't do well with faster scopes, but I disagree--I use mine on an F/5 and they work beautifully.
Have you considered a Hyperion click-zoom? These eyepieces have gotten lots of "press" lately (no better way to say it). I've looked through one on an XT12, and it was quite impressive. If you are leaning towards the Hyperion, please check this eyepiece out. It's really cool!
If "real estate" is a top priority (as you stated), I would suggest the UWA. Good luck!
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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hfjacinto
Almost got me
Reged: 01/12/09
Posts: 2075
Loc: Union,NJ
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I think either would be good except the UWA will have a sharper edge.
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C9.25 ASGT 9*50 MM Finder,FT Focuser & 2" Diagonal
Meade LXD 75 6 Inch SNT w 9*50 MM Finder
5,6,9,14.5 MM Zhummel Planetary EPs
13,17,21,24,31,36 MM Baader Hyperion
6.7,8.8 MM Meade UWA & 11 MM Nagler T6
Planetary, OIII and Narrowband Filters
Thousand Oaks Dew Control w Kendrick Heaters
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JayinUT
I'm not Sleepy
Reged: 09/19/08
Posts: 940
Loc: Utah
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I agree with the eyepiece cup on the 5mm Hyperion that I own, but on my 13mm Stratus I have no such problem. On my XT10 I use a 21mm Stratus as my finder and a 13mm Stratus as my workhorse. For them money they are great EP's.
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Jay in Utah
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Location: Lat: 40.514N Long: -112.032W
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
— Ptolemy, c.150 AD
My Blog
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sailor70623
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/12/08
Posts: 939
Loc: Ok.
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Hyperions would be more like the SWA EPs (almost identicle to the Stratus), UWA EPs are more like Naglers. The Hyperions have a crisper clearer edge than the UWA Meade 5000 EPs, BUT the Hyperions are more like a 68-72 degree FOV while the UWA and Naglers are more like 80-82 degree FOV. Both are good EPs. Meade's 5000 UWA EPs can be bettered with the TV's Naglers, and Pentax lens, while Hyperions can be bettered by Panoptics and Pentax lens too. I find my Hyperions to be closer to a Pan then the Meade 5000 UWA EPs are to Naglers, except that you can get shorter focal lengths in the Hyperions than in the Pan's line. Oh and that Baader's Hyperions only go up to 24mm, but they do have an Aspherics line above that, that many people still refer to as Hyperions.
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Corornado PST
LB 16" & 12"
Z 10"
LX50 8"
8" CPC
ETX127
102&90mm MAKs
80mm Richfield APO
70mm refractor
ETX60
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caheaton
super member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 156
Loc: SW Ohio
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Thanks for the replies so far...still undecided. I do realize that the UWA's are wider, but having owned a 21mm Stratus in the past I was struck by just how darn comfortable they were to look through! I guess what I'm aiming for is how comfortable are the UWA's? The 21mm Stratus felt like looking out a window...it felt effortless (as opposed to the Plossls' where I feel like I have to press my eye up to them and that I'm looking through a narrow tube...best way I can describe it). The UWA's do have a wider view, but is the eyelens large enough to still give that "walked up to a window" effect. If they don't, then I just may end up owning both sets one of these days. 
Craig
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azskies
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/29/07
Posts: 1735
Loc: Prescott, AZ
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The Hyperions would be a good choice. My Orion Stratus 13mm is basicly the same eyepiece but $15. more than the Hyperions. And like posted above, the 13mm Stratus is the workhorse of my eyepieces.
Jeff
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Meade 12" Deluxe Light Bridge
Meade series 4000 QX 26mm wide angle
Meade series 5000 20mm
Orion Stratus 13mm wide angle
Meade series 4000 15mm eyepiece
Thousand Oaks UHC Filter
Meade 2X Telenegative Amplifier
Howie Glatter 1 1/4 635nm single beam laser
The Blug!
Tectron Chesire and Site Tube Collimation eyepieces
AstroZap Light Shield
Bobs Knobs primary and secondary
A cool looking eye patch!
Music is like candy, you have to throw away the rappers.
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Philadelphia
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I ultimately chose UWA over Naglers because they are more comfortable to view with. Eye positioning is a piece of cake. Have you checked out the click-zoom hyperion?
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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Lew Zealand
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 06/28/04
Posts: 796
Loc: Pasadena, CA
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The Hyperions are more comfortable to view through and are the only option of your choices if you prefer to view with glasses on (I do at lower powers).
I variously use an 18mm Meade 5000 UWA, a 17mm Hyperion, and a recently acquired 17mm Nagler T4. I can see the edge of the FOV in both the Hyp and the Nagler with glasses on but there's no option for using glasses on with the Meade UWA unless you don't mind seeing ~50° of the 80° you paid for.
The Hyperion is easier to view through than the Nagler, which can black out if you move out of the sweet spot, but to be fair it's a minor issue once you have a bit of experience using it. The Hyp has a huge sweet spot and it's hard to make it black out. All my Hyps (8, 13, 17, 24mm) are this way. The Meade UWA also has a large sweet spot though not as big as the Hyp as it has a smaller eye lens. All 3 are very well corrected to the edge, though all my commonly used scopes have significant field curvature so the edges need to be refocused to be sharp. Let me be clear about this: all 3 eps are all well corrected to the edge (the Hyp maybe a bit worse than the other 2), it's just the scopes which leave them a bit fuzzy due to field curvature (and a bit of coma in the Starblast).
I have no data for light scatter (due to polish, coatings, etc.) as I'm just now becoming more concerned/annoyed with this. The Hyperions are said to have excellent coatings for this and the Naglers are also reported to be excellent (a hallmark of Televue), but I haven't done a 3-way side by side to assess this. FYI, I recently did this comparison for another set of EPs, (four 30-40mm SWAs) and saw very noticeable differences, so I anticipate being able to do the same here. Oh, and for fun I also have an 18mm UO HD ortho which should be a good benchmark for scatter as well. Hmmm I hadn't thought of this comparo yet, now my interest is piqued!
Why do I have 3 overlapping EPs? I use the Meade UWA in the 1.25" only scopes (Starblast & 60mm refractors). The Hyp is used for guests as it's very easy to view through (and was the first I bought). And I now use the Nagler in the 2" scopes as it delivers most of the other 2 EPs combined (glasses-on, 80°AFOV). I've had a few guests view through the Nagler and they can get the whole AFOV after a few seconds but the Hyp never has that issue, just pop your eye up to the EP and see everything! 
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8" LX90, StarBlast 6", 100mm f/6 achro, 60mm f/5.8 achro, 60mm f/11.7 achro, 10x50s, 15x70s
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spaceoddity
journeyman
Reged: 07/28/09
Posts: 7
Loc: Cloudsylvania
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The orion stratus 17mm performs wonderfully in my xt10. I don't own any naglers, pentax or anything real expensive but the stratus 17 is my favorite ep, like it better than the meade 6.7 uwa which is my only other higher end ep.
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XT10i
TMB planetary 2.5, 4 mm
meade uwa 6.7 mm
meade plossl 6.4, 12.4, 32 mm
agena wa 8mm
hyperion zoom 8-24 mm
orion sirius plossl 10, 25 mm
orion stratus 17 mm
celestron plossl 32 mm
agena 2" SWA 32mm
gso 2x barlow
owl 2" ED 2x barlow
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caheaton
super member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 156
Loc: SW Ohio
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On another forum I read of a fellow who was unable to obtain focus with his Hyperions when using them as 2 inch EP's (he was using and XT8). Have any of you used these EP with the XT10? Have you observed this problem? That would bother me, as I would feel better using the EP as a 2 incher (since my finder will also be 2 incher).
Craig
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Tank
super member
Reged: 07/27/09
Posts: 139
Loc: Ontario, CANADA
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In my 8" skywatcher DOB with the 8mm hyperion i did not have enough focus travel for the 2" mode!
I hear 13mm (I hear 78 degree AFOV) & 17mm (70 degree AFOV)are the best of the hyperion line!
I did not like the eyecup! Hard to flip up and would fall off once in a while! Saying all that they are real nice eyepiece! but,
I sold my 8mm and picked up the Hyperion ZOOM!!
The Hyperion Zoom Gets  Up!
I rocks 
I found it sharper than the 8mm fixed FL hyperion the eyeguard is a twist up and works great!
The meade 5000 UWA are really good also the older 4000 UWA are very nice!
I think you will be very happy which ever way you go!
enjoy your selection and let us know how you like it!
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8" Skywatcher DOB F5.9 1200mm
Antares barlow x3
TV Plossls 10.5mm,20mm,26mm,32mm
8.8mm meade 4000 UWA
12mm Nagler T4
35mm TV Panoptic
40mm Meade 3000
Baader Hyperion ZOOM 8-24mm
SPACE A PORTRAIT OF PERFECTION!
Tony
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sailor70623
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/12/08
Posts: 939
Loc: Ok.
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The Hyperion EP needs to be the same distance from the secondary mirror no matter which way you use it. So when you take out the 2-1.25" adaptor and stick the Hyperion into the 2" focuser you have just moved the EP closer to the mirrors, IF you have enough back focus it will come into focus, BUT most Dobs don't. This means you may have to use an extension to get it into focus. I have this problem with many 1.25/2" EPs. My solution is that on my 16"LB an extension lives in the focuser, and I use 2" format on everything in this scope. My 12 and 10" scope have the same problem. My 10" Z is always used as a 1.25" focuser, the adapter (2-1.25") lives in this focuser. My 12" LB is my "travel" scope, and to keep the number of EPs I carry down, I swap the adaptor in and out on this scope. My 20mm NaglerT2 and my 30mm Owl UWA will come into focus with out an extension IF I back them out a touch and tighen the EP screw so the EPs won't fall out. You get no difference in your views with 1.25/2" eyepieces by changing the way they mount in the focuser (exception, Scopos and Aspheric EPs) It just allows you to not have to mess with an adapter in your scope at night. My 10"LB is the exception. I replaced the focuser with a low profile focuser so I could use a CCD camera on it, I HAVE TO use an extension on this scope now, even when using 1.25" EPs.
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Corornado PST
LB 16" & 12"
Z 10"
LX50 8"
8" CPC
ETX127
102&90mm MAKs
80mm Richfield APO
70mm refractor
ETX60
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sailor70623
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/12/08
Posts: 939
Loc: Ok.
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h and I'd go for the Hyperion. As far as the eyeguards not staying put, I found that it is usually because you don't have them fully seated. They have threads under them to attach a camera for through the EP AP. If you seat the eyeguard in it's slot right with a tooth pick they stay put fine. If you have pulled it off and don't reseat it, they will come off very easily. They come with a cover so you can store them with the eyeguard either up or down. So there really is no need to have to roll them down to cover them like on most EPs. They are second only to my Naglers, I don't have any Ethos. I tried the click zoom and didn't like the narrower FOV. Eye posistion is a snap on the Hyperions, and the FOV is great on a Dob. They also are wonderful on my SCTs. If you are going to get some shorter focal lenght EPs in the future, and want to keep good ER and a nice large lens for looking through, get the Hyperions. For ease and comfort in use in EPs 12mm and under they even beat the Naglers. They seem to be the best bang for the buck in quality EPs out there. I'm sure not selling mine.
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Corornado PST
LB 16" & 12"
Z 10"
LX50 8"
8" CPC
ETX127
102&90mm MAKs
80mm Richfield APO
70mm refractor
ETX60
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