Emanuel
super member
Reged: 08/30/09
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Planetary eyepieces
#5265783 - 06/11/12 07:00 AM
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Hey good people of the stars  !
Here's a question:
Ive just bought a new scope, a Williams Optics FLT 132mm, and im looking for a new pair of eyepieces for planetary view.
I have a 35mm Panoptic, a 31 mm Axiom, a 20 mm Nagler, a 12 mm Nagler, and a 7 mm Nagler, and i need high magnification eyepiece.
What should i buy? 
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Darenwh
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/11/06
Loc: Covington, GA
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5265800 - 06/11/12 07:28 AM
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ES 82 8.8mm and a GSO 2" 2x barlow. Excellent eyepiece and when it and your existing eyepieces are used with the barlow (an excellent one by the way) you will have the equivalent of a 6mm, 4.4mm, and 3.5mm. This should have you setup for planetary. If you have a tracking mount for the scope then you could substitute a quality ortho but I'm not a fan of having really tight eye relief so I would just go with that set.
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Bart
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/28/06
Loc: Somewhere near Charlottesville...
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Darenwh]
#5265829 - 06/11/12 08:01 AM
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Well, if it's planetary, I'd buy University Optics Abbe Orthoscopics.
Edited by Bart (06/11/12 09:09 AM)
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Sarkikos
Postmaster
Reged: 12/18/07
Loc: Suburban Maryland, USA
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5265834 - 06/11/12 08:04 AM
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Recently I've had sharp and contrasty views of Saturn and Mars through my ES 82 deg 4.7mm. This is in my 10" f/4.8 Dob.
Mike
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hottr6
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/28/09
Loc: 7,500', Magdalena Mtns, NM
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Bart]
#5265842 - 06/11/12 08:13 AM
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Quote:
Well, if it's planetary, I'd buy <a href="" target="_blank">University Optics Abbe Orthoscopics.</a>
I concur...... with any good Orthoscopic eyepiece.
If, however, eye relief or finances are an issue, the TMB Planetaries are easy to use and excellent value for money.
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Sarkikos
Postmaster
Reged: 12/18/07
Loc: Suburban Maryland, USA
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: hottr6]
#5265955 - 06/11/12 09:35 AM
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BGOs if you can get them, UO VTs if you can't. ZAO IIs if you can afford them.
I liked the view through my ES 82 14mm much better than my TMB Planetary 4mm. Brighter, sharper, more contrasty, wider FOV ... better.
Mike
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BillP
Postmaster
Reged: 11/26/06
Loc: Vienna, VA
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5265956 - 06/11/12 09:36 AM
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Pentax 5mm XW (70 deg AFOV) - excellent comfort and excellent performance
Pentax 5.1mm XO (44 deg AFOV) - best planetary made still in production
A 5mm eyepiece will get you 184x with a 0.7mm exit pupil which is an exit pupil I find about optimum for planetary at the high end. However, a 4mm (230x) eyepiece should also show quite well although the contrast will be less stark given the now dimmer 0.57mm exit pupil. I would go with the 5mm however and just Barlow your exiting 7mm should you want the occassional extreme mags.
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Damo636
sage
Reged: 08/16/11
Loc: Ireland
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: BillP]
#5266185 - 06/11/12 12:08 PM
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+1 for the XW. I use the 7mm along with a 6mm Delos and they are both superb. I personally don't enjoy using orthos at the high end , too little eye relief and thus too uncomfortable for extended use.
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Emanuel
super member
Reged: 08/30/09
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: BillP]
#5266211 - 06/11/12 12:19 PM
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Hey guys, thanks for helping.
I forgot to mention that i also own a 2,8X Klee Barlow and a 5X Televue Barlow . Anyway , i prefer to look through the eyepiece without the Barlow, because when you add one optical equipment on top of other, the final image will suffer.
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*skyguy*
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/31/08
Loc: Western New York
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5266251 - 06/11/12 12:39 PM
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The best high-power planetary eyepieces I've ever used ... at a reasonable price ... are the old smooth-sided Tele-Vue Japanese Circle NJ Plossls. They show more contrast then my University Abbe Orthoscopics. Unfortunately, you have to live with a narrow FOV and short eye relief, but the views are worth it.
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Emanuel
super member
Reged: 08/30/09
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: *skyguy*]
#5266307 - 06/11/12 01:10 PM
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Yeah, i know that with this kind of eyepieces, the FOV gets really narrowed, not very comfortable to look at.
Maybe i will go to one with a good FOV, dont know exactly wich one!
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SteveG
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/27/06
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5266330 - 06/11/12 01:26 PM
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Is your mount driven?
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Sarkikos
Postmaster
Reged: 12/18/07
Loc: Suburban Maryland, USA
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: *skyguy*]
#5266408 - 06/11/12 02:13 PM
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*skyguy*,
Quote:
The best high-power planetary eyepieces I've ever used ... at a reasonable price ... are the old smooth-sided Tele-Vue Japanese Circle NJ Plossls. They show more contrast then my University Abbe Orthoscopics. Unfortunately, you have to live with a narrow FOV and short eye relief, but the views are worth it.
I have a couple TV Plossl 7.4mm smoothsides waiting for their first light in my binoviewer. One is Circle NJ, one is Circle R. I'm not sure if that makes any difference.
Mike
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JIMZ7
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/22/05
Loc: S.E.Michigan near DTW
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Sarkikos]
#5266496 - 06/11/12 02:56 PM
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The circle(R) Televue 10.5mm Plossl has to be up there in planetary contrast with the medium power range on a 1000mm fl. refractor.
Jim 
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hottr6
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/28/09
Loc: 7,500', Magdalena Mtns, NM
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: JIMZ7]
#5266511 - 06/11/12 03:04 PM
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Quote:
The circle(R) Televue 10.5mm Plossl has to be up there in planetary contrast with the medium power range on a 1000mm fl. refractor.
Jim,
If we are talking Plossls for planetary, you owe it to yourself to look through the 10mm Silvertop. Seeing that you are now enjoying the 26mm Silvertop, my guess is you may find yourself desiring the 10mm at any cost. 
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GeneT
Ely Kid
Reged: 11/07/08
Loc: South Texas
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5266892 - 06/11/12 06:34 PM
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You have a good set. You could add a 4mm Delos. I find the Delos an excellent Planetary eyepiece.
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Eddgie
Postmaster
Reged: 02/01/06
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5267100 - 06/11/12 09:18 PM
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Quote:
I forgot to mention that i also own a 2,8X Klee Barlow and a 5X Televue Barlow . Anyway , i prefer to look through the eyepiece without the Barlow, because when you add one optical equipment on top of other, the final image will suffer.
Not with good quality modern Barlows. This is a myth from the past.
A good quality modern barlow will not degrade the image in way.
As for eyepeices to use on planets, I would suggest a good quality Plossl or Ortho. You can spend 10 times as much and not see a meaningful differce than you will get from either of these.
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Loc: Frederick, MD
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Eddgie]
#5267119 - 06/11/12 09:28 PM
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TV 3-6mm Nagler Zoom
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HCR32
sage
Reged: 08/27/10
Loc: Australia
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: Emanuel]
#5267399 - 06/12/12 01:08 AM
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If your mount has tracking I would suggest
Pentax XO 5mm
UO orthos. Cheap and effective.
or
if you are the type of person that wont settle for nothing but the best.... save your money and get TMB SMC or ZAO's.
O almost forgot if your going to use a diagonal AP for sure. Just to make sure everything in the chain is up to scratch.
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Emanuel
super member
Reged: 08/30/09
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Re: Planetary eyepieces
[Re: SteveG]
#5267518 - 06/12/12 04:48 AM
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Is your mount driven?
Yes, its A Celestron Cgem!
I love Tele Vue eyepieces, they are awesome, but there are very good alternatives out there! 
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