7 replies to this topic

[Jarad]

At f6.9, check out the thread on the GSO widefields in this forum.

Jarad

[BluewaterObserva]

I have Siebert Optics Observatory 24mm and 36mm 80 degree eye pieces and think their pretty great, at least they hit close to the PanOptic level of performance. Not the Nagler level of performance though.

[rodrake]

I observe in mag 4.5 skies. I find that the background is pretty washed out when using my 25mm plossl at 30x. I recently bought a 19mm Antares W70 that gives me the same TFOV as the 25mm plossl but at 40x which makes the background a little darker. It works pretty well in my f6 scope. I use it as my finder eyepiece now. You can also get a 25mm W70 which I know several people here really like. ScopeStuff has the 19mm for about $50 new and the 25mm for $80. I bought the 19mm off AstroMart for under $40. Other options would be the 2" GSO SuperViews Jarad mentioned and UO Konigs in both 2" and 1.25" format.

[lighttrap]

Bmolles,
Welcome to CN! If you're in the Concord,NC that's down near Charlotte, you might want to get together with some of these folks Charlotte Astro Club You could probably find some of them that would let you try out various eyepieces in your scope.

Are you looking for a 2" ep. or a 1.25"? In 2", I'm pretty happy with a $69 Burgess 32mm. In 1.25" the Ultimas get consistantly good reviews.

Mike Swaim

[square_peg]

I love my 30mm Ultima. Digitec Optical sells them for about $93, a few bucks cheaper than most and I've heard nothing but good about their service.

[Starman1]

A good choice might be a Meade Super Wide Angle 24.5mm, with the widest field possible in a 1-1/4" eyepiece. These go for around $150, though, so the GSO/GTO/Astrola/etc wide angle eyepieces under $100 might be an alternative.
Frankly, a good 50 degree AFOV might be enough at low power, but here's how to look at it: as the power increases, the background gets darker because the sky brightness is distributed over a large area. This makes a 24.5 wide angle better than a 32mm Plossl. Though both give the same field of view, the 24.5 will have a darker field and better contrast. So, higher power with the same field of view will yield better contrast. This is the primary reason wide field eyepieces make such good low-power eyepieces.
In 2" the same thing occurs, but at longer focal lengths (a wide field 32 may have as wide a FOV as a 55mm Plossl), and, unfortunately, at higher expense.
f/6.9 is not too hard for eyepieces, so the $60 investment in one of the inexpensive wide angle eyepieces may be a good one. Remember, the shorter the focal length, the more critical (and expensive) eyepiece choice becomes. Ah, for the good old days of my f/15 refractor. It could use anything (Of course, the FOV was also very narrow).
Good Luck.
Don