6 replies to this topic

[MikeCatfin]

Hi everyone..
I'm in the process of getting an FS102 and think that I should have at least one good ep to get it going..
Here's my issues.. (and I hae plenty of them ) I keep reading about guys using Radians for planets, Naglers have a "spacewalk" effect, and so on.. At the moment I have 10, 17, and 26mm sirius plossl's from Orion that I received as a gift which I use on my C8. I will admit that I have not done much research on ep's, and as far as i know the big difference between them all is 3 of lenses and designs. Is there somewhere in CN that has a primer of sorts of which is best used for what?
Like I said I'm getting my FS102 in a day or so, and not sure if the ep's I have will do it justice.. So I'm thinking of buying one maybe two ep's to get started. Which brings me to the 2nd part.. If you have to start with 2.. which ones.. I hear great things of the panoptics (24~35mm).. 5mm radians, etc.. :bangbangbang:
Any thoughts..

[Rhadamantys]

Something in the 13mm - 16mm range would be very nice for many DSOs. A Pentax XW or Nagler for instance. Telescopes pass, good eyepieces remain. Price will be forgotten, quality will remain.

[matt]

I guess you will want to focus on the shorter focal lengths first. On the FS102 I use either the 30mm Ultima or 18mm Radian as a "finder" eyepiece (brings 1 1/2° fov); most of my observing is done with eyepieces in the 4 - 8mm range. I'm surprised Rhadamantys did not suggest you buy a Clavé Plossl - he's Rhadical about them! (sorry!)

Perhaps you don't mind having extra short eye relief and could use either short FL Ultimas or Orthos. Otherwise the Radians and Pentaxes come to mind. I also wondered lately about the TV 3-6 and 2-4mm zooms, but never read or heard anything about them.

[Dave Mitsky]

My friend Tony Donnangelo has an FS-102 as well as a Meade SCT and a Starmaster Dob. He uses a mix of Tele Vue Naglers, Tele Vue Radians, and Pentax SMC XLs. They all perform very well indeed.

We both own the 3-6mm Nagler zoom. While it may not be the ultimate in high power eyepieces, the Nagler zoom is very handy for use with short focal length scopes.

Dave Mitsky

[Rhadamantys]

I'm surprised Rhadamantys did not suggest you buy a Clavé Plossl - he's Rhadical about them! (sorry!)

One doesn't simply buy a Clavé Plössl. Its previous owner first judged that you were worthy of them.

PS: I was told that an astronomer in California sleeps with his complete set of Clavé Plössls under his bed, to be sure to get them out his house in case of major earthquake... I wouldn't like to be in his shoes, having to chose between my priceless eyepieces and my equally priceless bottles of Bourgogne, Château-Chalon and Gewurztraminer Late Harvest...

[erik]

you asked where you could find comparisons, check out the review section on CN. there are plenty of good write ups on different ep's. ed ting's site, www.scopereviews.com also has some good head to head ep matchups as well....

[MikeCatfin]

Erik,
Thanks.. found it.. I've been reading all the reviews listed in CN Reports.. kinda nice having access to all these.. It is one of the great assets of this whole forum ... in the interim I did pick up an 25mm MK-70 from Astromart.. just to get things rolling!