New To Astronomy & Need Eyepiece Selection Help

[Ian65]

Hi,

I have my first Telescope a Meade 5000 80 ED Triplet APO & I need to purchase eyepieces, the trouble is I have asked several retailers & I have received totally different answers which has left me confused.

I am hoping to get some better advice from the wider Astronomical community.

I may upgrade the scope one day in years to come, but I assume eyepieces if not abused will last a lifetime & so what I purchase I intend to keep & not upgrade.

My limited knowledge leads me to believe Naglers are the best & I was going to get 2” versions until I discovered they are limited to just a few sizes. Also was going for a Powermate x 4 for amplification.

What I suppose I need from you guys & gals is a clear idea of what power I need for observing planets & deep sky objects suited to the scope I have & pass on items more suited to something with more aperture which I may need in future years after an upgrade but not now.

Due to the likely cost I need to purchase my most effective combinations & avoid unnecessary purchases.

After the eyepieces are purchased & I have saved up I will be getting some CCD equipment, but this will be months down the line.

Again my scope is an 80 ED Triplet f6 with a 2” Revelation Quartz Dielectric with a focal length of 480.

Looking forward to your replies

Best regards Ian

[BT Technologies]

Hello Ian and welcome to Astroclassifieds.com!!

Regarding your question on which is the "best" eyepiece to get it really depends on what objects you enjoy observing. The Nagler e/p's are very nice but quite expensive if you are first starting off. I would recommend some nice 1.25" plossl eyepieces to start off with. Depending on what your price range is you can go with the 5000 series Meade or Orion line and if your budget permits you can go with the 1.25" line of Takahashi LE.

For wide field viewing you might want to check out the Pentax line of eyepieces as well as the Televue as they are both excellent quality and you really can not go wrong with either.

for planetary viewing you want something that will give you at least 100x or more of magnification but do not get too carried away with power. Remember, your scope is 80mm or 3" in aperture so with near perfect optics and atmospheric stability your "limit" in magnification would be 175-200x MAX!! Anything more than this and most likely all you would see would be a big blurry mess.

[Jim Fusco]

Hi Ian,

As Brian said, the naglers are real nice. I have a huge selection of eps and always seem to go back to the T6's. They are expensive. However if you don't want them you can always sell them for basicly near the purchase price. Not a whole lot of eyepieces work well with fast scope, but the naglers do and all TV's. I have all the powermates, and I like them better than barlows. But if you get into imaging CCD, than the eps will be sitting around alot and may be a waste. So going with a TV Plos or other lower cost may meet your needs a little better.

Jim

[PJ Anway]

There are so many ways to go on this request, but I would second Brian's suggestion of the Takahashi LE eyepieces. With the focal length of your refractor (480mm) I would get the 5mm, 7.5mm 12.5mm and a good 2X barlow. That would give you 38X, 64X, 76X, 90X, 128X and 180X. This would allow for lower powers for larger nebula and galaxies, 90X for globular clusters, 128X for smaller nebular, galaxies and planetaries, 180X for planets. There are of course other possibilities, but this is just one suggestion. If that is too much to begin with then eliminate the 12.5mm and just get the 5mm, 7.5mm and 2X barlow. There are several good barlows: Takahashi and Televue barlows are very nice.

[pizwiz]

The guys have given you good advice.
I would just like to add a note of explanation.
The higher magnification powers listed ( such as 128X and 180X) are close to the optical limits of your telescope's performance. A conservative number often quoted is that max power for any Telescope is about 50X per inch of Aperture. With excellent optics like yours, you can certainly push that number a bit. But still, be aware that the highest mag numbers will not be usable all the time. To work at high mags requires good to excellent seeing conditions. In my neck of the woods, on the shore of Lake Ontario i see these great conditions less than a handful of times per Year.
But Oh Boy, what views they are when they do occur. Those are the nights most of us live for.
So, don't be afraid to experiment, just keep in mind that not every dark night is good for Planet watching, so switch to deepspace stuff instead.

Adolph

[BT Technologies]

I absolutely agree with Adolph's statement. I personally prefer a medium to medium-low powered eyepiece and have a 2x barlow close by for when I need higher magnification without having to spend a small fortune on various eyepieces.

Often, the atmosphere will be the limiting factor on how much power you can use when using a high quality optical instrument.

Originally Posted by pizwiz

The guys have given you good advice.
I would just like to add a note of explanation.
The higher magnification powers listed ( such as 128X and 180X) are close to the optical limits of your telescope's performance. A conservative number often quoted is that max power for any Telescope is about 50X per inch of Aperture. With excellent optics like yours, you can certainly push that number a bit. But still, be aware that the highest mag numbers will not be usable all the time. To work at high mags requires good to excellent seeing conditions. In my neck of the woods, on the shore of Lake Ontario i see these great conditions less than a handful of times per Year.
But Oh Boy, what views they are when they do occur. Those are the nights most of us live for.
So, don't be afraid to experiment, just keep in mind that not every dark night is good for Planet watching, so switch to deepspace stuff instead.

Adolph

[rcg]

Ian,
Hello from another newbie, hey look around for reviews, cloudy nights is a good site. The TV's and Pentax's are good eyepieces, and I am sure the Tak's are also. But Williams Optics and Siebert Optics are not shabby either. I will be doing some comparisons myself on a few different styles and brands, but if you can "borrow" or use some various eyepieces at a star party or similar event the best course is probably to decide for yourself. One bit of advice look at number and groups of lenses, the more lenses and groups the more advanced design (generally), and just a note the price of an eyepiece is not always an indication.
Bob

[viperbob]

Hello Ian, I can't begin to imagine what the cost of the top end eyepieces would be across the "pond", but if I were you i'd try three eyepices first.
Televue plossl: 11mm, 25mm an the 32mm with a barlow.
The cost while a bit higher then some eyepieces are not bank breakers and with the barlow you'll have 6 different eps. The barlow can be any manufacture like Orion, but you should have access to it over there.
Now while Televue is haveing ther 13% off sale it would be a good time to go for it and save some money.
Televue like Pentax hold onto there value and its kind of an investement.
Good luck and clear skies
VB