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Eyepiece recommendations

Started by fbc57, 07/15/2006 05:23AM
Posted 07/15/2006 05:23AM Opening Post
This post was placed in the Yahoo Binoviewer group earlier today, so please ac smile cept my apologies for the repetition.
I just purchased a WO bino for my 80mm Megrez Fluorite Doublet (Apograde). The scope has a 555 focal length at about f6.9
I would like to get a pair of eyepieces for high mag observing of the Moon and the Sun (Kendrick solar filter).
I understand that some people do not recommend eyepieces shorter than 10-12mm for binoviewing. From your practical experience, which specific type of eyepieces would work well for observing the Moon? Which ones would fill the TFOV with the disk of the Sun?
I can easily merge most images as I have being working with stereomicroscopes for over 20 years. I do not wear glasses and have an average PD (62). I have access to above average dark skies from my backyard in Vermont. Thank you for your advice.
Fernando
Posted 07/16/2006 01:35AM #1
Hi Fernando,
For lunar/planetary work, I love my Meade 5000 series 6.7mm UWA. If you use the 2x oca with the binoviewer these will give you 165x in your telescope, which is a very usable power. They give me 143x in my Night Hawk and I use them whenever the air is steady enough to support that power. With my 102mm doublet apo, which was made bino-friendly, I get 118x and they have shown me 90% of the Moon's Triesnecker Rilles with ease. Solar is a bit more problematic though. The air is, on average, much less steady during the day and I rarely can push my scope above 88x. The Meade 6.7 5K UWA's do work good for solar when the air is steady enough. These eyepieces work so well for me because they have an 80ยบ afov and ample eye relief for eye glasses. The image quality is excellent IMO. This is, of course, only one choice in the forest of eyepieces. My generic recommendation for any high-power candidate is to try to find as much field of view and eye relief as you can (even if you don't wear eye glasses). A lot of people have posted successes with Naglers and Radians, so you might want to consider these. I also have a pair of 9mm BO/TMB planetary's that I use very frequently for lunar/planetary work. I tried the Orion 7.5mm ED2's but did not like them and sent them back. The 5.1mm ED2's were better in quality and I use them, but only when the air is really steady (I only use them in my bino-ready 102mm for 155x). Hope this helps.

David E