EP's for 9.25 Nexstar GPS? Advise needed.

Ok guys this may sound like a lame question, but im trying to learn as much as I can. I am ready to start my EP collection. Right now I have the Celestron starter kit, and it was ok when I was just learning but I want some EP's that can give me good planetary views. I am by all means a newbie. I made the big investment on my scope figuring that was my biggest hurdle and decided to move from there.
It has been suggested to me that I should pick up a Televue Radian 12mm 1.25. Does anyone agree? It runs about $240 at Woodland Hills Telescope.
As most of you problibly know my scope has a 2' back. I have been told that I should not look at any 2' eyepieces for any planetary viewing because the field of view is too big. Is that true? I have also been told that my max useful magnification for my scope would permit about an 7mm EP. I dont remember my formulas from my college astronomy class so I wasnt sure about that either.
Again, I apoligize if these are dumb questions, I am just trying to get up to speed. Thanks allot. I attached a pic of my scope just for fun. (sorry about the type on it, I used it for my case design)

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No, no, no. Don't become an equipment or eyepiece junkie like the rest of us. You don't NEED to have a radian or Nagler or Panoptic or Pentax, yadayadayada de da.

You want to have a range of eyepieces that will provide you a range of magnification across the capabilities of your scope. At 50x per inch you don't need an EP that will give you more than 450 x or so. Two-inch EPS are low power, so no they don't do much for planetary observing. You won't be missing much by skipping the 2 inchers for right now.

You can buy a handfull of Plossls from Celestron or Meade or whomever, that will cover a good range of magnifications. You can buy fewer if you buy a barlow 2x doubler lens.

Please go to cloudynightsDOTcom and go to the beginners section. there is an article on eyepieces. Also, check out Al Nagler's advice on the TeleVue website. He gives good advice on spacing out the EP's. Eyepiece magnification = scope focal length / eyepiece focal length. True field of view is a more complicated formula, but there are many spreadsheets out there that calculate more than you would ever want to know about EP specs. There is one of TeleVue's site as well, for TV EP's.

If you find you have particular needs for eye relief, then you can start investing in Radians.

We've all been there. No question is stupid. You've invested in a great scope, but you don't need to throw $1000 at eyepieces right now.

John gave some great advice. His most important is that you don't "need" 2" eyepieces just yet. I've been observing for close to 9 years now and bought my first few 2" eyepieces this month! I never really missed them.

Some good eyepieces to start with would be the Televue Plossls, Meade 4000 Series plossls...etc. With the scope you have (which is excellent by the way!), don't go for the ultra cheap eyepieces. Keep an eye out for Radians (TV), Ultrascopics (Orion)and other high-end eyepieces here on Astromart.

Just for reference, here is what I have:

32mm Meade SWA(this is a GREAT eyepiece for a SCT)

22.5mm Siebert Ultra Plus (probably my most used eyepiece)

14mm Meade UWA (great for globular clusters and smaller open clusters)

TV 2x barlow

So I have:
32, 22.5, 16, 14, 11 and 7mm eyepieces which seems about perfect for what I do.

The 7mm gives me 285x, so I can rarely use anything higher than that with the SCT.

Hi David,

I own an NS9.25XLT and would advise you not to buy that 12mm. Unless you're blessed with rock steady skies you'll get much more use out of a 24 to 26mm EP. Also at f10 you don't really need premium highly corrected wide field eyepieces. I would suggest something like a quality 25mm Plossl or ortho and an excellent Barlow like a Celestron Ultima. Field of view for planetary observation is only important if your scope does not have at least an RA drive. All planetary viewing is done on axis in the center of the fov. I would tell you that any EP less than 10 to 12mm is almost useless in a 9.25. I use a binoviewer exclusively and have found that my 25s are my most used EPs.

Hope This Helps,

Steve

David,
I used to own a C9.25 and I have to recommend a Nagler 7 mm Type 1. Views of the moon were simply stunning... so much so that you'll find yourself loosing track of time gazing at the eyepiece into the wee hours of the morning. You will swear your looking out the port hole of a spaceship orbiting a few hundred miles above the surface.

Clear Skys,

tim

David
For my 9.25" I mainly use the following 3 eyepieces:

BW-Optik 30mm UWA 2" - It cost $95 plus shipping (I just got it). It gives very nice wide field views.

Meade 14mm UWA - 1-1/4" or 2" (my favorite eyepiece).

Meade 8.8mm UWA - 1-1/4" or 2" for planets.

I have a 7mm Nagler, but seldom does the seeing allow for it in a bigger F10 scope.

But if you purchased the starter set you should be in good shape for quite a while. In 1-1/4" you could get by with similar focal lengths:

30 to 32mm Plossl
14 to 17mm Plossl
and a 9 to 10mm Plossl

I believe it was Cloudy Nights that had a recent review describing the quality of views with just basic Plossl eyepieces.

Anyway, enjoy.