The must have EP checklist (AKA TOP 10)

Alright, I'm gearing up finally...i picked my weapon and now its time to chose the bullets. I just ordered my C8 ASGT and I cant find a list of essential EPs for a person with none. Personally my budget is limited at the moment due to the scope purchase, but i do want to get as many quality EPs so as to be able to use my scope to its fullest. Here are the guidelines...

- Lets say top 10 EPs (incl. focal reducers, barlows, ect.)

- Number 1. should be the most useful, all around EP that everyone should have regardless of color or creed. After that the orders up to you.

- Try to keep the costs reasonable, even if that means used thats cool

- Maybe even state the ideal use for EP and what scope it'd be best for.

- Multiple top 10's are acceptable as there are multiple scope choices.

- You must include at least one SPECIFIC DSO, one Planetary, and one gen. purp. EP

- Seeing as there are so many choices try to think of unique, good all around, and best in class EPs, but do remember budget (some of us are in college)

- And lastly, if a brand name is important use it, if everyone makes a decent version because it is such a standard you don't have to specify, it only serves to divide us more anyway.

My objective is to get a good range of options for folks like me (newbs) instead of the prepackaged meade and celestron kits that don't seem to get that great a response from the "professional" amateurs. And if by starting this ultimate thread i gain a bit of knowledge and understanding about which EPs I will soon buy for my new C8 than I suppose i can make the sacrifice.

However, this is not a debate, please do not bicker about others top 10 picks. You may second there choices, perhaps even give them kudos, but don't demean there opinion...plus it could get this way off track..

So be creative, use those over sized brains that steered you towards astronomy in the first place, be frugal, unlike me be concise, and enjoy, know that your helping establish a status quo and that every newbie out there is thanking you.

So without further adieu gentlemen, and such lovely ladies

Let the Ultimate EP Checklist Top 10 Extravaganza BEGIN!!!!! 8O

Golly gee, if you are on a budget, you sure don't need 10 eyepieces/barlows etc. You could get away pretty easily with three, and four or five would handle pretty much anything.

Please don't ask how many we have here. Of course, the two of us have a total of about 70 years to accumulate such things.

You only need 10 eyepieces for one telescope if you have a binoviewer.

Clear skies, Alan

Televue made a list of suggested eyepieces just for that scope on their website.

I revised my list to be 1.25" (oversight on my part) and also because the Astromart way of posting put my lists all together!
Expensive choice

24mm Panoptic
17mm Nagler T-
10.2mm Pentax XL
7mm Pentax XL

Conservative choice

24mm Panoptic
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
7mm Pentax XL

Inexpensive choice

32mm TV plossl
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
9mm TMB/BO Planetary
7mm TMB/BO Planetary

Any one of these lists would do what you want with your 8" f/10 scope. No need for 10 EPs, you can get by with the list of 4 or 3 and be happy.
Add a UHC filter, O-III filter to the list and your set.
No need for a Barlow, the 7mm is 285x and will probably be the highest power you will use except on an exceptional night.

Chris,

I'm going to give you my best value list. That is, what I consider best bang for the buck. So not the best and not the cheapest, but definitely I feel skewed more towards the better part of that spectrum.

High Power:
7mm,8mm,9mm BO Planetaries. Very sharp on-axis, great edge, comfy eye relief, 60deg afov, cheap at $99 new, $75 used. Just hard to beat. Plus since high power work is touchy with atmosphere, that's why I suggested just one mm apart from each other. If after using the 7mm your area can support higher mags, then can get the 5mm or 6mm to supplement, or try the TV 3-6mm Zoom instead, but that's expensive at $350+.

Mid Power:
13mm Hyperion or Stratus. Outer 30% of the fov is soft on these in f/5 scopes, but at f/10 they should be great. They have a nice 68deg afov and the 13mm Hyperion is sharper on-axis than the Nagler 12mmT4. So for f/10 and some economy, I'd go with the Stratus/Hyperion instead. They have great eye relief also - which is important.

20mm would be the next step from the 13mm for me. I'd say either the 19mm Panoptic or the 21mm Stratus/Hyperion again. These would be a conjecture for me. I have used neither. 20mm is a no-mans land for me. I jump from 15mm to 24mm for my fast scope. But in yours a 20mm makes sense as the next step down in power. The 13mm gives you around 150x, so the 20 will give you 100x. But in all truthfulness, you might want to skip the 20mm and just go to 24mm. In that case, the 24 Panoptic would be great. But at $300 a bit steep. So I'd opt for the 24mm TV Wide Field. You can find them used for around $130. They perform great in F/10 scopes!

Low Power Scanning:
IMO there just does not exist a good long focal length eyepiece in 1.25" format that has sufficiently big afov. So nothing in the 30mm-40mm range that's really great (i.e. over 65+ deg afov). But in 2" realm, the 40mm Paragon would be my choice here (I hate spending more than $250 for a single EP).

To Summarize:
7,8,9mm BO Planetaries ($300 Total New)
13 Stratus/Hyperions ($130 Total New)
21mm Stratus/Hyperion or 24mm TV Wide Field ($130 New/Used respectively)
40mm Paragon ($250 New)

So, 6 eyepieces, not 10. If your atmosphere lets you go higher power, then supplement the hi powers with more EPs.

If this is still too much money, then just get the set of 5 RKEs and an Ultima 2x barlow all for $300 and those will keep you happy for a year, then seel off on AMart and move up to more premium EPs.

Word of caution, I usually like to keep my range of EPs to have either a uniform AFOVs or gradually widening from smaller to larger as the powers go from higher to lower. So if you get the Nagler bug, be prepared to get several of them. Nothing is more irritating (for me), to have a range of EPs that I'm using for the evening and to have the AFOVs going all over the place. I prefer my observing to be more or less uniform with my AFOV. In the range I suggested above, the high powers are 60deg and the mid-low powers are 65-69deg. Also, some people just prefer keeping the family the same (i.e. brand). If that is your liking, then you could just get the range of Stratus or Hyperions (5mm, 8mm, 13mm, 21mm), then a Barlow to fill the gaps. Personal preferences play a big part in enjoying the eyepieces. For me, I prefer the AFOVs to be close or gradually increasing as the powers get lower, and once you use a long eye relief eyepiece (15-20mm) it's hard to go back to those requiring you to put your eyeball to the glass.

Good luck
-Bill