What would you suggest?

I am looking for a range of eyepiece's for my 10" Orion Intelliscope {F4.7}and my Celestron C80ED {F7.5}. I currently have a 13mm Stratus, 7mm UWAN, and an old GSO 32mm. I have to take a somewhat frugal approach to my eyepiece purchases, so I am looking for suggestions as to what would be a good stable of eyepiece's. Was thinking about a 28mm uwan, but was put of by the weight of this beast...{2lbs}that's alot of weight for the Orion, would have to use a counterweight system to keep balance. Then I saw the 24mm Stratus, but unsure as there are no reports yet on this eyepiece. Since I rely on the expertise of this forum, I am in your gratitude for any help in this matter.
Thanks.....
Terry

I like the 27 mm Panoptic that weights in at just over a pound.

The 24mm Panoptic 1.25" (.5 lb), 27mm Panoptic 2"(1 lb 2.2 oz) or Nagler 20mm T-5 2"(.8lb) are all good choices. Depending on whether weight is a problem, the 24mm and 20mm have the same FOV and the 27mm is slightly larger.
The Siebert Ultra EPs (70° FOV) have a good reputation too, but are not as cosmetically perfect, but good optically.

The 24mm Stratus/ Hyperion is best described as not up to the quality of the others in the series when used in a fast dob. I have a 28mm UWAN and it is a great eyepiece but it is quite heavy at a full kilo (2.2 lbs). If you can swing it a 20mm T-5 Nagler would be great (only weighs a pound). The 27mm Panoptic or 24mm Panoptic would be nice as well. Either way I would buy on Astromart to save some money. I would also consider a higher power eyepiece for the refractor and for the 10" when the seeing is excellent. Something in the 5 or 4mm range would be good, the TMB Planetary series eyepieces would probably fit the bill at that size.

Joplin

Terry,

I have the 28 UWAN and the XT10. I don't have a balance problem with my XT10 with the Paracorr+28UWAN combination. Last time I was out didn't even have to tighten the Alt tension knob any more than what I keep it set at.

The 24 Hyperion/Stratus (which I also have) is not clean to the edge in the XT10...actually about outer 40% of the AFOV stars will be deformed to varying degrees. I characterize it "OK" for the XT10...performs much much better in longer FL scopes.

I just recently sold both my 40 Paragon and 24 Hyperion once I got the 28 UWAN. Paragon still showed more TFOV, but exit pupil way too large for the XT10...fine in the TSA but I still liked the view thru the UWAN more even in the TSA (which is unusual for me as I don't like overly wide AFOVs). The UWAN is a very enjoyable eyepiece to use in both my XT10 and TSA-102 -- paracorr is a must though with the XT10 IMO.

-Bill

I wanted to thank all who have responded to my question. They are all great suggestions, but my budget is a bit more frugal. For granted, the televues would be a nice addition to my collection, but even at some of the sale prices I have seen, some of them are still beyond my financial reach at this time. If someone has any suggestions for the more frugal minded amatuer, I am all ears. Perhaps I would be better off selecting from the smaller FOV eyepiece's, than going for the gusto the first time around. The current eyepiece's I have were almost given to me, that is why I have what I have. But would like to expand a little, for the 2 scopes I have. but frugally!!!!!!!

Most of the suggestions so far are, I think, what folks consider the best choice. There's nothing wrong with that. I hear where you're coming from though, when you mention "frugal". Been in and out of there a lot myself!

Just thinking what you have, I'd go for a 40-50mm (2 inchers are really nice here) and a 20-25mm. That would round out your eyepiece collection nicely. You don't have to jump right into a TeleVue, Pentax, or any of the high end EPs yet. My strategy has been to go with mid/low end EPs and see how they work out as far as focal length, AFOV, eye relief etc. When you accrue several within a certain FL range, you'll know better what you really like. Then you can sell off a few on AMart and go for a higher end EP.

Everybody has their own approach, as to how to go about this business called "Amateur" astronomy. I've been in and out of this hobby a lot. Over the years, your attitude can change. I know, since grinding my first 6" mirror in 1970, my attitude has changed a lot. "Dump the light buckets and bring on the refractors!"

Anyway, good luck with your EP expansion. There really aren't that many "bad" choices you can make.

Dave