Eyepiece Upgrade Questions

I'm considering (slowly) upgrading my Plossl eyepiece collection and am curious what types of eyepieces you all are using with your refractors. I have been using Plossl designs exclusively so far for all types of viewing. I have 1.25-inch EP’s in 40mm, 32mm, 25mm, 17mm, 15mm, 10mm, 7.5mm, and 6mm sizes. I also use a 2x Barlow lens. The short eye relief of the shorter focal length Plossls has never really bothered me that much (I don't wear glasses), but I am considering going to some Orthos for planetary viewing and possibly some 2-inch EP's for wide field low power viewing.

I'm leaning towards University Optics Orthos at this point. Currently I have all Orion Sirius Plossls (actually the 15mm and 6mm are the generic Plossls that came from Burgess Optical with my Burgess 1278 telescope). My 2x Barlow lens is an Orion “Shorty Plus” model. I’ve heard the Televue Plossls are of very high quality. So would orhtos be most useful for say 10mm and shorter focal lengths, or would you consider Orthos for the medium power EP’s as well? Would you stay with higher quality Plossl designs for the medium and low power EP’s or go to a different design EP's for the 40mm and/or 32mm sizes? My budget won’t allow for really high end EP’s, but am looking for good performers for the $$$. I like Planetary, double star, and cluster viewing primarily. Scopes are the Burgess 1278 and 1026. Any thoughts would be appreciated... (Scott)

Scott,

I've had my 1278 since late last year and while I don't use it quite as much as some of my other scopes I have used a some premium eyepieces with it. For open clusters I like the 27 Panoptic the best, followed closely by the 19 Panoptic, depending on the size of the cluster. For globulars either a 9mm or 7mm Nagler works great. For the planets I prefer the U.O. Orthos since they really can't be beat at that price. The 30mm BW Optik 80 deg. eyepiece is a best buy for an inexpensive (less than $100) widefield and will give you 50 % more field of view than the 1.25" 40mm plossl. The edge performance on that eyepiece isn't great but even if you buy one new you won't be out more than $25.00 if you decide to sell it.

Joplin