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[Doug]

I am thinking of getting one or two more "advanced" eyepieces. I got a starter set from Celestron which contains a number of cheaper Plossels. They are ok but they have fairly narrow fields of view and the eye relief is pretty bad on the 9mm, and the 6mm and 4mm are almost unuseable.

At our Star party, Bill showed me an Epic ED2 9mm which blew my 9mm out of the water. It had a much wider field of view and just looked clearer. As I understand, it is made from the special type of class that reduced distortion, and contains six elements instead of the normal four in plossels.

I'm thinking of maybe buying one of those, but I wanted to solicit opinions from folks about what they use -- I'm looking for something in the $50 price range. Orion also has the Sirius Plossels, and their Expanse line, which all look good, and an are in my price range.

What do you guys like? I am using a Meade 90mm ETX scope, which is a Mak-Cassegrain. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

-Doug

[stargazer]

Doug,

I use the Orion Epic ED 2 EP. I love them big time. If you ever get the chance to get some I would. I think I have about 5 of them. I use them more then any other ep I own. They work well in both of my scopes.

Becky

[Doug]

Thanks Becky -- it was Bill that showed me your ED2, and that's why I was thinking of buying a few of my own. They seem to be really nice eyepieces.

Also another question for the peanut gallery -- is there any place in the Chicago area that you buy your accessories? Or do people get all their stuff online? About the only place that I know of in Chicago area is Shutans up in Vernon Hills, which is quite a schlep from Chicago. Thanks!

Doug

[jglover]

Shutan is the only place I know with a decent selection. American Science Center out in Geneva carries areally limited amount of gear, mostly Meade and Celestron entry level stuff. Helix Camera used to sell scopes but last time I was there I don't remember seeing them on thier floor any more.

The best place I've found for good prices on good gear is to buy used off of astromart.com.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

On another chat board, they are raving about this deal from Meade:

www.optcorp.com/cart/ProductDetail.asp?PR_ProductID=4306

A set of 8 eypieces from 4mm to 40mm..and a metal case...all for $150.00.

I think the best manner now in buying eyepieces is thru the net. There are no longer any places around here to hold and examine an eyepiece any more.

I used to go to Shutans downtown, but that's long gone. And the American Science and surplus on Northwest Highway, has a sparse selection...and they will order them via the internet anyway.

Becky's homemade wide field eyepiece is quite cool. You could just fall right into it.

[jglover]

Meade is closing out their Series 4000 EPs all across the board. Their 14mm UWA sold out quickly at a riduculously low price. I thought about one of those but figured the wieght was a problem, as it was quite a heavy EP. The new Series 5000 replacement look nice, have a 60 degree field of view in the Plossl and I think retail new for about $50 so they might be a good choice.

The Orion Sirius Plossl are terrific in the longer focal lengths, but in the shorter focal length, I have a hard time using them because I find the small eye lens is just too difficult and cumbersome to use. Still, they're often found at really good prices on Astromart and come highly recommended by almost every review I've seen.

With your ETX though, I'd recommend getting a wide field eyepiece, as the field of view through a Mak is so small to begin with. My absolute favorite eyepiece on my ETX105 is a 24mm Panoptic but they are really pricey. I also have a Celestron 19mm Axiom which has a 70 degree FOV and that is a nice EP and can probably be had for less than $100 if you shop around.

And if you really want to be blown away, look through a 9mm Nagler. They're $240 on sale right now, but the Meade equivalent, the 8.8mm UWA is being sold as a clearance item for about $130 if any are still left. Lots of folks love this EP. OPT used to have them as did Astronomics.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

You know John...

I shall now recognize Chicago Astronomer John as our expert optics member. ;D

We have quite a few specializing in various areas: Asteroids, Lunar, software, physics, astrophotography.

Quite cool.

[jglover]

Why thank you Joe, I humbly accept.......

Actually, much of that expertise has come from buying and selling most of those EPs off the net!!

[SpaceCommander]

Hello - I'm Chris Brownewell, co-owner of 20/20 Telescopes in Lansing IL, president of the Calumet Astronomical Society in Indiana, and general know-it-all. $50 eyepieces for an ETX.....Hmmmm..... Epic ED-2s & their Celestron clones the X-Cels are very good buys, but are a little more than $50. My first choice for eyepieces in this price range are the Celestron E-Luxes. These are the performance equivalents of the Sirius Plossls & Meade series 3000 eyepieces, but cost $35 each. We stock 'em, along with a larger in store selection than Shutan Camera at 3546 Ridge Rd. www.2020telescopes.com

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Chris,

Thank you for your first post and registering as part of the Chicago Astronomer family...and welcome all no-it-alls!...

I bet it's a great deal of fun having free reign amongst all those toys at your place.

I do believe that one of our members, Chicago Astronomer Oscar is part of your group, and has been graciously been inviting me to attend a meeting, but it's so far for me and time cramped! One day.

Thanks for your input on the eyepieces, as it's always great to hear personal reviews on equipment.

Hope to see you here often.