Planetary Eyepiece Info Needed

I'm thinking about purchasing a better planetary ep for my Orion XT10, 4/7 dob but don't want to break the bank.I was thing about the Antares Elite Plossl series but heard pro's and con's about him. I thought I would post this and see what you guys come up with. Two head are better than one. I welcome everyones advise and outlooks.

Thanks..Chuck

For an inexpensive planetary set, the UO Orthos are hard to beat. Even new they won't break the bank. Do realize they have short eye relief though.

I have used a number of the Antares Elite plossls, and still have the 20, 15 and 10mm versions. I found them to be very good on both planets and DSOs, similar in performance to a couple of Antares orthos but with a wider FOV. The 10mm in particular was significantly better than the 10mm Sirius Plossl that I first used at that focal length.

More recently I have shifted to Pentax XLs and Nagler T6s in the shorter focal lengths. While the Elite Plossls don't give as wide a view or, in the short focal lengths as comfortable a view (compared to the 20mm eye relief of an XL), in terms of sharpness and contrast they hold up pretty well.

Jeff Bennett

When I think of planetary viewing, I think of higher powers. A 12mm in your scope will provide in the neighborhood of 100X. That's not very high on the scale. 10mm is not that much more, maybe 120X. I would think you're going to need something in the range of 7-5mm for better planetary views.

Personally I detest tiny little eyepieces with really tight eye relief so when it comes to the shorter focal lengths I tend to use a barlow on my 15mm and 12mm. I have also just ordered and not yet received one of the 66 degree WE9mm which I beleive is a Synta product. Also available from Orion as the Expanse line I believe. Folks here have spoke highly of it so I thought I'd give it a try. Price was also very right.

I also have one of the now discontinued Apogee 7-21mm zooms which performs respectably enough for the $50 it cost. These might be hard to come by now.

dan