Suggestions

Hi I just resently divested my self of my 10" newt, really not enjoying the hassle of moving the thing and collimation.
I was thinking I was out of the hobby, but clear skies here lately have drawn me back in. I just purchased an Orion ST80(much lighter) and need a low cost diagonal and eyepieces which work well with this scope. I know you refractor Aficionatos have "been there and done that" and would much appreciate some suggestions on these items which work well and don't cost much. Thanks

Craig Glaze said:

Hi I just resently divested my self of my 10" newt, really not enjoying the hassle of moving the thing and collimation.
I was thinking I was out of the hobby, but clear skies here lately have drawn me back in. I just purchased an Orion ST80(much lighter) and need a low cost diagonal and eyepieces which work well with this scope. I know you refractor Aficionatos have "been there and done that" and would much appreciate some suggestions on these items which work well and don't cost much. Thanks

Much depends on what you'll accept image quality wise almost any eyepiece will work OK with the good, ol' ST80. However, the paradox is that this short focal length scope is at its best with more expensive eyepieces.

8)

I dunno what the ST80 likes for eyepieces, but don't forget to get a moon filter and a moon map of some sort. Being out on those quiet moonlit spring and summer nights is quite enjoyable, especially when the local coyote pack breaks into song.

It seems I always discover something on the moon that doesn't look right and sends me into the references. Next night, it's usually back to normal. 80mm is enough to keep things interesting.

Lately I've been using one of the low cost binoviewers on the moon. The light loss in the BV cuts the glare just enough to make viewing the moon quite comfortable without a moon filter.

Like you, I got tired of hassling with bigger scopes. So my 80mm (FS78 actually) sees more use than the rest of my scopes put together. Even on a GEM, it's out in one easy trip. If clouds roll in, it comes back in just as quick.

The e.p. that sees the most use in my FS78 when viewing monocular, is an 8-24mm zoom. Sometimes it's the only one I take out. If you want a close look at something, you don't have to play the e.p. swap game. To go back to wide view, you just crank it back to 24mm. Great time/hassle saver.
Bob

Hi Craig....Have a Celestron 1.25 #94115 Star Diagonal
Have a Meade 6.4 mm Super Plossl Eyepiece
" Meade 20 mm " " "
" Celestron 26 mm Plossl "
" Meade 40 mm Super Plossl "
All are 1.25 EP's

These were all used on my 4" APO Refractor and were excellent, but I have upgraded to all TV Radian EP's due to need of Eye Relief. The above Equipment is in excellent condition and I can make you a good deal on the lot or individual pieces. Thank you.....Ed

Hi Craig!
I'll second what Bob has already said. I got an ST-80 for a grab'n'go, and to keep it grab'n'go I went minimalist on ep's too. A Vixen 8-24 zoom with and Ultima barlow gets me anything from 17X to 98X very comfortably. I threw in a 24 Panoptic for views that FEEL wide as well as being wide. Three pieces of equipment, and my ST goes anywhere in a flash.

Craig,
The closest thing I have to the ST80 is an 80mm F6 achromat. If you don't want to put a lot of money into the ep's at first, IMO I'd stick to plossls. If you can afford them, get the Televue brand. But GSO in Taiwan makes some really nice ones sold under that name and also many other brands like Zhummel and Smart Astronomy. Also look at the Orion Expanse 9 and 6mm (the 15 and 20mm are not very well corrected for this scope IMO). So, a good starting lineup might be 20 and 15mm Plossls, 9 and 6mm Expanse, and an inexpensive 2x barlow if you want higher powers.

David E

Craig
That OTA is best suited for a power range of 12x to 80X. For a quick set up and minimal expense, a 25 to 30 mm Plossl, an 8 to 10mm Plossl, and a quality short 2x barlow will provide a good power range for the capabilities of that scope and be a light package to carry.

As an alternative to buying the barlow, include a 15 to 17mm Plossl and a 5 or 6mm eyepiece with some decent eye relief (I really like the Orion 5mm Ultrascopic).

Hope this helps. Let us know what you decide on.
Steven Jindra