Celestron 9.25 eyepiece suggestions and eyeglasses

I am building up a new system. I am a beginner and this is my first scope. I have a 9.25 SCT with XLT coatings. I wear glasses with astigmatism. I don’t have my mount yet but am leaning toward the CGE. I have used my scope on my friends G-11 for one night of observing and I could lean toward a G-11 as well. Opinions on this are welcome, but not my reason for posting.

I am trying to build up some eyepieces for my first use of this scope. I am patient and am taking my time with this process. I’m sure you all know that at an average price of $200 to $300 plus, this is important to get as right as possible. I’ll be buying a Barlow and am leaning toward the Powerviewer 2” 2X, but not important just yet.

I am hoping in this thread to limit the answers from those that have and use this scope. Believe me, I have read months of reviews and most if not all forums, but they are always tied to scope and mount or scope vs. scope or the threads start out on the topic and then quickly move from SCT to refractor and turn into a mess. So please, 9.25 folks only here please.

I can use either 1 ¼ or 2-inch eps. So for those with glasses, what high power, mid power and low power eps do you prefer? What extreme power ep have you used with this scope on perfect viewing nights for planetary or other objects? What is your favorite ep? I just purchased a Pentax XL 14mm and hope this gets me in the ballpark for mid. I have some other standard eps, but am looking toward wide field, good eye relief (aren’t you all). I realize it is difficult to buy eyepieces without trying them in some way or another with my scope for my conditions. I am just trying to get a mean sample of what current users are happy with. Without a mount, it is hard to go to a star party and borrow others eps.

So thank you in advance for this. I can honestly tell you I haven’t found a thread that is truly 9.25 ota specific that stays on topic. The posters usually have other scopes and start working them in the topic. Joe C

So thank you in advance for this. I can honestly tell you I haven’t found a thread that is truly 9.25 ota specific that stays on topic. The posters usually have other scopes and start working them in the topic. Joe C
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Joe: Hello and welcome to Astromart, there are many knowledgeable and helpful people here just waiting to help you. You would probably be better off posting this to the eyepieces or SCT forums though as I think they would be more appropriate and you would be more likely to get the sort of advice you are hoping to get.

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As a moderator here, I have some a few general comments on eyepieces and choosing eyepieces. These are not necessarily meant for you but rather as some general thoughts on understanding eyepiece selection and choice.


1. Eyepiece choices are highly subjective. What works for each of us depends on so many factors, the telescope only being one of them, that means experienced observers can only offer general observations and suggestions.

For example, for someone who will be wearing glasses because of astigmatism, long eye-relief is important. But how that astigmatism affects the view can only be determiend by the person in question. At some point, as the exit pupil becomes smaller, the observers astigmatism normally goes away as only the center of the eye's lens is being used. At what point the glasses become unnessary is entirely personal.

2. For an experienced observer, it is not necessary to have used a particular eyepiece in an F10 9.25 inch SCT to know how it will perform. Any similar sized SCT will be more than adequate as focal ratio is the primary number that is important in determining the performance of an eyepiece. Using the same telescope type, ie SCT, refractor, Newtonian, will help deal with the second order aberrations and problems.

3. In general, it is fast scopes that require the $300+ eyepieces to get good sharp stars across the field of view. In an F10 SCT, older simple designs like Erfles and Konigs, Plossls and orthos do quite a nice job and can be preferable to Naglers and others depending on the observer. Fancy eyepieces are generally most important in fast scopes, one of the advantages of SCT's, MAKs and others slower scopes is that simple eyepieces work very well.

4. When looking to build an eyepiece collection it is good to keep one eye to the future, "What other telescopes might I own?" Over the years, very few stick with just one scope or with one type of telescope.

It is tempting to think that "this is the last telescope I will every buy" but experience seems to show that as one develops as an observer and discovers more about this hobby, so does one's needs and preferences.

Jon Isaacs

Joe,

Jon has good advice. I should advise you, though, that the 9.25 already has a lot of power, since it has a 2350 focal length or something.....So, don't worry too much about buying barlows or powermates. It has lots of power all by itself.

Alex

Hello Joe,

I'm a novice as well. I too own the 9.25" SCT/XLT. It's a keeper for me, that's for sure. I'm nearsided but don't wear my glass all the time, nor when I'm viewing. If you haven't read this, you might do so.

http://www.televue.com/engine/page.asp?ID=140

I started out with a 2.5x powermate, 32mm TV Plossl, 8mm TV Radian, a 18mm TV Radian and a F6.3 focal-length reducer. I also really like the Meade 14mm UWA 4000 series. Then there's a UO 40mm MK80, 27mm Pan, 20mm Nagler, 26 Nagler and the list goes on endlessly as my pocket book very well knows.

I like the Radians. I also like the TMB supermono's (can't comment on the TMB/Burgess yet as I haven't received them but I have read there might be some quality issues), of course the Pentax SMC Ortho(s), Pentax SMC XL(s), Pentax Ortho XO(s), the Tak LE's are really sweet too and reasonably priced. I haven't received my Seibert(s) yet either, so I can't comment on those.

Oh, now that I'm thinking again, you should give Harry Seibert a ring sometime and speak with him. Heck of a nice guy. He has a 30 day money back guarantee on his eyepieces and even longer on other items. If you don't like'em, send them back. Don’t see how anyone could go wrong with that sort of a deal.

-SD:

One last thing. If you buy used higher end eyepieces, make sure you ask the seller all the right questions before you purchase them. Some have different definitions of excellent, mint, perfect and so forth. I have bought a TON of stuff used and never been screwed yet but I have asked for a refund/rebate of sorts a couple of times.

-SD:

Welcome aboard Joe, and forgive me for not answering any sooner,. but the whole MOTHER'S DAY thing threw my schedule off...

I see you are using a 9.25 SCT, and that's a fine scope indeed..., and a CGE mount would be an awesome combination.

I currently own a meade 10" SCT, so yes, I'm NOT using exactly your scope, but I'm close enough to be able to pitch in my .02 cents... 8)

For "low power sweeps", since our scopes have a "by design" narrow field of view, I use a UO MK-70 40mm eyepiece, which is NOT as good as a Panoptic, but it is GOOD enough in our SLOW scopes, and the low power allows us to grab as much of the Sky as we can...

For mid-high magnification I use a Meade 4000 14mm UWA eyepiece, which with its wide FOV complements very well our scopes. (I really love this eyepiece)

For High magnification I use a Nagler 9mm, which has a very wide FOV also...

For REALLY High magnification and Planetary work I have the whole set of UO Orthos, which range from 25mm to 5mm. They are probably the BEST "Bang for the Buck" since they are very simple, clean, inexpensive and provide awesome views of the planets (even though I must point out that they have a smaller FOV, by design, so a tracking mount is something very nice to have while using them)


Hope this helps a lil' bit... 8)


Clear skies!

Joe,

If you just purchased a Pentax 14mm XL that should be a perfect EP for that range given its 20mm eye relief. If eye relief is really important to you I would recommend other XL's or Radians for higher powers. You probably would want something in the 24mm range such as a Panoptic. Coupled with an f/6.3 reducer it would yield about 1.10 degree FOV. Some of the much longer focal length EP's may begin to conflict with your astigmatism.

If you can afford a CGE you can also afford a binoviewer and some sort of CCD camera to really keep you out all night. I know, that means two of each EP plus a laptop. etc. Somebody stop me!