10 inch SCT eyepieces

[Mike Q]

So later in May i am being given a Meade 10 inch LX200 F10 SCT. It is an older scope that has had all the electronic replaced. It comes with a 2 inch moonlight focuser and is in like new condition.

Some things to keep in mind. 95 percent of the time my skies limit me to 200x or less. With its 2500mm of focal length i am thinking that my 3 Q70s might just find a home with that scope. If i used my 2 inch 2x barlow that would give me a range of 13, 16, 19, 26, 32 and 38mm. Now i know the Q series eyepieces are much maligned in faster scopes, but at F10 one would think they would be pretty decent.

[Bigzmey]

That should work nicely.

[OzEclipse]

Mike,

At f10, SCT's are very forgiving of eyepiece design. Eyepieces that lack sufficient correction for the curved focal surface of fast optics work perfectly well in an f10 SCT with its flatter focal surface.

Joe

[Mike Q]

Well we are going to see how well they do when i get it home. Hopefully buy sometime in June i will have a cart made for it so i can easily transport it from place to place.

[Mike Q]

I thought i would update this a bit. The Q70s do a fine job in this scope. Do the better corrected eyepieces that i run in my dobs do better, yes they do, especially on planetary and lunar. At least this is where i notice it the most. I will pick up one or two eyepieces for it, a 20mm and maybe a 14mm in the 70ish degree area and call it good. While i have both the 14mm and 20mm on hand already they are my most used eyepieces in my dobs and are almost always in my focuser. A little over lap is fine with me

[Mike Q]

https://agenaastro.com/agena-1-25-super ... e-set.html

So i ran across these eyepieces today and was thinking they might work well in the SCT, they are basically the baby brothers to my Orion Q70s which work very well at F10

[Bigzmey]

https://agenaastro.com/agena-1-25-super ... e-set.html

So i ran across these eyepieces today and was thinking they might work well in the SCT, they are basically the baby brothers to my Orion Q70s which work very well at F10

I would not recommend those for SCTs. Erfle design works fine in slow scopes at low powers, but once you get above 100x they loose sharpness.

To advise on EP selection it would be useful to see what you already have.

[Mike Q]

https://agenaastro.com/agena-1-25-super ... e-set.html

So i ran across these eyepieces today and was thinking they might work well in the SCT, they are basically the baby brothers to my Orion Q70s which work very well at F10

I would not recommend those for SCTs. Erfle design works fine in slow scopes at low powers, but once you get above 100x they loose sharpness.

To advise on EP selection it would be useful to see what you already have.

Currently i use the Orion Q70s in it. 26, 32 and 38. I also have a Meade 4000 56mm for going really low power. I just thought these might be acceptable for it. I do have significantly better eyepieces that i use in my dobs and they work well in it. I just like having a case of eyepieces for each scope. Excessive yes, but its just the way i do things

[Bigzmey]

https://agenaastro.com/agena-1-25-super ... e-set.html

So i ran across these eyepieces today and was thinking they might work well in the SCT, they are basically the baby brothers to my Orion Q70s which work very well at F10

I would not recommend those for SCTs. Erfle design works fine in slow scopes at low powers, but once you get above 100x they loose sharpness.

To advise on EP selection it would be useful to see what you already have.

Currently i use the Orion Q70s in it. 26, 32 and 38. I also have a Meade 4000 56mm for going really low power. I just thought these might be acceptable for it. I do have significantly better eyepieces that i use in my dobs and they work well in it. I just like having a case of eyepieces for each scope. Excessive yes, but its just the way i do things

Nothing wrong with tailoring a set of EPs for a particular scope. But your SCT is a fine instrument and you don't want to degrade it's performance by using wrong EP design either. 10mm to 20mm range you are looking for will produce high range of powers in your SCT. This is where limitations in simple EP designs become quite evident. If you are looking for less expensive EPs I would recommend Celestron X-Cel LX.

[Mike Q]

I would not recommend those for SCTs. Erfle design works fine in slow scopes at low powers, but once you get above 100x they loose sharpness.

To advise on EP selection it would be useful to see what you already have.

Currently i use the Orion Q70s in it. 26, 32 and 38. I also have a Meade 4000 56mm for going really low power. I just thought these might be acceptable for it. I do have significantly better eyepieces that i use in my dobs and they work well in it. I just like having a case of eyepieces for each scope. Excessive yes, but its just the way i do things

Nothing wrong with tailoring a set of EPs for a particular scope. But your SCT is a fine instrument and you don't want to degrade it's performance by using wrong EP design either. 10mm to 20mm range you are looking for will produce high range of powers in your SCT. This is where limitations in simple EP designs become quite evident. If you are looking for less expensive EPs I would recommend Celestron X-Cel LX.

I have been looking at the ES 16 and 20mm 68 degree eyepieces as well. Now there is a plan b sitting on the shelf. I would slide my Orion 14 and 20mm 80 degree into the SCT case and replace them with the Astro Tech 13 and 20mm 100 degree, which are exceptionally good eyepieces.

[Bigzmey]

Currently i use the Orion Q70s in it. 26, 32 and 38. I also have a Meade 4000 56mm for going really low power. I just thought these might be acceptable for it. I do have significantly better eyepieces that i use in my dobs and they work well in it. I just like having a case of eyepieces for each scope. Excessive yes, but its just the way i do things

Nothing wrong with tailoring a set of EPs for a particular scope. But your SCT is a fine instrument and you don't want to degrade it's performance by using wrong EP design either. 10mm to 20mm range you are looking for will produce high range of powers in your SCT. This is where limitations in simple EP designs become quite evident. If you are looking for less expensive EPs I would recommend Celestron X-Cel LX.

I have been looking at the ES 16 and 20mm 68 degree eyepieces as well. Now there is a plan b sitting on the shelf. I would slide my Orion 14 and 20mm 80 degree into the SCT case and replace them with the Astro Tech 13 and 20mm 100 degree, which are exceptionally good eyepieces.

I had ES68 16mm and 20mm. They are great performers if you don't mind short eye relief.

[Mike Q]

Nothing wrong with tailoring a set of EPs for a particular scope. But your SCT is a fine instrument and you don't want to degrade it's performance by using wrong EP design either. 10mm to 20mm range you are looking for will produce high range of powers in your SCT. This is where limitations in simple EP designs become quite evident. If you are looking for less expensive EPs I would recommend Celestron X-Cel LX.

I have been looking at the ES 16 and 20mm 68 degree eyepieces as well. Now there is a plan b sitting on the shelf. I would slide my Orion 14 and 20mm 80 degree into the SCT case and replace them with the Astro Tech 13 and 20mm 100 degree, which are exceptionally good eyepieces.

I had ES68 16mm and 20mm. They are great performers if you don't mind short eye relief.

Believe it or not the wife and i both like shorter focal length eyepieces and prefer it now to longer eye relief eyepieces. Now to wait on the eyepieces to go on sale.

[Bigzmey]

I have been looking at the ES 16 and 20mm 68 degree eyepieces as well. Now there is a plan b sitting on the shelf. I would slide my Orion 14 and 20mm 80 degree into the SCT case and replace them with the Astro Tech 13 and 20mm 100 degree, which are exceptionally good eyepieces.

I had ES68 16mm and 20mm. They are great performers if you don't mind short eye relief.

Believe it or not the wife and i both like shorter focal length eyepieces and prefer it now to longer eye relief eyepieces. Now to wait on the eyepieces to go on sale.

Then you will love ES68s. 16mm is such a cute little thing, you just want to adapt it.

[Mike Q]

Its kind of funny. When we started this hobby we really liked the longer eye relief eyepieces.... The Q70s, the Orion LHDs, now we find we like to get in nice and close to the eyepiece. We actually rest the eyepiece on the bottom eyelid to take in the whole FOV of the 80 and 100 degree eyepieces.

[Bigzmey]

I observe with eyeglasses on so long ER is a must.

[Mike Q]

I observe with eyeglasses on so long ER is a must.

I get it. Lots of folks need that long eye relief