TheSkySearchers

I wanted these Meade HD-60 eyepieces before they were discontinued, saw the whole set up for sale for a decent price and was lucky enough to snatch them up before anyone else! Finally! Odd that the 25mm box has no label and the eyepiece also does not have Meade stamped on it. Anyway , can't wait for first light with them!

Congrats Bruce! These are nice EPs.

You should enjoy the views with those.

I enjoy the set I have and expect that you will feel the same way.

Nice set!

Thanks, everyone! I had a new unused Apache case sitting around, and even though it already had pluck foam, I removed a layer of it and used the foam inserts of the boxed eyepiece set for the HD-60's and a few of my other 60° AFOV eyepieces. I like the results. Not perfect, but it will do.

I bought some more eyepieces! I've been looking for the Meade Series 4000 4.7mm, 6.7mm, and 8.8mm UWA 82° eyepieces to go with my 14mm UWA. I just missed out on the 4.7mm last week, but was able to buy the 6.7mm for $90 USD delivered. I just haven't been fast enough any time the 8.8mm shows up. Often, they want too much money IMO.

The other eyepieces I bought are: an ES 5.5mm 62°, complete with box and caps, a Celestron X-Cel 5mm with caps, and an A1star 7.5mm TMB Planetary II clone with only the bottom cap. I got them in a package deal for less than a new 62° ES 5.5mm. After I received them, I found a top cap for the clone in my box of odds and ends.

I've never looked through or even held the X-Cel, the HD-60, or the ES series of eyepieces before now so I thought I'd just compare them. So far, I like the way the X-Cel fits in my hand a little bit more than my Meade 4.5mm HD-60, but I already bought the whole set of Meade's, and I'm okay with that. I'll probably keep the ES 5.5mm because of how small it is compared to the others, and that's a plus in many ways. I don't expect I'll be keeping the A1Sstar SW 7.5mm eyepiece, unless it proves to be a better performer than my 8mm TMB Optical Planetary.

Can't wait for the skies to clear and I've recovered from my medical procedure I'm having in a few days in order to handle setting up my scopes for First Light!

Comparing EPs are fun! From my brief experience X-Cel LX and HD60 perform very similar. Congrats on snatching Meade 6.7mm UWA, those are hard to find.

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 8:07 pm Comparing EPs are fun! From my brief experience X-Cel LX and HD60 perform very similar. Congrats on snatching Meade 6.7mm UWA, those are hard to find.

The Meade 6.7mm usually is hard to find, but there's 2 or 3 on CN's classifieds right now, and one of them is complete with the box and the eyepiece container for the same price I paid for mine with just the container. It's a good deal if someone wants to snatch it up!

I finally was able to purchase a Series 4000 Meade 8.8mm UWA eyepiece!

Now, I just need to obtain the 4.7mm UWA to complete the collection. And yes, I really plan to observe with them!