What's your scope?

Michael,
I know from your website that you do great work with the Dob.
As a matter of interest, what EP's do you generally use for both lunar/planetary and deep sky observing. Do you stick with 2" or use 1.25 also. I recently bought a 12" F5 Dob (GSO). It came with a 32mm EP of average quality. I use some 1.25 EP' Plossl's also but I am not happy with them on the dob.
Any advice or tips are welcome.
Johnno

what EP's do you generally use for both lunar/planetary and deep sky observing

The eyepieces that I use are :-

30mm Celestron Ultima
20mm Orion Possyl
9mm wide field Pro Optic
6mm no name Plossyl
5mm Celestron Ultima
x2 Celestron Ultima Barlow

All are 31.7mm barrel (1.25")

The best for Deepsky is the 30mm and the 9mm WA. For planetry viewing I often use the 20mm with the x2 Barlow or the 6mm and 5mm if the seeing allows. (rarely)

I only recently changed the fosuser to a JMI 2" but have not yet got any EP to match it. Any Suggestions????

Michael

My 8" f5 Celestron can take either 1.25" or 2" eyepieces. I have only ever used 1.25" ep's mainly because they are more readially available, however have often thought about getting a couple of 2" ep's.

Any advice on the pros & cons of 2" eyepieces or a good size to start with would be much appreciated.

Damon

2" eyepieces generally allow for a wider field of view than 1.25" eyepieces, simply because the barrel of the eyepiece is wider.
Unfortunately, like everything else, you get what you pay for. Cheaper eyepieces usually don't have as many lenses in them as the more expensixe ones. Also, the quality of the glass and the manufacturing quality control wouldn't be the same.
In general, most people would say that the Nagler eyepieces are the best 2" eyepieces curently available to the amateur astronomer. BTW, Nagler is a range of eyepieces made by a company called Televue. Televue also make other ranges of eyepeices, such as Panoptics, Radians and Plossls. For more info see: www.televue.com/home/default_2.asp
This should prove a useful starting point. However, be warned, Naglers don't come cheap, especially if you get them from the UK. If you can't afford a Nagler, then the Panoptic range would be well worth considering. Alot of the cheaper eyepieces don't perform too well in fast scopes. Although many companies make 2" eyepieces, I personally wouldn't look beyond a Nagler or a Panoptic. Just my personal preference.
BTW, a good place to get second-hand gear is www.astromart.com It's kinda like the ebay of astro-gear.
Clear skies,

A useful link about eyepieces:
tinyurl.com/76or4

I find the meade series 4000 2" eyepieces to be of surperb quality in my very fast 16" dob. Particularily the 32mm SWA which is an excellent eyepiece which i use more often than anything else. Now Meade have a new series 5000 out so they may even be better!!

Good luck with it