Eyepieces for 80mm F4 short tube refractor?

[Steve-G]

I recently purchased an 80mm short tube refractor (400mm) to use as a 'grab & go' scope for those nights when I fancy a quick poke around the skies. I'm not expecting too much from the scope but it will do me for those times when I have an itch to scratch. I've been looking for a couple or three cheap & cheerful eyepieces to go with it but, after almost googling myself into a coma, I haven't really found much suitable for such a fast (F4) little scope. Does anybody have any suggestions in the £50 – £100 price range that could be worth looking at?

[triton1]

I use a BST star guider which seems to work fine at f5 and other people say the same about the celestron x cel,these cost £49 and £69 each.

[ronin]

Did the same on a grab and go f/5 refractor, picked up the 5mm, 8mm and 25mm BST Starguider (yours is f/5 by the way).

For the hell of it I got the 3.2mm BST from 365Astro, but no idea how it works yet, never got round to trying it.

For yours that is likely a good option.

[Steve-G]

Did the same on a grab and go f/5 refractor, picked up the 5mm, 8mm and 25mm BST Starguider (yours is f/5 by the way).

For the hell of it I got the 3.2mm BST from 365Astro, but no idea how it works yet, never got round to trying it.

For yours that is likely a good option.

Urgh, of course it's an F/5. I must have run out of fingers to count on when I was working it out - stupid boy! Pass me the dunce's cap & I'll go back & revisit all the eyepieces I've been dismissing as not being suitable. Sometimes I'm so stupid I even surprise myself. 

The BST's are looking like a good option so might throw some money at a couple of those to start with. Thanks for the advice.... and for pointing out my abysmal maths skills 

[NGC 1502]

 I'm not expecting too much from the scope

Hi Steve-G.   I think that you may surprise yourself what can be seen with a short focus 80mm refractor, much more so if you can get to a dark site.

From home, my 10" Dob on a good moonless autumn night will reveal M110, the fainter of the two companion galaxies to M31, plus the brighter companion, M32.

From Kelling Heath, my 70mm refractor shows M31, M32 and M110 easily at low power all in the same 18x field of view.

Also easy in the 70mm refractor was the eastern Veil Nebula.

Your 80mm short focus scope works at its best at low to medium power, so if you use a binocular guide ( which is also low power wide field ) so much awaits you to see.  Plus your scope, used with a diagonal, is much better viewing at a high elevation than regular binos.

Regards, Ed.

[Herbig]

I loved my Equinox 80 to just cruse with at low power, as been said above awesome at a dark site.

[ronin]

Numbers are one of tose things that once you get a figure in your head it sticks - nothing budges it.

Done it so many times myself.

As said I have a small 70/350 I use as a grab and go and I collected the 5mm, 8mm and 25mm as a half set for the same reason.

They work very well, so I have little doubt that in yours they will do what you want.

I keep them in a plastic food box from Wilkinson, just get one that all 3 eyepiece boxes will fit in, bit extra protection and all in one place..