superjody

1 hour ago, SMF said:

Hi, I also have the 200p F5 1000mm EQ mount and an OO VX12L dob, live in a Bortle 4 area on the south coast and to be frank rarely get seeing that allows the use of a 5mm eyepiece let alone higher mag. My most used for Jupiter, Saturn and Mars this year has been a 7mm. I also have a 3.5mm and it’s used on exceptional seeing conditions. Great to have when useable but I sourced a 5, 7 and 10 first and like I said it’s the 7mm that’s most used. The difference between an eyepiece that came with the scope and any upgrade from Celestron X-Cel to Pentax XW is night and day. 

i have purchased the 5mm
It will do for now and il start to build up a collection soon when stock levels are up in shops

16 minutes ago, Stu said:

The 200p Dobsonian is 1200mm focal length, f6. Is this the one you have? It’s the 200pds which is 1000mm.

mines the 200p 1000mm black tube on an eq5

3 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

The fairly complete set for a scope that size would yield magnifications of 50x/100x/150x/200x/250x

50x is a great low power--splurge for a 2" widefield to get a nice large field.  Great for star clusters, M42, M31, and large objects.

100x would be a most-used, highest-acuity eyepiece excellent on most DSOs.

150x would be a higher normal range magnification for smaller DSOs.  Also good on Moon, planets, double stars.

200x would be a high power eyepiece for Moon, planets, double stars, small planetary nebulae, and the like.

250x would be for excellent seeing conditions for Moon, planets, double stars.  Used often when seeing is really good.

Higher powers probably will see very little use.

With a 1200mm focal length, that is eyepieces of 24mm, 12mm, 8mm, 6mm, and 4.8mm

 

I would skip anything higher until you know more about your seeing conditions.

Right now, Jupiter and Saturn are quite low in the atmosphere and unlikely to be good above 150x or so.  And Mars, though still high up, has gotten quite small.  200-250x makes sense IF the atmosphere allows.

 

 

thanks, thats a great explanation.
Mines only 1000.. focal length though, il do the calculations
The 5mm will give me 200

4 hours ago, Dark Vader said:

Have a look here https://skys-the-limit-108154.square.site/shop/1-25-bst-starguider-ed/8 looks like they still have some...

Tbh i find the 5mm is pushing it a bit most nights. The difference between that and the 3.2? - it will push your magnification up by 135x and very often at the expense of clarity. I've seen more detail on Jupiter with the 15mm than the 5.

15mm shows jupiter detail?? i didnt think that would be powerful enough.
Cheers for the link, i did find a website that had some but they are cheaper on yours

On 12/12/2020 at 20:50, Dark Vader said:

I only had the 25 and 10 that came with my 200p, and apart from a 21-7 zoom, I got 2 BST Starguiders - the 15 and 5mm.

The 15mm may only give 80x but it's a great bit of "budget" kit. The 5mm gives 240x and I've had good views of Mars with it, but even 240x is on the limit of "useful" magnification most nights. Both are great on the moon, I much prefer the clarity of the 15mm. It Barlows well too. Sometimes less can be more.

They do a 3.2mm that would push your scope up to 375x but only when conditions allow, and in the UK that won't be often. 

The bst are in the budget im looking at but they are out of stock
How bad would the 3.2 be under normal conditions compared to the 5mm?
Il definitely be getting some low powered wide eyepieces

4 hours ago, Louis D said:

If I may ask, why is a super high power eyepiece your primary focus when reentering amateur astronomy when it will rarely be useful due to sky conditions on a select few categories of objects?  Are you big into splitting tight doubles?

never used one at this power and its the only one the shop has in, everything else is out of stock
im after a high powered one with good detail within the £50 range for now.
Il probably hold on for the 4mm to come back in stock

21 hours ago, Stu said:

Which other eyepieces to you have @superjody? If you’ve got everything else covered, then very high power is occasionally useful on nights of excellent seeing on the Moon or Doubles say, but it will be fairly infrequent. As others have said, a lower power will be much more useable.

only have the 10 and 25mm that came with the scope, only had it a couple of weeks

2 hours ago, paul mc c said:

I have a TMB 6mm in the for sale section if interested.....

Paul

saw that earlier, im considering it but im looking at a higher magnification at the mo

Hi all
Looking for an eyepiece for my 200p
Been away from astronomy for a few years, sold all my stuff but now im back.
im looking for a good planetary eyepiece with good eye relief  up to £50.
I used to have a tmb 6mm which i liked and used that with a x2 barlow on my skywatcher 250p.
Ive been looking at the skywatcher UWA range as they seem to tick all the boxes.......but they are out of stock.
I have found one place that has the 2.5mm in stock but im not sore if that will be too much on mine.
It will give x400 magnification and mines capable of 405 x magnification.....but i live in radcliffe near manchester so the skies are not amazing.
Any thoughts??
Thanks

anyone who wants a smallish case for a few eyepieces try this on ebay

S74 Medium Foam Lined Black Pistol Case 180mm x 280mm on eBay (end time 11-Mar-10 17:06:37 GMT)

think im either gonna get this or maybe a maplin one...even though i think they are overpriced....

Hi all, reet im new to all this and slowly starting to learn.

had some clearish skies tonight and jupiter was glowing in the sky so i got my skywatcher 130 out with its standard eyepieces, super 10mm, super 25mm and barlow x2.

i got the eyepiece that got me in as close as i could (forgot if it was 10 or 25) in the barlow and focused in. i could see jupiter and its moons but the colour detail on jupiter was very very very faint, is that just because i have the 130 scope?? do i need better eyepieces or is it a combination of both??

if anyone else has this scope what eyepieces have you upgraded to and what are the differences over the standard ones?

cheers

Jody