JOC

If you have a mobile phone with GIS turned on for a few minutes an application called synscan init 2.0 will usually provide all you need for setting up goto systems will all the figures in the right order inc. All the essential leading zeros and plus or minus desinations that you must make sure you include. It might be worth a try.

You have a PM

LOL Mind you I was thinking more in terms of someone actually owning 101 different EPs!!

I was scanning the thread titles and saw Eyepiece 101 and thought, 'my word someone's bank balance has been hit hard!!!'

I've got an 8" Dob and on a good night can get to x240 - I've never seen E and F either.

It's not just an optical illusion is it - those are huge - yes?

Don't laugh, but still as a novice observer the answer is 'ones that I can find!' Seriously I haven't observed too many objects yet, but I think my favourites so far have been the ring nebula - just the coolest thing in the sky, the blue snowball (something I can actually see colour in, Alberio coloured double star and Lyra - the double double and I have split it as far as 4 stars clearly. I've also got a soft spot for the trapezium in the Orion nebula, but I still can't see more than about 4 stars in it. Oh and it goes without saying the planets - Saturn and Jupiter are obviously cool and the moon and sun. I think this qualifies as all the easy to find/easy to see objects LOL

I'll have wait until the clouds clear to count, but on this web site https://www.nightblight.cpre.org.uk/maps/ I am literally on the cusp of 0.5-1 and 0.25-0.5 Nanowatts/cm2/sr I am not entirely certain what the scale means, but I guess it is fairly good, though I could have real words with the numbskull that put up 4 flood lights about 1/4 mile down the road recently which are now all I can see at eye level and in through my bathroom skylight window. O-III Filter wise I have one of these Optics ones https://www.firstlightoptics.com/uhc-oiii-visual-filters/oiii-filter.html However, I have no idea how good it is vs. more expensive ones.

It has been suggested that my Baader aspheric modular 31mm might be useful to view the veil in the summer. However, to do this I'll need an O-III filter and my O-III is 1.25mm. The Aspheric is a 2" EP, but has a 1.25mm cone to allow it's installation in both sizes of focussers (my own focusser is 2" or 1.25 with an adapter). Hence I can put my O-III filter on the Aspheric, but only with the 1.25mm adapter. With the adapter in place I guess I loose a significant part of wide field of view of this EP. If this is so then I have a different possible EP I could use a Celestron Omni Plossl 1.25" 32mm which will obviously take the O-III filter directly. So which will I get the best view with? The Baader aspheric 31mm with 1.25 adapter or The Celestron Omni plossl 32mm

With such help I might just be encouraged to have a bash at this. I do recall once viewing Alberio and clearly viewed the two differently coloured stars. I had no idea that it was part of cygnus. NB. The advice on EP choice is hugely helpful to beginners like myself - with many deep sky objects it is difficult to know just how big or otherwise they actually are.

I've absolutely no idea - err........I'd have to find Cygnus first! I'll check on stellarium the next clear night when I'm out and see if I can find Cygnus. That ought to be doable as I can see how it might look like a big swan.

I've got both those and a goto and I am similarly frustrated and although I haven't made huge efforts I have on occasion gone looking for it at the right time of year and given up.

I find my 8" 200P Dob is happier at around x200 and maybe x240 if the conditions are really good - I don't get much use out of my 5mm XW Pentax - despite is being an excellent quality EP as with the 1200mm FL this gives x240 which I find is at the top of what works here in my bit of the UK.

The baby Vixen in signature has a considerably recessed glass optic inside the final part of the tube. the tube itself has an internal diameter of 96mm and an external diameter of 100mm. I don't quite know how your solar filter attaches, but do you think it would fit?

Maximum theoretical magnification may not be what you get the best view with. I have a 5mm in my box (1200mm focal length) giving me potentially 240 X magnification. I try it and rarely succeed. Many times smaller is sharper and far nicer to view the planets with. If you haven't already done so I would commend the scrolling through of this thread and viewing the pictures on the first page: