Shooting star

Great point. Will definitely do that. I'm going through the Brian Ventrudo's "How to Choose Eyepieces for Your Astronomy Telescope" article which is best I've read so far for my level.

Bit of a minefield, especially for the newbie such as I!

See what your saying. I'll need to understand the design more and deep dive the reviews.

Ah I see. Thanks. Sounds like one to avoid. Don't like the idea of rebranded.

Wonder what you all think of SVBONY eyepieces. Not heard of them so cautious about quality...?

Another great insight. Helping me to come to conclusions on what is best for me. Thanks.

Great advice! As an eyeglass wearer eye relief (and exit pupil I suppose) will be critical. Thank you very much.

It all helps and thanks. I think I need to consider used gear where I wouldn't have previously.

What would you say is the difference between the Vixen SLV and the Starguider eyepieces. How different a viewing experience is it?

Thank you. I'll look into it. I know the Baader name is quality and I had read somewhere that a zoom is a viable option.

Good thought. Sounds wise. Surprising the relatively little spend required. Which brands are you happy with?

Will do. Great suggestions, appreciated.

Understand what you say on magnification. Quality important. Thanks. BST recommend more than once so I'll have a look. Cheers.

Thanks. £200 would be upper most for a given eyepiece but somewhere between £100-150 ideal.

I was gifted an Orion XT8 telescope which came with only an Orion Sirius Plossl Multi-coated 25mm. It seems a decent starter eyepiece, but I know it is on the lower end of the spectrum. More serious intentions now... Wondering what next step ought to be. Quality 2x Barlow? Or do I want to buy a better 25mm eyepiece to replace the existing? Or go for a good quality short focal length one? Say an 8mm which then, one day with 2x Barlow, would give me the max (suggested at 300x as opposed to the theoretical 400x)? Any thoughts/strategies would be appreciated.

Thanks. I think I will review the myths once hammer sold on eBay! Saw my first galaxy last night (albeit pretty undefined with 48x power) all thanks to your brilliant guidance. Many thanks.

Not sure what happened. Though I sent reply and attached two images. checked just now and don't see any evidence of thst! Anyways, pretty sure I have completed collimation and many thanks. It appears to star test I'll need a bit more power. 2x Barlow next on my list to be able to go from 48x to 96x.

Amazing you can determine from my average camera pic. Big cup of coffee and check hammer secured away and begin micro adjustments. Big thanks.

Not sure my photos will help (?) Top is with collimation cap.

That is sensible and thanks. Will try and image and send through.

Your a star (no pun intended). I really appreciate you helping as you are. Sure you have better things to do on a Sat! It's in Orion XT8 8" mirror; f5.9; 1200mm focal (most generously gifted to me), but in need of care with spider web in tube and speckeld, dirty primary (but that is phase 2 work for me!). When I looked after the initial secondary adjustment was made and now without baffles, I see this attached view (representation I found). Pretty close to that, which makes me instinctively think something is wrong... I'm actively practicing Zen/Jedi ultra-patience mind control where I metaphysically alter the hammer to a silk like material...😂 Cheers.

LOL Hammer locked away... No thumb adjusters, but can see great benefit in having them. Will have a go. Thanks.

Help! So I got the secondary perfectly round and centered to the collimation cap view through focuser. Quite pleased with myself. Than I summoned the courage to remove the white baffle and coloured background cards and view again through the collimation cap...🤔 the view now shows I'm no where near on centre secondary to primary. Is that normal? Why SO far out?! And how am I going to now okay with secondary adjustment screws without undoing all that initial work?! In all the online guides and YouTube videos, once you get secondary good in the focuser with collimation cap, you simply proceed to align the primary. Why are they saying that if you actually need to do a secondary to primary alignment in between? So why does Astro Baby have you do two secondary alignments (which in theory results in an infinite loop of secondary adjustments as one will akways throw the other off- you get it right and then undo it)? Are all the two step: secondary in focuser + primary wrong somehow? Bemused... Neill

Hopefully whatever wisdom I have will offset total lack of experience! Thank you for your kind help.

Many thanks. My brain says the second fiddling will only de center the work initially done. But understand the intent.