DeanCJ

I recently purchased a Celestron 8se, and was in the same situation as you with regards to an affordable eyepiece upgrade. I don’t know how to paste a link but @John has done a very good review of three Vixen slv eyepieces on here, just do a quick search. At the time FLO had these on offer so having read the review I purchased a couple. I now have slv’s from 25 to 9mm with Vixen npl’s and LV’s  to fill in the gaps. 
These may not be the best eyepieces on the market but I do find them a good affordable upgrade, I am very happy with them and  they even work well in a f5.9 ST102. 

Hi Niko, and welcome. I only live a few miles from Doncaster and I must say that when I look in your direction the light pollution is quite bad, but don’t let that put you off. My wife and I were observing till about 2am this Wednesday/Thursday and there are plenty of great targets well above the Doncaster sky-glow. If you haven’t got already, get SkySafari for your phone or tablet, there’s a free version or paid for version and you will be amazed at what there is to view at the moment.
Dean.

If you have SkySafari 6 plus, simply click the Observe button, then click Observing Lists, you will then have a few options to select such as My Favourites, click on - ‘Import From Online Repository’ here you can chose from dozens of lists including the Cambridge Double Star Atlas to download directly to SkySafari and save in your ‘Observing Lists’ you simply select a target from the list just as you would from Tonights Best etc. 
Hope this helps.

Dean.

My wife and I have a Skywatcher ST102, we bought it knowing full well it’s lunar and planetary limitations. 
we wanted something that would give us wide field views of star clusters such as the Pleiades, and I can honestly say that it does not disappoint, only recently we were looking at the Beehive Cluster with a Vixen slv 20mm the view was stunning, no ca whatsoever, my only grumble would be the focuser, I find it quite course.
I believe that at f4.9 it can be hard on eyepieces, we have mainly Vixen eyepieces either slv, npl, and the older lv series and these only have a 50 degree afov, 45 for the lvs, but the 30mm npl gives a huge 3 degrees tfov, We also have an 8mm 60 degree BST Starguider and stars are sharp more or less to the edge.
Would I recommend this scope? - IF you know and accept it’s limitations, then yes I would, very much so, we think that for what it is, it is a cracking little scope, unfortunately it has wet my appetite for something better, an ed doublet perhaps. 
The price was £165.00 for the ota only as I already have a mount.

At the end of January this year My wife and I bought a much cared for, used Celestron 8se, not long after I read John’s review of the 6, 12, and 20mm slv eyepieces, I decided that to get the best performance from this scope we should buy the best quality eyepieces that we could afford. Since February we have purchased the 25, 20, 15, 12, 10, and 9mm slv’s. I should say that I am still very much a beginner, and am not as experienced at noticing small, detailed, faults etc with equipment as more experienced people, but having read about this reflection issue I have purposely tried to find it, and can honestly say that I have not been able to, in any of the above focal lengths. 
We like the Vixen slv eyepieces so much, to fill in the gaps, we have bought the Vixen npl 30, and 8mm eyepieces, and for high power lunar use, we have also managed to buy the Vixen lv range in 7, 6, and 5mm. 
As I have said, we are still very new to this fantastic hobby, and genuinely cannot find any issues with the slv range, and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. 
I should just say a big thank you to John for all the detailed reviews he takes so much time to put together, as we could have spent a lot of money on eyepieces that weren’t suitable, instead we have spent quite a bit of money on something which is perfect first time, so for us, this is money well spent.

Thanks for the quick reply Stu, and the suggestions with regards to the apps, I will definitely have a look on the App Store and maybe look at buying a decent phone mount.

Lovely photos everyone, my wife and I were also looking at the moon last night, mainly to try out some new Vixen eyepieces we have purchased, three used lv’s and a brand new Vixen 30mm npl purchased from FLO this week. 
This was taken hand held, iPhone 5 se. Celestron 8se, Vixen 30mm npl.
I would very much appreciate your opinions as we were using our new to us Celestron 8se, and I have struggled to get to grips with the collimation side of things, in fact, I have perhaps become a little obsessed, ie I have good star tests but start to doubt myself 🤪. 
I must admit though, I am very happy with the results.

Since January whilst they have been discounted by various suppliers, I have been building a collection of Vixen SLV eyepieces. On Monday, to complete my collection I ordered a 20mm SLV from Tring astronomy centre, it arrived Wednesday via Royal Mail 48. Upon opening the box I found not a 20mm but a 9mm (in a 20mm box). I immediately phoned Tring, and after a quick check they returned my call and had found the 20mm in a 9mm box ( the last one in stock) and would post it out immediately at no cost to me. The 20mm arrived the following afternoon via Royal Mail guaranteed next day with a lovely note and pre paid return label.

 I know most, if not all suppliers would probably do the same but considering the very difficult times we are all living through, I find their service absolutely fantastic and cannot recommend them enough.

I also have a Celestron 8se , I also have a BST Starguider and a Vixen NPL not in your chosen range but both 8mm, my wife and I were looking at the Eskimo nebula two nights ago and the Vixen was the better eyepiece. The BST revealed the central star but was kind of soft and blurry, whereas the Vixen was much sharper. This was exactly the same for M13.

So of your list I would probably go with,

1st Vixen npl

2nd Nirvana 

3rd Ex-Cel lx / Starguider 

Peter_D is so right, “there is always something”

Like you my wife and I are new to astronomy, we spent ages last night looking at M44, it’s a stunning cluster and I couldn’t believe how many different coloured stars it contains, this was using a cheap ST 102, it was so nice  it made me want to buy a appo triplet!! We also really enjoy the moon and have recently downloaded the Lunar 100 which should be fun to try and complete. Double stars are also a favourite, not only the challenge of splitting the tight ones but some are really pretty to look at. I downloaded a brilliant double star app for my iPhone for I think for 99p it is simply called “Double Stars” and is unbelievably comprehensive.
 

Have you considered a zoom eyepiece? I personally have never used one but for £185 you could get a Baader Hyperion IV from FLO which would give you a focal length of 8 to 24 mm, also, if you could stretch your budget a little RVO are offering a combo deal to include the Baader zoom with the matching 2.25 Baader Barlow for £235 which would give you a focal length of 3.6 to 24mm. 
I am a novice myself, and as I have said, I have never used a zoom but I believe the Baader zoom is highly rated and I am sure other forum members would give you their opinions.

5 hours ago, BGazing said:

2 inch visual back and 2 inch dialectric diagonal add something between 200-300mm of focal length to C8, depending on the diagonal and whether you use 2 in or 1.25 in EP. Short fl EPs will almost invariably be towards the lower side, so your scope will operate at f/11 or close. 

8mm will land around 0.7mm exit pupil which, I believe, is the right spot to land for SCT highest power. The nights where more will be usable will not be that frequent.

 

edit: I see you use 1.25 visual back and diagonal, hopefully not stock diagonal.  In any event, you are at f/10, so perhaps a 9-7mm combo would be the right choice.

Stock diagonal on ST102 and dialectric diagonal on C8.

Once again a big thanks to everyone for your advice, I think the best way forward is to try my various high power eyepieces over a good few sessions and then look at upgrading the ones that work the best, with high quality brands such as John suggested. Unfortunately I work away from home so my time at the eyepiece is always limited, but I really am looking forward to putting the C8 through its paces, from what I have read there is a lot to look forward to as the year progresses.

3 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

As a general rule x1 per mm gives you the best balance between detail retrieval and contrast loss on an SCT. Any less and you miss detail, any more and contrast reduces.

I'd increase that to x1.5 per mm for an apo refractor or Mak; both these types have better contrast than an SCT.

That isn't to say you can't go higher on nights of excellent seeing, but, the detail/contrast relationship still applies.

Thanks for the info, I have taken a screenshot. I did notice the Vixen 10+9 mm were really good and according to my maths that equals x1mm and x1.1mm respectively so a pretty good match.

4 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

A binoviewer and some nice eyepiece pairs to take your observing to the next level.

 

We have thought about binoviewers, but I am already close to the weight limit of our mount on both saddles (Meade lx65). Could be done if I removed 9x50 finder scope and changed the dialectric diagonal for the stock plastic kit item, as long as I am not one of the people who struggle to merge the images etc that might work, would probably look at second hand just in case.

2 hours ago, paul mc c said:

I will never forget one view i had of Saturn when i had an 8" Meade sct,the eyepiece i used was a 7mm TS planetary,with the blue band,this eyepiece was the perfect one for me.

I think the Skywatcher planetary eyepieces I have are similar to TS ones possibly a TMB clone I believe, so if you found the 7mm good I won’t rush to replace mine until I have had the opportunity to give it a good try. The eyepieces John has mentioned all seem to get very, very good reviews but unless I purchased second hand, it would require some serious saving up! I must admit though, I bought the Vixens having read John’s review of them and find them very good indeed, even in my f4.9 Startavel, and to be honest I am used to plossls so I don’t mind at all a 50 degree FOV, in fact I think FLO still have them on offer so might buy some more, my wife wouldn’t mind, as I did a quick comparison between the Skywatcher 9mm planetary and the 9mm Vixen, I didn’t tell her which one was which and it didn’t take her long at all to pick , in her opinion the best, which was, no surprise here,- the Vixen ! It’s hard to explain, but even the smallest  detail just seemed that bit sharper, a bit like comparing blu ray to 4k, both very good, but one just that little  bit better. Money well spent I think.

Once again thanks for your quick replies.

Thanks for the quick reply’s everyone. It looks like the 8mm / 250x advice I have been given is about right although I may look at upgrading a couple of eyepieces, its a shame Vixen don’t do the SLV range around the 8 and 7mm size.

 I really enjoy looking at the Moon, there is always something new to find. My wife and I love mount Marilyn, we were so excited when we found it. If you don’t know, Jim Lovell on Apollo 8 named it after his wife, and just recently the IAU officially recognised the name. They were married in 1952 and as far as I know are still alive today, How romantic !!

Hi everyone, hope someone can help.

Six weeks ago I purchased a mint used Celestron 8se. 
Last night was the first time I have been able to give it some use and I set up nice and early, hoping to catch Venus around dusk. 
Once darkness fell I checked and double checked the collimation which looked pretty much perfect, so I spent a good couple of hours on the Moon which for me, as it is almost full, I find it kind of flat due to the lack of shadows. I have a Mak 127 so am reasonably used to high power lunar views, but the 8se is definitely in another league. I started with my new 12, 10, and 9mm Vixen SLV eyepieces which probably gave me the sharpest views I have had to date, l bought these hoping that they would be just about right for planetary viewing. I also have an 8mm BST Starguider and 7, 6, and 5mm Skywatcher 58 degree planetary eyepieces, which I tend to use in my little Startravel 102, this gave me approximately 170x to a shocking 400x I even,out of curiosity, barlowed the 8mm BST to give a ludicrous 500x, although the view was pretty good there didn’t seem to be anything to gained by trying this. I must add though, my 2x Barlow is only the cheep, kit supplied one, not a high end quality item. I had been told that the UK skies tend to limit the 8se to around 8mm / 250x but I did find the Moon took quite a bit more.

I did read somewhere, I think on CN,  that our US cousins have been using powers well in excess of 500x which I am finding hard to get my head around.

So, after this rather long winded post, I am really wanting to ask all you 8” SCT owners, what range of high power eyepieces you use for lunar-only viewing ?

Cheers in advance,

Dean.

18 hours ago, SimM said:

How does it work (play) with just an iPad? Can you setup/align and then use an app e.g. Sky Safari to control scope? Or use HC and one App like Safari, all without a 2nd device?

I have to use both my iPad and my iPhone, I have the synscan app on my iPhone and SkySafari on my iPad, first I pair the iPhone and use the synscan app to do a two star alignment, once aligned I then pair the iPad. In SkySafari you use the IP address and port number from your iPhone. If you have SkySafari pro or plus then you can connect your mount to the app. I leave my iPhone screen lock switched off and leave it paired in the background. I think, if you use an Android  device you only need one device to run both apps, I don’t think you can mix and match Apple and Android . Hope this helps.

Hi Frank, I have the synscan wifi adapter, and to be honest I have never tested the maximum range but my iPad battery nearly went flat one evening so I popped into the house to put it on charge, then re-connected, with the ipad showing full wifi signal strength which would be approx fifteen to twenty feet away and it worked perfectly. I would think the range should be longer than this providing no obstructions in the line of sight. 
Hope this helps.

Dean.

22 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

I like how Voyager was even worked into the first of the Star Trek movies.

After almost what, three or four century's, V-ger returns home wanting to download everything its learned. It wants to meet its creator.

I would like to hope that someday, if there is intelligent life out there and they stumble across it, they smile and say wow!

 

I must agree, it would be fantastic if someone found it, especially if they could figure out how to access all the information on the gold disc, I wonder what they would think of the Earth.

9 hours ago, Xsubmariner said:

Hi Dean welcome to SGL, beware the dark force of imaging.

I must admit most, if not all the images I have seen here on SGL are fantastic, but it does seem quite complicated especially the software side of things, however I do happen to have a Canon eos 1100 and a T ring adapter that I accidentally purchased !! Don’t know how that happened !! 😉

37 minutes ago, m.tweedy said:

Sometimes they have a sale with up to 50% off when Pro becomes a viable option

Quite right, I checked the App Store on and off for around two months, and Sky Safari plus was suddenly reduced in price to around six pounds. I didn’t bother with the pro version as I suspected that just like the huge data bases that come with GoTo mounts, a large percentage of objects would be out of the grasp of my modest scopes.

To be honest I was quite happy with the free version but I wanted to add WiFi telescope control and this is not available on the free version.

Thanks everyone for your nice warm welcome, this already feels like a nice place to be, I’m sure I’ll enjoy being here.

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Nice combo Dean. What is the mount like? Looks interesting.

We like it a lot, to be honest I was a little cautious about buying it as I couldn’t find many reviews of it. It can be purchased with a selection of OTA’s and I would have liked the 8” sct but it was a little over budget. 
The primary saddle carries approximately 6.5 Kg and the secondary saddle carries approximately 3.25 Kg. The secondary saddle has fine adjustment in both the horizontal and vertical axis so you can perfectly align both scopes.

It has the AudioStar handset which gives you a little information about your chosen target, not necessary but nice, navigation is a little different to Skywatcher Synscan once aligned the GoTo is very accurate and the tracking is excellent.

I believe Meade GoTo mounts are known for being a little noisy, this is louder than my Skywatcher GoTo mount but mainly on fast slewing, when it is tracking it is whisper quiet, we power it with a 3.2 Ah burglar alarm type battery. It is surprisingly heavy but not excessive, the tripod legs are 1.75” and have anti vibration feet.

Due to the poor weather recently we have only used it half a dozen times but to be honest we are very impressed .
 

Hope this little review is useful.

Our new Meade lx65 mount with 127 Mak and ST102, we find this a good combination of high power and nice low power wide field views.