Pitch Black Skies

Hi, what did you go with in the end? BCO, BST or Nirvana?

Hello Chris, welcome to SGL.

52 minutes ago, Louis D said:

You can't pivot your eyeball to take in the edges without rotating your head as well or you'll lose the exit pupil.  Think about it.  Does your eyeball pivot about an axis through your cornea?  No, it pivots about an axis roughly through the middle of your entire eyeball.  Thus, your entrance pupil swings from side to side necessitating that you move your whole head to keep it centered above the eyepiece.

Kidney-beaning or SAEP makes it impossible to see the entire field at once regardless of eye position unless you have an enormous entrance pupil (dilated iris).

See the below post by @Ruud which does a good job explaining the different types of blackout:

 

Thanks to Pixies for the mention.

So basically Louis, you cannot ever see the whole field of view with UWA eyepieces, that's what gives them the immersive effect. You have to move your head about in order to take in the areas not directly in sight. Is that correct?

I was practicing this to be fair but still found it quite difficult with that big black kidney bean flopping all over the place. Not the most pleasurable experience.

I'm sure it's probably going to take practice on my part. It probably doesn't help that I was testing in on the moon too 😳😆. My pupils were surely not dilated enough. I think I'll give it another chance before asking to return it. It's probably a cracking eyepiece and I'm just using it wrong.

On 28/01/2021 at 06:07, starboy71 said:

well,after much deliberation with my bank balance i opted to go for the OVL Hyperflex zoom...great service by FLO as always,the EP looks very nice.There is no click stop when rotating the zoom but i`ll see how i get on with that.Also the rotation is smooth but slightly stiff but in time maybe this will free up a smidge but i can live with it,its no drama. when we get a clear night i`ll be straight out there but alas with me getting said EP i fear i may have cursed our beloved hobby with more clouds and rain GGGRRRRR!

How has the eyepiece held up for you? Did you ever get a chance to compare it to a Baader zoom?

2 hours ago, IB20 said:

I have the Hyperflex 21.5-7.2mm and use it in the 200P. It was exceptional on the 78% illuminated moon recently, couldn’t fault it at all. It also provided great views with a 2x barlow on the recent opposition of Mars too. 

I haven’t used the Baader Mark IV but I can’t believe that it performs £100 better than the Hyperflex, it think the Baader has a wider FOV than the Hyperflex so perhaps that explains the price difference?

 

 

Thanks, have you ever compared it to any fixed focal lengths?

I'm torn between getting a zoom or a couple of BSTs instead maybe.

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

I had the earlier version of the Baader zoom as well as a few other zooms such as the Hyperflex and while the Baader had a slight edge in performance it was just that, a slight edge, and not much of a difference. 

Interested in seeing what the new APM Super zoom turns out like when it is released very soon.. Now that looks like it will be worth the difference.

I see FLO have a Stellalyra Zoom, wonder how that performs. Still no reviews on it.

12 hours ago, IB20 said:

I’ve found the BST 15mm is an excellent eyepiece for this scope as is the 10mm BCO, which I found sensational on Mars last Autumn with a polarising filter. I’ll be using it on Jupiter later this year for certain.

All the Starguiders are great in the 200P, the 18 & 25mm are probably the weakest however.

Haven’t tried the 6mm BCO but have read that it’s a bit tight on eye relief, the 10mm does barlow really well mind.

Awesome, thank you.

I assume 120x is not strong enough and you usually Barlow it then? I have a 2X Barlow that can be broken down to 1.5X. That would yield me either 120x, 240x or 180x. That might be the way to go.

Have you any experience with zoom eyepieces over fixed FL?

25 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Ditto for the zoom. 

The gas giants are still low in the sky and I agree with the above suggestions for around x150 as a good general magnification (8mm). Getting to observe details from planetary viewing really benefits from relaxed viewing over long periods of time.  Avoiding too much dob-nudging will help, so get the widest FOV high-power eyepieces you can afford (IMHO).

 

I recently bought a 16mm Nirvana with 82° field of view as a medium power eyepiece but have to say I don't like it all. Whenever I try to bring my pupil closer to the lens or if I look at the edges or the FOV I am getting lots of kidney beaning.

2 hours ago, dweller25 said:

Hello @Pitch Black Skies and welcome to SGL.

You might want to consider the 6.5mm Baader Morpheus giving x185 in your Dobsonian for when Jupiter and Saturn are higher in the sky, it has a nice wide field of view - so less nudging at high powers.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-morpheus-76-degree-wide-field-eyepieces.html

Here is the excellent planetary position chart by @Stu

 

Thanks!

What is poly Mars?

Also, how do you think a single FL 6mm would compare to that of a zoom? I'm not worried about FOV but definitely want to see detail.

The Morphous is a bit too steep for me but I was considering a 6mm Baader Classic Ortho. What do you think?

Has anyone got any experience with this zoom? It's looks well but I'm wondering if it would be better to pay the extra £30 or so for the Baader zoom.

I've used a 12.5mm Stellalyra LER in an 8" f6 dob and the view was really nice.

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

A lot depends on the scope, sky conditions and how well/poorly the planets are placed. When low down as they have been over recent years, often x150 is about the best you can use although on very good nights you can go higher. As they get higher in the sky, I tend to find that x180 is a good Max for Jupiter and x220 for Saturn because it has higher contrast features. Even that is just a rough guide, if you luck into an excellent night then more is possible. I think x400 is the most I have used on Saturn some years ago with an 8” Mak and the image held up very well indeed.

Which scope do you have?

Thanks, I have a Skywatcher Skyliner Classic 200p. I'm trying to figure out what eyepieces I need. After much debate I'm now considering a zoom eyepiece.

Hi folks,

What is the highest practical magnification most regularly used on Saturn and Jupiter from the British climate? 

Has anyone got any experience with both of these? Is there a substantial difference in the viewing quality?

My scope is a Skywatcher Skyliner Classic 200p.

Cheers!

Hi folks,

Would someone be able to recommend some eyepieces that work well in the Skywatcher Skyliner Classic 200p please?

It came with the Super 10mm and 25mm Modified Achromats. For medium power I bought a 12.5mm Stellalyra LER which was really nice but returned it for a 16mm Nirvana for a little less magnification and a wider FOV. Now unfortunately, whenever I try to see the full FOV I'm getting very apparent kidney beaning which I wasn't expecting at all for a more expensive eyepiece.

I have seen some people recommend the BST Starguiders so I am considering getting the 15mm for medium power instead and returning the Nirvana.

For high power I was thinking a Baader Classic Ortho 6mm would be good. That would yield 200x which I assume is the limit that our climate will support most of the time.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks guys

Hello all,

My name is Alan and I'm from Ireland. Thanks to @faulksy for the invitation to this great forum. It seems like a place of good atmosphere ☺️😁, and it seems there is an abundance of useful information and guidance.

I am a complete beginner and my first telescope is the Skyliner Classic 200p (f5.9). I am really enjoying my time with the telescope but I am eager to build up some experience and eyepieces.

The scope came with the standard 10mm & 25mm Modified Achromats. I immediately purchased an Orion 2x Shorty Barlow, Turn Left at Orion and, 2 cheap Plössl eyepieces from eBay. The cheap Plössl are poor quality.

From reading posts, it was a toss up between getting BST Starguiders, Stellalyra LERs or OVL Nirvana's. I opted for the Nirvana's for the larger FOV for ease while manually driving the dob. I have a 32mm Panaview on the way for low power and a 16mm Nirvana on the way for medium power. For high power I will probably look to get the 7m & 4mm Nirvana's in time.

What do you guys think?

Cheers,

Alan