bluemac

Right, I have a feeling this is going to be a difficult one to call. I'm inclined to ask if Sky's The Limit will do me a huge favour and perhaps let me sample 3 eyepieces (4mm, 5mm and 6mm) before selecting one.

I'm aware that there are of course limitations to telescopes, and that everybody probably wishes they could push their scope just that little bit more to bring out the detail they're after. I'm just hoping that by way of some crafty eyepieces and lenses etc. I may just satisfy my thirst for a better viewing experience.

Regarding the branding of those TMB eyepieces then - I take it I'd be safe buying the 'un-official' pieces? To quote Sky's the Limit, 'If there is no difference - why pay it?'. Wise words.

Thanks for all of this information, I'll sit down and properly process all of it a bit later on. If you feel I'm putting a foot wrong still in thinking on a 4mm eyepiece though, please tell me!

Cheers,

Matt.

Not if you're using the "stock" eyepieces

Since one only needs about 3 to 5 eyepieces (depending on the scope), many people forgo a Barlow entirely and just buy modern, long-relief eyepieces of the required focal length.

Eyepieces are a terrible slippery-slope really. You can spend one heck of a lot of money if you're not careful. That's why it's good to purchase second-hand, so that if you don't get on with one, you can sell it at cost - since different telescopes respond to eyepieces differently.

I've been looking into the advice you've given, and was hoping you might be able to provide a bit more info for me. You mentioned the 5mm and 6mm eyepieces from Sky's The Limit and their respective magnification powers of 180x and 150x. What would make the 180x 'too much'? I'm currently achieving 180x (I think) by way of a 10mm eyepiece and a 2x Barlow lens and it look good, focuses well on it. Reading about the scope itself apparently the maximum potential power would be 260x.

So yeah, just wondering what you mean by 'too much' - I don't mean to sound iffy (I'm desperately trying to word my question without any negative tone, but seem to be failing), I'm genuinely interested. I of course would like to see Jupiter at the best my scope can offer, so I was thinking that perhaps one of the 4mm (which should give 225x) would be the best I could get away with whilst managing to actually focus on the object?

Also, what's the difference between the 'TMB Designed' and 'TMB Planetary II', and which would provide the best performance for planetary viewing (I'm aware this sounds like a stupid question given the product names - but who knows!)?

Thanks in advance!

Matt.

- oh - forgot to say that if the Barlow that comes with the 130M is not the "Deluxe" one, then it's really not much use for anything. Seriously! - I'm not being mean or anything - the SkyWatcher "Standard" Barlow that ships with some scopes is really, really poor!

I have an inkling that you may be right about this. The Barlow provided seems useless on all but the brightest objects from what I've seen. Worth replacing this as well then?

Thanks for this, I'll have a look into it!

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice and recommendations for viewing the planets - in particular Saturn & Jupiter. Currently I have the stock 10mm and 25mm eyepiece supplied with my Skywatcher Explorer 130M, along with the stock 2x Barlow. I've read that a 5mm eyepiece would be a good choice, but I was hoping that perhaps some users with some experience of similar scopes might be able to recommend some specific types/models for this purpose. Also any general advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Matt.