Skywatcher 130 eyepieces

[Wardd2]

Hi,I have recently purchased a skywatcher 130 and it has come with the bog standard eyepieces,10mm,25mm and barlow.

I have read the thread on the eyepieces but what additional eyepieces would someone recommend and in particular those who have or do own a 130

[Astro Imp]

Don't be in too much of a hurry to spend your money.

Give yourself some time to get to know your scope and you will have more of an idea what type of EP you want/need.

It is very easy to empty your wallet. The temptation when you first get your scope is to spend all your time looking at all the gear you don't have. Just give yourself time.

Enjoy.

[Notts star]

I have a skywatcher130p and i got the same eyepieces i went out and got myself a 6mm ultra wide long eye relief eyepiece thats all i use on its own or with a barlow x2 or x3 ....

[sulaco]

Hi Mate,

It's a great scope to start with, I got one in March but the eyepieces are really duff.

I looked about for a while and went for the Vixen NPL from FLO at £30 these are great quality optics and affordable, they've got good contrast and really sharp views, I've got the 10mm & 15mm and am about to get the 30mm, for the 6mm I've got a celestron plossl but I'm aiming for the Vixen NLV.

That barlow that comes with the kit is also rubbish so I bought the revelation 2.5X, it's very well made and coated and cost about £35. Having upgraded it's made all the difference to my viewing, the new barlow give me clear crisp views of Saturn which before were blurred and grainy.

Good luck

[Notts star]

Mate have a look at my saturn i took with a web cam it shows you what the s/w 130 can do.....

[RikM]

The EP's that come with the Skywatcher stuff are not great, but they're not unusable either. As Alan says, take a bit of time to use the scope and find out which type of objects you like to look at, and which eyepiece or eyepiece/barlow combinations you use most. Then you will know where to spend your money.

If you find you like sparkly starfields you will want a long focal length wide field first, if you spend all your time looking at planets and the moon at high mag, then a short focal length, bright contrasty EP might be a better choice.

Until you know what you want to look at, how can you decide?

[mallorcasaint]

I have the 130p and bought the Revelation Eyepiece set from FLO. They are a terrific set of EP's and filters that really open up the scope.

[david o]

I agree with Alan and Rik,

I'd be very tempted not to buy anything for now and just use what came with the 'scope. With eyepiece time under your belt you'll know what needs replacing, or if there's a gap that needs filling.

For the ins 'n' outs of choosing EPs, you might find both these posts interesting : [thread=80772]"Eyepieces - the very least you need"[/thread] and [thread=63184]"Understanding and choosing eyepieces"[/thread].

HTH

[mag10]

I wholeheartedly agree with Astro Imp and all the others who recommend patience.

I may be a lone voice in the wilderness (or I might have got exceptionnal EPs with my SW 130mm) but I don't believe the SW EPs are complete junk. I've had many wonderful nights of observation with mine, and one year later am still using them on a regular basis.

Get to know your setup. Go to star parties and ask exprienced club members with the same tube you have to allow you to look through their EPs.

Make your own determination as to what you want and what you can afford.

[paul schofield]

Have to agree with everything above, I have bought a couple of Meade super plossl`s for my SW 130p and truthfully they are only marginally better than the supplied SW ep`s, however the Barlow supplied with my scope was truly awfull, I bought a Tal x 2 and the difference with it is so much better than the supplied one.

[ronin]

If as the post says you want some views on additional eyepieces then I would suggest, over time:

5mm, 7mm and 15mm.

These would fit with the 10mm and 25mm that you have.

Which ones you get depend on your taste and budget. Plossl's are good but the scope is f/5 so the 5mm may not perform great. Also plossl's can be lacking in eye relief if you wear glasses.

The Vixens are good and there are planetary eyepieces also.

[PETENAUD]

I have the 130p and bought the Revelation Eyepiece set from FLO. They are a terrific set of EP's and filters that really open up the scope.

Same here, but i did budget for a set anyway.

TBH i didnt think the ones supplied were that bad, but the rev set did make a big difference.

[AlphaRob]

While I do agree that there is no need to rush out and buy more gear as you can get some very good views with the standard EPs with a 130P, I got some new ones and it did make quite a difference....

I now have 9mm and 4mm TMB planetary EPs which have a larger FOV than the standard EPs, longer eye relief and I found they gave a better view with much better contrast. Also, having the 4mm means I now dont use the barlow. Above the improved view though, I found them much more comfortable to use than the plossls (I wear glasses) which I found to be one of the most welcome differences. I also have an 18mm Astrotech Paradigm, very similar to the BST Explorer EPs (think the BSTs are clones??) which again is very nice to use.

Have a look at Sky's the Limit website.

In my opinion, they are much better than plossls of a similar price, and wont break the bank

[Wardd2]

Thanks everyone. I thought I would ask the question about eyepieces as due to the cloud I have got bored and have read the manual a few times so I needed something else to occupy my mind.

I shall be buying some extra eyepieces but it won't be for a while as I need to get used to the scope

I think I have got a fair idea what to get now so thanks for all the advice

[swamp thing]

Hi

My advice would be:

Don't spend your time looking at gear. Spend your time looking at the sky, for that is the place to find out what gear you need.

Your scope will tell you what eyepieces it needs, when you've been using it a while you will hear it.

Regards Steve

[g0ibi]

Just change the Barlow and spend the Summer getting use to your set-up. Then before the dark nights arrive, buy whatever EPs you've decided on!

[stick]

hi mate

i have the same scope and to be fair the EPs that are supplie arent all that bad

but i did eventually also get a 5 and a 15mm BST Explorer ED eps which are a real step up

check out the "skys the limit" website

hope this helps

[Wardd2]

Thanks for that. Will have a look round

[jabberwocky]

the barlow supplied is awful, buy a good one and the difference is amazing, i bought a SW 32mm plossl and the quality compared to the supplied eps is much better even though its a cheap ep.

i bought a meade x2 barlow which is lightyears better than the supplied one.

and although its the same cost as the scope, im getting the baader hyperion zoon ep next month.

im also thinking of upgrading the mount as the eq2 is more of a hinderance than a useful tool

[Wardd2]

must admit i agree with you on the mount issue. think in a few months i will look at upgrading myself. thanks for the advice on the eyepieces aswell