Getting ready for my refractor

[staryeyes]

I have my new refractor coming within the next week and thought i would seek some good advice on what eyepieces i should get in preperation for it. Ive read quite a few posts on here regarding the best eyepieces to use on refractors but they dont seem to give a definitive answer (i suppose due to different size refractors).

The one im getting is 120mm skywatcher stratravel. I decided to go with this for a few reasons, including, the portability of it, its wider view (i hope), plus i want to view more DSO's/star clusters etc, rather than planets. I hope ive made the right choice firstly on the scope.

So what i would like to know is what are the best eyepiece's to use, being that its a short refractor focal lenth 600mm f/5.

When i say best, i what i actually mean is best value, so not the most expensive

Thanks for any advice

Mark.

[nightfisher]

one EP you could look out for is the 15mm UWA 80 degree, moonfish make one but you can get unbranded version a LOT cheaper, i think if you slowly sift through the for sale section there is one for sale, but they are 2"

[staryeyes]

Ok nightfisher, thanks. I believe the scope has 2"/1.25" so i could go with the 2" eyepiece, i shall have a look for it

thanks for letting me know

Mark.

[rwilkey]

Hi, if it's the one on FLO with the AZ3 mount, I would suggest getting used to it using the packaged ep's first of all. The other thing is it looks like it has 45 degree diagonal which is more for terrestrial use, I would suggest changing it for a 90 degree diagonal, such as: First Light Optics - Skywatcher 2" Deluxe Di-Electric Star Diagonal A bit expensive at £102 but you will find yourself craning when viewing the zenith otherwise. I have this diagonal on my C100ED and can thoroughly recommend it. You have a good rich-field scope there, good for DSO's. If this is your interest I suggest sticking to low power SWA ep's as they will work well at f/5. I would suggest BST Explorers (60* AFoV) as good ep's to start, the 15mm gives you a good medium range of 40x mag and a true field of 1.5 degrees, which is a pretty good ratio and in between the supplied ep's. For higher mag I would suggest the 8mm giving you 75x, true field 0.8 degrees, good for moon and planets.

[rwilkey]

Hi, if it's the one on FLO with the AZ3 mount, I would suggest getting used to it using the packages ep's first of all. The other thing is it looks like it has 45 degree diagonal which is more for terrestrial use, I would suggest changing it for a 90 degree diagonal, such as: First Light Optics - Skywatcher 2" Deluxe Di-Electric Star Diagonal A bit expensive at £102 but you will find yourself craning when viewing the zenith otherwise. I have this diagonal on my C100ED and can thoroughly recommend it. You have a good rich-field scope there, good for DSO's. If this is your interest I suggest sticking to low power SWA ep's as they will work well at f/5. I would suggest BST Explorers (60* AFoV) as good ep's to start, the 15mm gives you a good medium range of 40x mag and a true field of 1.5 degrees, which is a pretty good ratio and in between the supplied ep's. For higher mag I would suggest the 8mm giving you 75x, true field 0.8 degrees, good for moon and planets.

[ronin]

Second the Explorers.

Find they are excellent and if you aim for the 5mm, 8mm, 12mm and 25mm that will cover you for everything.

You could swap the 12mm for the 15mm.

Those should cover eveything. Will say that there is 6 in the set and aiming for the whole lot isn't the worst idea you could have. The set would cover just about any other scope you are liable to own. Have the lot and very pleased, just need a case for them.

[andrew63]

Hi Mark

You should get some fine views of DSO with that telescope. Cheap wider field eyepieces of 68deg or 82deg will not be very sharp towards the edge of field - you will notice a lot of field curvature. So i think the advice of a reasonable quality lens of around 50 to 60 deg field of view will give a better performance - such as the BST Explores.

You could also consider buying used on this site and get more value or better quality for your money.

andrew

[damnut]

Hi Staryeyes,

A great scope, I have the same for my grab & go. Echo comments above on the 15mm its one of my favourites in this scope.

[staryeyes]

Thanks for all the replies, i now have a good idea of what to get so time to start scouring the for sale section i think. Seems ive made a good choice of scope for what i want it for too

Thank you all

Mark.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Yes this scope can take either 1.25" EP's or 2". You are best off deciding on collecting 2" EP's as they give a wider FOV (field of View) then the 1.25" EP's.

[alowen]

I have an ST120 too, love it. I use a 32mm skywatcher for finding DSO's then observe with a Meade 15mm.

HTH

Al

P.S.

Im now looking into getting a 2" 90 degree diagonal now.

[staryeyes]

Thanks Luke and alowen, i shall definatley go for the 2" eyepieces i think

Thanks

Mark.

p.s. Alowen, just wondered what your AZ4 tripod/mount was like? Mine will have the standard AZ3 with it, but wondered if i was better off getting a AZ4 or an EQ in the future

Thanks again

[Moonshane]

This is a great scope for widefield viewing of clusters and larger DSOs etc. I had the f8.3 Celestron version.

personally I'd hold off only buying other eyepieces as you may find the ones with it fine for a while anyway and if you wait you'll know where the gaps are in the supplied kit.

you can always buy more stuff or better stuff later when you know where your preferences lie. I agree that buying better quality used for the same price as average quality new, makes more sense.

if it does not come with one, a red dot finder of some kind will help you more than further eyepieces initially and in the future. a good star map is essential too (e.g. sky and telescope pocket sky atlas £8 from Amazon).

[alowen]

My AZ4 mount is absolutely fantastic, I've had an eq3 and an AZ3 too, but this is head and shoulders above, for me anyway.

It comes with a standard rdf which is great, however, a Telrad used with printed off dso maps makes this my perfect arrangement. I'll pm you the link for maps to print off when I'm on my laptop later. The rdf and Telrad work great together. I'll post a pic.

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

[ronin]

I would consider the 1.25" range first. Simply because the 2" eyepieces are quite a lot bigger then you expect. As in they are huge.

They also do not come in the range that 1.25's do, so less choice.

The used market is good but you have to wait for something to appear that you want, then you have to be the one that gets it. I have a set of TV plossls all bought used, but it has took over a year, close to 2, to get them.

[alowen]

Heres the pics (Ignore the time and date on pics as its an old camera i just used)

Plus the site for the Telrad maps is: Sky Maps

Al

[staryeyes]

Thanks Ronin and moonshane, good advice and more for me to think about

Thanks for the pics alowen, and thanks for the link, which is now safely bookmarked for me to have a proper look at later when im back online. Incidently (i apologosie for my lack of knowledge here), what is a telrad? is it another kind of finder?

Thanks

Mark.

[alowen]

Yes its a slightly more advanced (but oddly still simple) form of finder. It consists of 3 circles projected on the sky. It makes star hopping an absolute doddle, and with the maps I linked to you most DSO's are within easy reach.

Al

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

[Catweazel]

Hi folks, I just got a Telrad so though I would revive this thread

Looking at alowen's pics, I wondered if this positioning would be Ok on a 1000mm refractor?, as it would be much farther away. Would it be better located down the tube, near the existing SW finderscope? If any of you guys have a Telrad on a refractor, and could advise, it would be much appreciated. Cheers! CW

[MjrTom]

Personally I would put the telrad as close to the dew shield end of the tube to ease the strain on your neck when looking for stuff high in the sky