which eyepiece next ???

[rory]

okay ,if you had my current set up

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astromaster 90mm refractor ,1000mmf/l.

one e/p (meade4000 32mm)

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what eyepiece would be next on my list.?

im pretty much set on an bst explorer but open to suggestions.

but which size. the 32mm meade i own gives me x31.5mag.

im going to get a barlow soon too,so that needs to be taken into consideration too.

thanks in advance...

[nicnac]

A 25mm and an 18mm would be good

[rory]

in the under £50 cat. im understanding explorers are amongst the very best within that range.

shall probably go 18mm fisrt then go for barlow asap.

[Chris H]

I would get an ep that will give you around x100 magnification but with a wide FOV, so a 10mm.

[nightfisher]

how about the gso 15mm plossl, very good ep for £30

[damnut]

I would consider a 20mm followed by a good barlow that effectively would give you

31x, 50x,62x, and 100x. There is a very good sticky by Warthog which is worth reading about the minimum you need.

Cheers

[rory]

ive just sold the 20 and 10mm stock e/p's that come with the scope. the 10mm was only used on lunar observing ,as everything else was just to dull in it,even stars were pretty dull.

i put it down to the e/p's being of low quality ( i know the apeture of the scope is the main problem).

so i thought by getting something in the 15-25 area ,and hopeing that improved quality also might give a slightly brighter ,sharper image.

then bang on a barlow at some point.

[damnut]

Hi Rory,

The stock ep's are nothing to write home about, the BST explorers are c£40 and are excellent.

[rwilkey]

The BST Explorers get my vote, real quality with dual ED surfaces, multiple elements 6/4, and a very flat FoV.

[rory]

cheers, thats it then ,explorer i shall ask santa for. got the barlow just today. so up and running again.

thanks everyone for input.

[ronin]

Explorers come in 5, 8, 12, 15, 18 and 25mm offerings.

With the barlow how about the 25mm and the 15mm.

That would give: 36x and 72x with the 25mm and 60x and 120x with the 15mm.

[rory]

Sounds like a plan. I can only aford one for the time being mind. Seems the explorers would be worth investing in , as I can keep em for life no matter the scope.

[LukeSkywatcher]

2 words:

Vixen NPL

[rory]

2 words:

Vixen NPL

okay mate, i'll check them out. i take it you like these then ?

[glowjet]

If you want to look at Planet detail have you considered adding an Orthoscopic to your range, Baader are excellent and at £40-50 s/h they are worth having

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Orthos are very sharp, but have short eye relief at the short focal length side of the range. I really liked the Circle-T 25mm ortho I used to have, but hated the 5mm for its poor eye relief. If you just get one new EP, I would consider 18-20mm rather than 25, as the latter is very close to the 32mm you already have. The 18mm BST fits the bill. With the Barlow you get a nice range of magnifications. My experience with Vixen EPs has always been good: I had three of their older Plossls to start with in my C8 (10, 26 and 36mm), and later two LVs (7 and 9mm). Never had a dud one. Only got rid of them when I got seriously upmarket EPs.

[rory]

thanks all. ive been reading up on archive posts relating to bst's and vixens,as well as the gso's, meade4000.

the vixen's do have some good feedback although build quality is mentioned.

im still leaning toward the explorers for the extra f.o.v, probably a 18mm

although to be fair,at my inexperienced level the difference between most of the above mentioned e/p's would all seem the same to me .