Upgrade to a 2 inch eyepiece

[dave6666]

Hi

First of as aim new to this forum can I just say thank you for the warm welcome members have given me. Now the question.I have a next star 8 se and would like to know if upgradeing to the 2inch eyepiece is worth doing and if so which makes would you recommend I understand that it is mainly low power eyepieces that you use thank you

[Peter Drew]

Hello Dave. I have a Nexstar 8SE and I think the aperture through the baffle tube is too small to use low poer 2" fit eyepieces without some restriction to the field of view.

[rwilkey]

Hi Dave, and welcome, the long focal ratio of this type of scope negates the advantages of a 2" focuser and accessories in my view, this scope is best for planets, Moon and double stars, not for widefield DSO studies, I don't think. In my opinion, going to a 2" would be a waste of time with a catadioptric telescope.

[Steve]

Upgrading to a 2-inch diagonal will probably give brighter views with more contrast from your existing 1.25-inch eyepieces. The 1.25-inch diagonals included with Meade Celestron and Skywatcher telescopes are pretty poor. It is best that you borrow a 2-inch widefield eyepiece before parting with money because, as has already been said, you will see some vignetting.

HTH

[great_bear]

would like to know if upgradeing to the 2inch eyepiece is worth doing

2" eyepieces aren't an "upgrade" as such - it's just a requirement for wide-angle views and often catadioptric scopes don't support a view that wide anyway.

However, as Steve mentions, if you're of a mind to upgrade your diagonal, it's worth considering a 2" one even if you'll only be using 1.25" eyepieces. Such a larger diagonal can control light better (less glancing reflections), have better-figured optics, and provide considerably sturdier support for your eyepieces and/or binoviewer.

Some eyepiece models - such as some of the Explore Scientific ones - seem to be 2" only for such reasons of sturdiness.

[dave6666]

thanks guys that has helped alot and would it pay to get the better quality 1.25 optics as i have only got the cheaper optics that came with the telescope.do i need an adapter if i go for a 2" diagonal so the 1.25 eyepieces fit. cheers

[rwilkey]

You are right, better quality 1.25" ep's would be the wise choice in my view for your telescope. Please note that 2" diagonals usually come with the 1.25" adaptor as standard.

[dave6666]

hi guys just a note to say thanks for the advice that you all gave me about this question i put to this forum .I took your advice and bought a 2" william optics diagonal and it paid off as the viewing experience i would say is 100 times better and that was still with the 1.25 eyepieces so i borrowed a 33mm 2" and was very impressed so quess what i bought one as well. thinking of getting better quality 1.25 eyepieces so would like to hear some views of which ones would be good cheers

[Ags]

Dave, i know some members of the forum own a C8 and use 2" EPs successfully, including 40mm wide angle types. I think your own experience with the 33mm bears this out. See if you can try something like a panaview 38mm in your scope - I suspect it will work fine.

As for the shorter focal lengths, you are spoilt for choice. Hyperions will work well. You will be able to use longer orthoscopics like 12 or 9mm. BSTs and TMB clones are all doable if you want to save your pennies. The new X-Cel LX EPs are getting good reviews, but perhaps that is because the old X-Cels were so poor!

[dave6666]

thanks Ags i am spoilt for choice on the 1.25 s and everybody does seem to have there own favorites and so gets very confuseing lol but was surprised how good the 2" diagonal worked

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Ya Dave, I have an LX90 which has a 2" WO diagonal and I've been using the Hyperions for a while now, bear in mind the extra weight on the back of the scope that the diagonal and ep's will add, so you may need some sort of counter balance on the front of the scope to balance it up so as not to put a lot of strain on the motors. Also the hyperions are basically 1 25 ep's with a larger "eye end", converting all but the aspherics to 2" will give you around 20mm focal length, but I've got both of the aspherics and they really work well with the diagonal - amazing Views, you can also get a focal reducer to place on the back of the scope which reduces the focal length from f10 to f 6.3 before the diagonal and you can leave it in place to act as a rather expensive "dust seal" when the scopes not being used. Hope that helps Paul.