Sky-Watcher 150PL...EP upgrades...

[Nastyness]

Hello all!

As the title suggests, I have the SW Explorer 150PL (xmas pressie!). I'm planning on increasing my EP collection which currently consists of the supplied 10mm and 25mm EPs. The 25mm seems ok, but the 10mm seems quite poor to my eye so I would like to replace it. I also have the GSO 2.5x barlow.

So here are my choices (I think!) and I was hoping for some feedback on each...

High mag - BST Explorer 5mm - 240x, will this be pushing it on the 150PL?

Mid/High mag - BST Exlporer 12mm - 100x alone or 250x with the 2.5x barlow. Does that seem sensible? Would the 15mm be more suitable at 80x and 200x?

Mid/Low - Stick with the 25mm for now.

Low mag - GSO 32mm OR Vixen NPL 30mm - Really undecided on this one. Both about the same price, both about the same FOV and both about the same rep! Swaying toward GSO, though.

[kenmyers]

Good choices I think.

I would go for the 15mm over the 12mm as 250x magnification is litterally seeing at the very limit of clarity. And get yourself a x2 barlow as well in the same price range as the eyepieces. This will again double the size of your collection of eyepieces.

The other powers are good choices

[DeejayP999]

To be honest, 240x with the 5mm will be pushing things a bit. Not so much for the scope (which will handle the mag) but because of the seeing in most parts of the UK.

For me, that’s the limiting factor. I currently have a 6mm Radian (200x) but on most nights I get a better view from my 8mm Radian (150x) on planets.

Indeed, if I were buying again I probably wouldn’t bother with anything less than 8mm (or, for the odd night of really good seeing, I’d just barlow a higher FL eyepiece).

So I’d suggest the 15mm plus barlow would be a good starting point. And, if you find yourself using that kind of mag regularly, you can always buy a dedicated high mag EP later on.

At the other end of the scale, I’ve never looked through a Vixen NPL (although I hear good things about them) but my 32mm Plossl is a GSO and I can heartily recommend them.

[andrew63]

You could consider BST 8mm which at around 150x would be an ideal planetary eyepiece - these eyepieces have built in barlows so adding one is a lot of glass elements to the six already. 150x is a good range for observing in the UK climate.

andrew

[Nastyness]

Ok, so I've followed the advice I've received on here and gone with the 15mm BST Explorer instead of the 12mm. With my 2.5x barlow, this will give me up to 200x.

Again, as advised here, I am planning to go with an 8mm rather than the 5mm. I had decided on the 8mm BST Explorer but these are out of stock, so looking at alternatives. I've been reading about the TMB Planetary II, but the reports on the forum seem to suggest that I would be better waiting for the BST over this option. Can anyone recommend a similarly priced, same or better quality 8mm EP?

[rwilkey]

For the price, you can't do better than the 8mm BST Explorer, stick with that.