Best Planetary and DSO eyepieces for Explorer 150

[Rigel-7]

I have read various threads stating the virtues of the BST Explorer and TMB Planetary lenses but in all honesty am having trouble reaching a conclusion.

Jupiter seems still quite small with the out of the box barlow and 10mm but seems still to have detail to give. Waiting for cloud free weekend for Saturn.

Should I get a 5 or 8mm ? Is the OOB 25mm ok for DSOs or should I get an 18mm ?

Or should I invest in the Revelation Photo-Visual Eyepiece and Filter Kit ?

[E621Keith]

What is your budget? For under £100, you best bet is probably Celestron Xcel LX. People here say they are a step up from the BST and better corrected for fast Netwonian.

If you just want to know the best, I am sure soon you will see a debate between Televue Ethos, Pentax XW and Orthoscopics.

[Bart]

generally speaking , the more you spend, the better the EP . I have £100+ EPs and less expensive ones. Have to say though that the BSTs are very good and great value. Haven't used an LX so can't comment but I have used a 5mm to observe a GRS transit in my 10 " giving me x250 .

I'm sure both would be a big step up from the supplied eyepieces .

Good luck

[DOBBY]

an 8mm BST or the 9mm X-Cel LX would work well with your 'scope...& on a good night could be used with your barlow.

an 18mm or 25mm X-Cel LX will give you some nice deep-sky views

[Rigel-7]

Thanks for the suggestions - my budget was under £50. I saw the revelation box set with filters at £125 and thought that looked good but wondered whether it would be better to pick and mix. I have seen reference to and TV eyepieces in the pages here but these seem to be in a different class to my budget.

[John]

Buying new I reckon the BST Explorers or the Vixen NPL's offer around the best optical quality available in that price niche. The BST's offer a slightly wider field of view and more comfortable eye relief (the distance your eye needs to be from the top lens of the eyepiece) than the Vixen's. The Vixen's start at £30 per eyepiece which is £10 less than the BST's.

Buying used would give a few more options but you have to be a bit patient to find them.

[nightfisher]

I have just got the BST 18mm and though its early days my first light with it was very good, viewed M42 and M48 with it

[Rigel-7]

Vixen's look good too but I think I will go with the BST. Should I get the 8mm (93x) to give me 186x on Barlow or the 5mm (150x/300x) ? I think I read that anything above 200x would be pushing it.

[Rigel-7]

So many questions ... What are the advantages of a 2" eyepiece over a 1.25" ? I hope that does not show my ignorance too much...

[John]

The 2" format can offer a wider field of view than the 1.25" format. Thats it really. Wide fields of view are nice though, which is why many people have a 2" eyepiece in their set.

[bigbox]

I recently brought 2 X-Cel LX EP's 18mm & 5mm to use with my 150P and i must say that so far i've been very impressed with them.

[Rigel-7]

I recently brought 2 X-Cel LX EP's 18mm & 5mm to use with my 150P and i must say that so far i've been very impressed with them.

Thanks they look really nice but are at the very top of my budget. Can you barlow the 5mm to (300x) or is that just plain silly on the sw150?

[Rigel-7]

The 2" format can offer a wider field of view than the 1.25" format. Thats it really. Wide fields of view are nice though, which is why many people have a 2" eyepiece in their set.

Thanks John, just found your threads on the Panaview 32 - I'm going to need more money

[John]

Thanks John, just found your threads on the Panaview 32 - I'm going to need more money

If you can, try and buy used on UK Astro Buy & Sell (try a "wanted" advert there). Once the initial depreciation (30%-40%) has happened astro equipment tends to hold it's value pretty well so that you can recoup most of your investment when and if you decide to move on to something else.

[Rigel-7]

If you can, try and buy used on UK Astro Buy & Sell (try a "wanted" advert there). Once the initial depreciation (30%-40%) has happened astro equipment tends to hold it's value pretty well so that you can recoup most of your investment when and if you decide to move on to something else.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

[Rigel-7]

Anybody tried taking the SW Ex150 to 300x or is this plain lunacy !!!

[Roysten]

I appreciate that this thread is almost 3 years since a post but I thought I'd comment here rather than starting a new thread.

I'm asking myself the exact same question as Rigel-7 and it seems that several other posts have asked the question Celestron X-Cel LX or BST Explorer, found an interesting review by johninderby on the matter as well.

For budgetary reasons and the fact that most people seem to rate them as comparable I believe I will probably go for the BST 8mm, however I always think that a little more research is always of value so certainly be searching out the forum and website for a few more insights before making any purchases.

Dare I say I've tried taking my Ex150 to a staggering 1125x! You won't be surprised to hear that the views were awful and I'm sure they would be even if I wasn't using a low quality 4mm EP and 3x Barlow and a basic 2x Barlow! Was fun to try though and test the limitations.