I have around £500, what will you recommend?

[Adrian Condon]

Hi Lyper,

Welcome to SGL.

I agree a 200 aperature scope is a good starting point.

Incidentially, the eyepiece selection that you have in mind gives the following mags. (approximate)

6.3 = 15 (I think that the results with a 2X Barlow would be dodgy)

17 = 59

32 = 31

The Vixen Lanthanum eyepieces are very good especially the NLV range, they have 20 mm eye relief on every eyepiece. I like them as I wear glasses.

The Vixen NLV 15 mm eyepiece for £69 from FLO looks a good bet.

It gives a mag of about 67 with your planned scope.

Anyway, I would hold fire on the 6.3 eyepiece for the moment.

Best of luck and hope the skies clear...

Cheers

Adrian

[Postie]

From what Flo tells me the 200 dobs are on a slow boat from china...2 wks at least.

[Geogaddi]

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread. It's pretty much answered everything I wanted to ask! Apart from how to get the cash past 'her indoors'. She's like Sherlock Holmes...

[Lyper]

Hi Lyper,

Welcome to SGL.

I agree a 200 aperature scope is a good starting point.

Incidentially, the eyepiece selection that you have in mind gives the following mags. (approximate)

6.3 = 15 (I think that the results with a 2X Barlow would be dodgy)

17 = 59

32 = 31

The Vixen Lanthanum eyepieces are very good especially the NLV range, they have 20 mm eye relief on every eyepiece. I like them as I wear glasses.

The Vixen NLV 15 mm eyepiece for £69 from FLO looks a good bet.

It gives a mag of about 67 with your planned scope.

Anyway, I would hold fire on the 6.3 eyepiece for the moment.

Best of luck and hope the skies clear...

Cheers

Adrian

I thought magnification was the length of the telescope divided by the eyepieces value.

Example: 1200mm telescope/6.3 eyepiece = 190 magnification.

EDIT: I noticed that you simply missed a number in your first calculation:D

And just a quick question, how much "power" do I need to be able to see some detail on the planets? (rings of Saturn, Jupiter layers etc). Do you think a 10mm (120 mag) or a 15mm (80 mag) with a Barlow is enough?

[Lyper]

From what Flo tells me the 200 dobs are on a slow boat from china...2 wks at least.

That's disappointing, I'll just have to wait, I just hope the clouds will go away once I get the scope:D

[Lyper]

Also get hold of the latest edition of Turn Left at Orion, excellent for finding your way around and with diagrams of what dob viewers can expect to see in eyepiece.

Thank you, I just added it to my amazon barsket/wish list:)

[Squagnut]

Incidentially, the eyepiece selection that you have in mind gives the following mags. (approximate)

6.3 = 15 (I think that the results with a 2X Barlow would be dodgy)

I can confidently say there's a digit missing here! A 6.3mm EP in a 1200mm OTA gives 190x. I agree about the Barlow - with the next size up being 17mm, and this being a viewing rig, the Barlow would be virtually redundant.

[stevetynant]

I could imaging my back getting a bit sore after a lot of leaning over/sitting down for a long amount of time, what kind of chair should I go for? Just a regular chair/stool or is there something I should look after? I'm glad you like the scope btw;)

Well the one I have is this one Leifheit Ironing Stool in Silver: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

I think the observing chairs at FLO are @£90 - but for me this does the job - easy to store, adjustable CHEAP - does the job just fine

[Lyper]

Well the one I have is this one Leifheit Ironing Stool in Silver: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

I think the observing chairs at FLO are @£90 - but for me this does the job - easy to store, adjustable CHEAP - does the job just fine

Thank you:D