Next BST

[nightfisher]

I will be buying another explorer soon, but i cant make my mind up as to which size, it will be either the 5mm or the 12mm.

I have the 15mm and 18mm, they are very good, my way of thinking, the 5mm would be superb in the Tal for nights of great seeing(x200) but the 12mm would be a better al rounder and could barlow on nights with good seeing

[4lefts]

The 5mm was my least favourite of the bsts I had, it never seemed as Sharp as the 8, 12, or 18 I had. Though that was with a 200p and may have been too much mag with that scope most of the time (250x). Ymmv.

[mdhardy01]

What about throwing the 8mm into the mix

Fantastic ep

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nightfisher]

The 8mm would be ideal, but i have the celestron x-cel lx 7mm, though i am having nothing but trouble with this ep

[mdhardy01]

Put the x-cel on ABS and get the 8 you won't regret it

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nightfisher]

That is a tempting idea

[rwilkey]

Both the 8mm and the 12mm BST's are exceptional eyepieces and I think would get more use than the 5mm, at least they do with me.

[rory]

so whats the verdict with the 7mm x-cel lx then ?

i have the 12mm and 18mm ,im going to leave out the 15mm and go for an 8mm next.

[4lefts]

Put the x-cel on ABS and get the 8 you won't regret it

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i'm going to disagree with that one, i had the 8mm bst, and sold it when i tried the 9mm x-cel lx - i found it was noticeably sharper and brighter. don't get me wrong, the 8mm bst is fine, and worth the money, but i thought the x-cel was worth the extra 30 quid.

@nightfisher - what specific problems are you having? i had some blackout problems with my x-cel lxs, but generally in the pst, less so at night. i found i got used to it though.

[Lorne]

The 8mm BST was my most used eyepiece over the past year.

[nightfisher]

i'm going to disagree with that one, i had the 8mm bst, and sold it when i tried the 9mm x-cel lx - i found it was noticeably sharper and brighter. don't get me wrong, the 8mm bst is fine, and worth the money, but i thought the x-cel was worth the extra 30 quid.

@nightfisher - what specific problems are you having? i had some blackout problems with my x-cel lxs, but generally in the pst, less so at night. i found i got used to it though.

Here is the full story, i got a 7mm BGO from flo, but it had an optical fault, so i arranged an exchange for the 7mm x-cel, i was very pleased at first, till i tried it in daylight, only to find it had a large piece of debris in the field of view, i used my puffer brush to try to clean it but said brush had come into contact with some thing that contaminated the lens, so it was out with the lens, and a proper clean with baader cleaning gear, but still showing minute particles, doubt it will show at night, but in daylight can still see it, lost faith so its on astro buy, will get a 8mm bst

[4lefts]

That's a shame. I guess qc isn't perfect on these, but I suppose it can happen with any ep.

[mdhardy01]

My 18&8mm are probably my most used eps

On really good nights I've even barlowed the 8 with good results

If you want a high power ep I hane a wo spl 6 mm and find it very good

Matt

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[nightfisher]

That's a shame. I guess qc isn't perfect on these, but I suppose it can happen with any ep.

Yes a big shame, when i first got the 7mm x-cel, i thought "superb" had planned on getting more of them, but that wont be happening now, sticking with BST`s