Yet another eyepiece question!

[Stargazer33]

Hi,

Sorry to be a pain on this subject, but I am thinking of purchasing my first decent eyepiece and have been looking at two in particular.

The Celestron Xcel LX - 18mm (£69.00) and the BST Explorer - 18mm (£47.00).

I have a 2.5x barlow so these will both give me 72x and 180x mags in my 102mm Mak/Cass.

My question is: "Is the Celestron £22.00 better than the BST or should I keep that money towards my next eyepiece?

I wear glasses normally but I have to say that I normally take them off to observe!

Thanks in advance.

Bryan

[damnut]

HI Bryan,

The BST's are good value for money, I have the 8mm and its a belter. If you barlow the 18mm then you are approaching the max mag (204X) for your scope. I used to have one of those maks and they are great but keep maximum to 150 -170X.

Best Regards

Damian

[gfletcher]

In my opinion the Celestron X-Cel LX range will outperform the BST's.

I have used both and much prefer the Celestron.

I recently sold my Hyperions and replaced them with the Celestron X-Cel LX range and hav'nt regretted it.

HTH

Graham

[John]

You can't really put a £ value on better performance - that's an individual decision. Both are good eyepieces but the X-Cel LX does offer slightly better performance from the reports that I've read here and elsewhere.

I'm sure you would be happy with a BST Explorer though, if that's the route you choose to go.

Astronomers are often willing to pay large sums for relatively small performance gains - we are finicky so-and-so's

[LeeB]

Hi with your scope at f11+ it is very forgiving of eyepieces, that said even at lower f numbers both are excellent eyepieces, if I had to choose, I prefer the bst's. As comments above have elleded to, different eyes prefer different eyepieces. The 18mm bst is particularly good. Also don't right off a good plossl at high mils, 9 is the smallest I own, but won't swap it even though its only a 5000 series meade.

I have a real mixed bag of eyepieces and each one has its charms and strength.

[damnut]

A good point by Lee above, the higher the f ratio of your scope the less demanding it is of the eyepiece. Also as you are an occasional glasses wearer at the scope you may find that the screw up rubber cup of the BST may suit you better.

If you source the BST's from here : - http://www.skysthelimit.org.uk/telescope%20eyepieces.html

You can try & buy!.

Cheers

Clear Skies & Water

[rwilkey]

The 18mm BSt is a cracking ep, esp. at long f/ratios, I do not think there will be any gain in paying more for the LX.

[Qualia]

I haven't used the BSTs but have used the X-Cel LX series and Hyperions and can highly recommend them. Nevertheless, all three of these products come highly recommended at SGL, but I imagine, in the end, you pay (more or less) for what you get. I guess whatever you purchase you'll be a happy bunny

+ 1 X-Cel LXs

[Stargazer33]

Thanks for all the replies!

I guess at the end of the day (astronomy...end of the day...night...No?...oh well ), it is down to a leap of faith regarding any purchase, and as is said, it is all down to personal choice & preference. Ask 10 astronomers what their favourite eyepiece is and you will probably get 10 different answers!

Thanks for the advice on the max mag for my scope damnut. I have been pushing the max mag with what I believe to be a poor quality 6mm (216x) piece that came with the scope. I might therefore look at an 8mm piece (171x).

Thanks again for all the help/advice.

Bryan

[paul schofield]

I dont know about the Celestron's. I own the BST's 8mm and 18mm and they are absolute class for the £s. I would not part with mine. Great EP's, great price and great service from Skies The Limit, Skies unlimited (eBay).

[Stargazer33]

As an aside, if light is dimmed the more glass it travels through, why do more expensive and better quality eyepieces have 4,5, or 6 elements to them?

[LeeB]

Most of the time the extra elements are their to increase angle of view and eye relief. When you strip some down they are pretty similar to a normal plossl with a barlow included the more exotic ones are field of view driven. The better coatings and internal reflection control compensate for the extra glass surface loss. and retain good contrast. I have just been usin the BST 18mm on saturn with a 3x tal barlow to give 200x on a friends 8inch skywatcher dob, in the good seeing periods encke division was glimpsed and this I repeated with the 9mm 5000 plossl mentioned earlier and a 10mm hyperian. I then used all again on a vixen 102mm and while a slight loss of brightness was seen and of course expected cassini was still lovelly and clear and I'm sure I glimpsed encke with the plossl.

[Stargazer33]

Thanks Lee, that was very helpful.