What magnifications do people use the most

[jabberwocky]

I now have a 200p dob and have realised my eyepieces just aren't up to it.

My question is what magnifications should my eyepieces cover?

What mag is best for widefield and faint fuzzy hunting?

So far I have a WO zoom that gives me 53-160x a cheap 32mm sw plossl that gives 37.5x, a 10mm plossl giving 120x, a 6.3plossl giving 190x.

I'll keep the zoom but all the rest are going, so what sizes should I look at? In not a fan of barlows, they make my eyes go funny, and my days of squinting through tiny plossls are over.

Also an I best sticking to a particular eyepiece, ie naglers or nirvanas or pick and chose from different ranges?

Up untill now my choice of eyepiece size has been a bit random but now the prices are getting bigger I want to plan which ones I need

[Dodge]

I'm a big Nirvana fan - I've got the ones listed in my sig, and I would say my favourite is the 16mm. The 16mm has pretty much the same FOV as a 25mm Plossl, albeit with higher mag. The 28mm is wonderful also, cruising around the Milky Way with that on a big Dob is a wonderful experience.

[Damo636]

My most used magnifications are 26mm/57x, 13mm/115x and 8mm/187x. I have a couple of eyepieces that will take me higher but those three cover 90% of my needs. All you really need is a decent low power finder, a midrange workhorse and a couple of mid-high power for planetary/globs etc. The Nirvana as mentioned above are excellent, its just a pity they didn't produce a few more focal lengths when they were at it!

[Charon]

Most used is my 36mm Baader Aspheric.

[rory]

ive a 200p and i feel ive got a sound basic setup for someone of my experience ( 12 months,novice). i have these e/p's.

32mm meade 4000( x37.5 )

18mm bst ( x66) , 12mm bst (x100) , 8mm bst (x 150).

i mostly use the meade and the 18mm bst. but i think on good nights the 12mm will be used more.

as for which e/p's to stick to. its probably best to buy one of a particular brand and see how you go with it before getting the set as it were.

for example i struggeld with the x-cel lx 18mm, even though generally regarded as a better bit of glass than the bst ! everyones different ,so you need to find what suits.

and price plays its part too.

[Moonshane]

in truth it depends what scope I am using and what I am observing.

If using my big dob in a dark place then I'd almost certainly use just 26mm (71x) and 13mm (140x) for the vast majority of items.

for planetary observing with the big dob or my 6" f11 then maybe 150-200x but Mars/Moon/Doubles might be 250-450x

for wide field scanning with my 6" f5 it's maybe 23x - 100x.

seeing conditions obviously dictate what I can get away with.

[Luke]

I use medium power the most, in the range of about 80x-120x. Have you got a feel from your zoom what power you like the most? If at all possible I'd recommend to try and look through some eyepieces first at your local astro club or at a star party. I love my 13mm eyepiece but my missus doesn't get on with it and wants something with longer eye relief, i.e. I think it's a bit of a personal thing so trying if poss is great.

[Capricorn]

Depends on the scope but for yours I would guess 5mm for when it is possible, 7mm or 8mm for the others when magnification cannot be pushed, then a 12-15mm for medium magnifications and a 25mm for the wider stuff and locating.

If the 32mm you have is decent keep it in place of a 25mm for now at least.

[garethmob]

i always use my 30mm vixen npl and then go to my 10mm npl only on my megrez 72 do i go as low as 6mm and only on a planet

[Ibbo!]

With the 300 dob its x75 mainly on deepsky

with the FS102 tak refractor I've been known to be very silly and barlow a 2.8mm when trying to split doubles but usually I go up to about x175

Steve

[Mr Spock]

For me its x107 for galaxies and x235 for planets.

[paul schofield]

I have the same scope and generally use 8mm BST for planets X 150, or Barlow my 10mm TV Radian X 240 at a push.

Deep sky depending on what I am looking at, generally use my 30mm Aero giving me X 40, Then up the magnification when needed to 18mm BST giving me X 66.

[RikM]

My 250PX is the same focal length as the Skyliner 200P. Have 4 main EP's: Pentax XW 20, 14, 10, & 7mm giving me 60x, 86x, 120x, and 171x. If the seeing is steady enough I will barlow the two shorter ones up to 240x for Saturn and Jupiter or even 342x for Mars. I bought them in pairs (to be kinder to my wallet) 20 & 10, and 14 & 7. I can't honestly say which gets the most use, I use them all. I took ages choosing this set but I am 100% sure I made the right choice (for me) in the end.

[Moonshane]

I adopted the same sort of approach as Rik but am lucky enough to have the individual eyepieces:

32mm, 26mm, 15mm, 13mm, 12.5mm, 10mm, 9mm, 8mm, 7mm, 6-3mm zoom.

I believe this will cover every scope I will ever own and even use of two scopes in the same session.

you'll note the eyepieces are packed at the higher magnification end to combat changing seeing conditions.

the above may look extravagant but with the exception of three (the 26mm, 13mm and 6-3mm zoom) they were bought for £100 each or less over a period of time.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

As I stated elsewhere, I prefer to think in terms of exit pupil. This is more useful because it translates between scopes of different sizes. A magnification of 50x is low in a 200mm scope (4mm exit pupil), but low to medium in a 100mm scope (2mm exit pupil). In my old 6" F/8 scope my favourite EP was the 25mm Orthoscopic (48x or 3.1mm exit pupil), in my newer (i.e. 16 year old) C8 at F/10 one of the favourites is the Nagler 31T5 (65.5x at 3.1mm exit pupil). For galaxy hunting I like to grab the 22mm or 17mm most often (93x or 2.2mm exit pupil and 119x or 1.7mm exit pupil). On certain bright ones I might grab the 12mm T4 (169x, 1.2mm exit pupil). On planetaries I tend to go for the 12mm or 17mm EPs. On planets the 10mm Radian and Pentax 8.5 are used. The 40mm Paragon is mainly in use for public outreach occasions, as it is easier to look through than my Nagler 31mm. The Paragon was my wide-field workhorse until I got the 31mm.

So depending on circumstances, I use the lot. Worse still, I feel the need to get a 7mm (290x) for those situations of good seeing, and maybe even a 6mm.

Exit pupil indicates the brightness of the image in the EP (higher number equals brighter image), and is most easily computed as aperture/magnification or EP focal length / Focal ratio of scope.

[Saleratus]

I have two 180mm f/6 scopes, and a 200mm f/4.5, so my experience is pretty comparable to yours. I also have Ethos, Delos, Panoptics, and XWs, and don't like to barlow.

I'd recommend 12-13mm as your most-used eyepiece, 27-30mm as your wide field, and 7-8mm as your high power, even though you could theoretically go higher.

If I were you, I'd get the 27 Panoptic today, and hold out for the 8 and 12 Delos which will be available in the Fall. The Delos Eps are visually fantastic and have the advantage of similar weights, so you won't be fighting with balance issues. You could also occasionally barlow the 8mm if conditions warranted it.

[Saleratus]

Sorry, to expand and clarify my previous post: I recommend these three Eps (Delos 8 & 12, Panoptic 27) because they are all wonderful and they are also in the same weight range, so you can concentrate on the stars rather than on fiddling with your scope balance. If money is no object, you could consider an Ethos 13 as your most used EP, but even though I love the "wow factor" I actually think that Deloses have better clarity and are better all rounders in a 200mm dob, as the Ethos may introduce balance issues. A lot of people compare Deloses to Pentax XWs, but I prefer the Delos. There's something about the image in them that is more immediate, and they are more comfortable for me to use for long periods.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Too bad there is no Delos 7. That would give 290x in my scope, which I now miss. The jump from 8.5mm to 6mm is just too big when you are trying to match seeing conditions to optimal magnification.

[Doug]

Too bad there is no Delos 7. That would give 290x in my scope, which I now miss. The jump from 8.5mm to 6mm is just too big when you are trying to match seeing conditions to optimal magnification.

Hi Michael

As like you I like nice eyepiece and I was toying with the idea of getting a 8mm that would give me 250x but now you say that you miss 7mm x290 Now I don't know what to do LOL

I know what you mean a eyepiece for the perfect night witch here means maybe twice a year there seems to be only one eyepiece that does this 7mm Nagler what do you think ?

unless you know better

clear skies

[Moonshane]

7mm BGO if you can take the eye relief?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Hi Michael

As like you I like nice eyepiece and I was toying with the idea of getting a 8mm that would give me 250x but now you say that you miss 7mm x290 Now I don't know what to do LOL

I know what you mean a eyepiece for the perfect night witch here means maybe twice a year there seems to be only one eyepiece that does this 7mm Nagler what do you think ?

unless you know better

clear skies

I am looking at the Pentax XW7. That is a better match with the Pentax XF8.5 I already have (which is a stunned). I found I used the 7mm LV quite a bit, much more than two nights a year. When I replaced my two LVs with Radian, I started using the old UWA 14 with 2x TeleXtender. Now the UWA has been replaced by a 12mm Nagler, so I no longer have 7mm at my disposal. The XW7 would be perfect.

[rwilkey]

Hi Jaberwocky, I use the 32mm PanaView (31x) and my 13mm LVW (76x) the most, then my BST Explorers for planets and Moon, a great combination for me.

Edit: Axiom LX or Luminos ia a good ep at 7mm with a wopping 82 degrees, works well in the 200P.

[faulksy]

i love my sw nirvana 16mm which gives me 146x and my burgess 38mm which gives me 61x always use these no matter what and if the seeing is good i go for my bgo range