Low power eyepiece recommendation

[bendiddley]

Hi All. Can anyone recommend a low power eyepiece (32-40mm) for use in my sw 200p dob? My budget is around £50.

[Spec-Chum]

Hi Ben, I've been doing a lot of research into this today and the general concenus is that for that size a decent Plossl or a BST will be fine and within your budget, with BST being better the more the mag, but for low power is not really an issue.

I quite like the look of the NPL range: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html and for £40 is under budget...

That said, I've got my eye on this beast for £79.00 http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-panaview-2-eyepieces.html

[John]

32mm plossls like the GSO ones are great "workhorse" low power eyepieces and well within your budget. I don't like the narrower field of view of a 40mm plossl in the 1.25" size plus it does not show more sky than a 32mm really.

In the 2" size the Panaview 32mm would deliver a wider field of view but the 2" format blows your budget somewhat.

[andrew63]

The BST range end at 25mm - but a good 30ish plossl such as vixen will do a great job. Also a bit more expensive those Panaview are also fine but are a 2" eyepiece so you would need a 2" focuser and diagonal for them. Half the fun is decided though!

andrew

[bendiddley]

32mm plossls like the GSO ones are great "workhorse" low power eyepieces and well within your budget. I don't like the narrower field of view of a 40mm plossl in the 1.25" size plus it does not show more sky than a 32mm really.

In the 2" size the Panaview 32mm would deliver a wider field of view but the 2" format blows your budget somewhat.

John, i had a look at the GSO ones and the 32mm FOV is 52˚. do you know if any other 1.25" ep's are wider than this and around my budget or would I need to spend more? i should have mentioned that i'm looking for wide angle in my original text as well

[bendiddley]

Hi Ben, I've been doing a lot of research into this today and the general concenus is that for that size a decent Plossl or a BST will be fine and within your budget, with BST being better the more the mag, but for low power is not really an issue.

I quite like the look of the NPL range: http://www.firstligh...-eyepieces.html and for £40 is under budget...

That said, I've got my eye on this beast for £79.00 http://www.firstligh...-eyepieces.html

hi nebula. do you know of any others that have a wider fov or can you only get this with 2" ones? the bst's only go up to 25mm although the fov is better than the gso's mentioned by john.

[Spec-Chum]

I suspect around 50 is the physical limit with > 30mm on 1.25" to be honest.

[Moonshane]

in a 1.25" you cannot get more field into a 32mm than 52 degrees approx. it's surprising but in my 32mm Plossl, the field looks wider than 52 degrees. not sure why but it does. in your scope a standard 32mm plossl would provide a view of approx. 1.4 degrees. this will fit in the vast majority of objects with only a very few not possible; these can be seen in your finder. to get more field than this you'd need to either increase your budget or accept relatively high degrees of astigmatism etc.

sharp stars across wider fields cost increasingly more cash.

[bendiddley]

in a 1.25" you cannot get more field into a 32mm than 52 degrees approx. it's surprising but in my 32mm Plossl, the field looks wider than 52 degrees. not sure why but it does. in your scope a standard 32mm plossl would provide a view of approx. 1.4 degrees. this will fit in the vast majority of objects with only a very few not possible; these can be seen in your finder. to get more field than this you'd need to either increase your budget or accept relatively high degrees of astigmatism etc.

sharp stars across wider fields cost increasingly more cash.

thanks moonshane. what sort of budget are we talking about and what sort of ep would i need?

[Moonshane]

I have looked through this one http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html and it was pretty good.

and this one http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/eyepieces/GSO/plossl-eyepieces/32mm-plossl-eyepiece.html seems OK for a bit less. You might get a used one for £20. these are all much of a muchness.

if you were asking me though, I'd buy a used Televue 32mm Plossl for about £60, in fact I already have done.....in my opinion (but not everyone's) it's worth it.

[KevUU]

I have a vixen NPL 30mm and love it. Loads better than the stock SW 25mm (especially since mine was only a super MA). I haven't had a chance to compare with anything more expensive though.

[cyborg421]

Save a bit more and buy a Panaview. It is one of my favourite eyepieces even among my more expensive ones.

You won't regret it.

Simon

[cs1cjc]

The NPL plossl is very sharp gives an apparent field of view that is quite restricted, at about 46 degrees.

[Richardisgreat]

Yep +1 for the Vixen NPL 30mm from me aswell

[paulhutch]

I'm for the Panaview too. It's a beast that is larger than a tin of beans but a great EP. I use it in my 12 inch dob.

[bendiddley]

thanks everyone for your comments, they are all very helpful went out last night and was able to find M51 with my 25mm, which took me quite a while, it was only a couple of smudges but knowing i'd found it was very satisfying and i sat and looked at it for quite some time, using my 10mm also. glad to have had my first DSO success as starting out has been harder than i thought, but i know i'm getting the hang of it. i'm hoping the 32mm will help me navigate a little easier although my slowness in finding things is probably more down to my lack of experience. think I'll get the 32mm though. cheers again.

[bendiddley]

BTW can anyone tell me the difference between the GSO Plossl and the GSO revelation Plossl, is it that the revelation are 2" instead of 1.25"?

[sologuitarist61]

Also have a look at the GSO 32mm and 40mm EP (365 astro). These fall within your budget and have to added advantage of a built in T thread so that you can attached a DSR direct onto it. Have had the 32mm for some time and had some good pictures through it and have just bought the 40mm version through the SGL classifieds, so I am obviously more than happy with the results. Very good for the price.

[John]

BTW can anyone tell me the difference between the GSO Plossl and the GSO revelation Plossl, is it that the revelation are 2" instead of 1.25"?

The Revelation plossls are made by GSO and are in the 1.25" format. There are 2" Revelation eyepieces that are also made by GSO but are a wide field design rather than a plossl. I tried a couple of those and they were OK in an F/10 scope but not so good with an F/6, the stars being rather distorted across the outer third of the field of view. The Panaviews are better wide field 2" eyepieces I think - you get what you pay for with wide field eyepieces.

[bendiddley]

The Revelation plossls are made by GSO and are in the 1.25" format. There are 2" Revelation eyepieces that are also made by GSO but are a wide field design rather than a plossl. I tried a couple of those and they were OK in an F/10 scope but not so good with an F/6, the stars being rather distorted across the outer third of the field of view. The Panaviews are better wide field 2" eyepieces I think - you get what you pay for with wide field eyepieces.

is this it here. i can't seem to find revelation 1.25" only revelation 2"

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/eyepieces/GSO/plossl-eyepieces/32mm-plossl-eyepiece.html

[John]

is this it here. i can't seem to find revelation 1.25" only revelation 2"

http://www.scopesnsk...l-eyepiece.html

The 32mm in the link is a 1.25" eyepiece.

[bendiddley]

yes that's right, i just wasn't sure if it was a revelation one or not as couldn't find a revelation 1.25" only the 2"

[John]

Revelation is just a branding for products, many of which are made by GSO. This happens a lot with astro equipment - the same item is sold under a number of different brand names, sometimes at quite different prices. It can get confusing to say the least !

[LukeSkywatcher]

The 32mm GSO or the 30mm Vixen NPL will be great. Much as i love NPL's, the GSO 32MM is the one i would pick.

[bendiddley]

The 32mm GSO or the 30mm Vixen NPL will be great. Much as i love NPL's, the GSO 32MM is the one i would pick.

BTW do you know if the GSO's 1.25" perform well in medium to high power? Or would I be better off looking for another make for these?