First time upgrading eyepieces

[ITFC_Sam]

I was looking to upgrade eyepiece by eyepiece as I am on a budget and came across these Vixen's

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

My scope is an f/5 130mm newt which came with 10mm and 25mm eyepieces (which are bog standard) and a 2x barlow (which is useless). Are these eyepieces a noticable upgrade? If so up to what magnification would be possible with this scope?

[NGC 1502]

I do think that the Vixen Plossls would be a good upgrade.

For me, one issue would be the short eye relief on the 10, 8, 6 & 4mm.

You could barlow the longer focal length Vixens to give a higher power but retain the better eye relief of the longer focal length eyepiece, but I'd only do that if you get a good barlow, the cheaper barlows are usually a big disappointment.

Highest mag with that scope ? opinions will differ. I'm usually conservative on magnification, I prefer smaller and sharper, than bigger and fuzzier, so for me I'd go 130-140x on a good night. Some would say higher.

Regards, Ed.

[ronin]

They should be a good upgrade on the ones you have. Having said that they are still plossl's, and there are good and bad plossl's and good and bad aspects of plossl's.

The Vixens are, in general, good plossl's so that aspect is not a concern. The bad aspect of plossl's is their eye relief. Basically how close you have to get to the eyepiece to achieve the correct position for viewing. As a rough approximation the eye relief is about 2/3 of the focal length on plossl's. Some people find getting close uncomfortable, other do not, I just remove my glasses and it doesn't bother me if I am close.

Again as a rough estimate you need 15-20mm if you wear glasses, and say about 8-10mm if you don't. So a 15mm plossl will give about 10mm, and a 10mm will give about 7mm.

So that is the good+bad bits.

Looking at the NPL's you may find 8mm OK but 6mm too much/too uncomfortable, and I would not consider the 4mm. I have seen questions of "What can you use a 4mm plossl for?" Most answers had nothing to do with astronomy. Like many I bought one years ago, bad idea, waste of money.

I have never tried the NPL's in an f/5 scope although I would say people here have and I cannot recall any post saying they were no use. Some plossl's do not work well at f/5, I presume from the lack of complaints that Vixen's do.

There is not many alternatives at £30, all are a higher cost: BST Starguider £47, TMB Clones £47, Celestron X-Cel £69.

[ITFC_Sam]

The short eye relief generally isn't a problem for me, though with that said I'm steering away from the 4-6mm in favour of the 8-10mm. I do plan on getting a new barlow soon afterwards, I recall the Tal 2x barlow having a good reputation on here?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/tal-eyepieces/tal-2x-and-3x-barlows.html

It's currently out of stock but does anyone know how much is costs?

[John]

The TAL Barlows, when you can get them, cost around £35 apiece. The Revelation 2.5x barlow (that First Light have recently started to stock) is a nice alternative (I've owned both types) and costs £37.

[Ags]

Have a look for BST Explorers (I think they have been renamed Starguider ED). They have a bigger field of view than comparable plossls and better eye relief, and they are a step up from plossls. Eye relief by the way is the distance between your eyeball and the glass - it's nice to have a bit of room. In terms of field of view, the Starguider EDs will show an image circle 16% wider.

[g0ibi]

I have an NVL 20mm and a NBL 30mm and there is a lot of difference! The NVL is clearer and pin point compared to the NBL!!

[rwilkey]

I would also recommend the BST Explorer/StarGuider, incredible ep's and good at f/5, as mentioned earlier, I would not go higher than the 8mm, the 18mm or 25mm would also be suitable replacements for your current packaged ep's.