Eyepiece Selection on a Budget

[cantab]

Are there any pros and cons with either a 2x or 2.5 Barlow, or barrows in general? Would I just be better off with eyepieces?

Pros are that say three eyepieces and a Barlow will be a bit cheaper and a bit more compact than six eyepieces, and that they get round the common problem of short focal length eyepieces having tiny eye lenses and short eye relief. Cons are that because Barlows increase the eye relief of an eyepiece they can make it too great if you try and Barlow a long focal length EP, and that a bad Barlow can degrade the image.

[skir]

Doing a price search on the ultima nothing showed up and it's listed as discontinued on FLO, so I guess it would be a second hand option? Is there a particular Antares Barlow you had in mind?

[skir]

Doing a price search on the ultima nothing showed up and it's listed as discontinued on FLO, so I guess it would be a second hand option? Is there a particular Antares Barlow you had in mind?

this is a question for brantuk btw.

[skir]

If you do get a barlow go for something like the Celestron Ultima or Antares 2x. I got on well with both of these and they are very good quality in the budget end of the range. With the 25mm I would go for a decent 16mm plossl. This would give you a range of 25mm, 16mm, 12.5mm, and 8mm (assuming the barlow). Quite reasonable to start with your scope and plenty of options depending on the seeing. Hth

i quite like the look of the bst range. They don't seem top do a 16mm but do do a 15, it doesn't seem much of a difference to me but would it be noticeable? Particularly as 8mm becomes 7.5mm.

[brantuk]

Yes - the Ultima 2x is discontinued last I heard, but if you can get a good condition second hand one you wouldn't regret it. The Antares is actually a 2" 1.6x and can be found here (though currently out of stock):

http://www.scopesnsk...om/prod/50.html

So your scope would need to be able to accommodate a 2" eyepiece and you'd require a 2" to 1.25" adaptor to use any 1.25" eyepieces. You could get a 12mm plossl and end up with a range of 7.5mm, 12mm, 15.6mm, and 25mm. Still a good range with a little more power if your main interest is planets/moon.

I like to have roughly 4mm steps in my range - but it's all personal preference. It would be a good idea to join a local astro soc and go to some observing sessions where you'll find most folks will let you try their eyepieces in your scope before you buy.

(I've not tried the BST range but I've never heard a bad comment about them)

[brantuk]

Just checked out the GSO f5 200P and it has a 2" focuser and adaptor for 1.25" eyepieces included - looks like a nice scope

For the future when budget allows - you'd find a 30mm or more 2" eyepiece very nice in that scope for viewing large objects like open or double clusters, galaxies, and nebulae.

[skir]

Yes - the Ultima 2x is discontinued last I heard, but if you can get a good condition second hand one you wouldn't regret it. The Antares is actually a 2" 1.6x and can be found here (though currently out of stock):

http://www.scopesnsk...om/prod/50.html

So your scope would need to be able to accommodate a 2" eyepiece and you'd require a 2" to 1.25" adaptor to use any 1.25" eyepieces. You could get a 12mm plossl and end up with a range of 7.5mm, 12mm, 15.6mm, and 25mm. Still a good range with a little more power if your main interest is planets/moon.

I like to have roughly 4mm steps in my range - but it's all personal preference. It would be a good idea to join a local astro soc and go to some observing sessions where you'll find most folks will let you try their eyepieces in your scope before you buy.

(I've not tried the BST range but I've never heard a bad comment about them)

I see there is a celestron omni 2x barlow at just under the 40 mark. Any ideas on the worth of that?

[skir]

Just checked out the GSO f5 200P and it has a 2" focuser and adaptor for 1.25" eyepieces included - looks like a nice scope

For the future when budget allows - you'd find a 30mm or more 2" eyepiece very nice in that scope for viewing large objects like open or double clusters, galaxies, and nebulae.

mines an altair astro Gso. Which I'm guessing means its an altair astro design made by Gso? It popped up at what seemed a reasonable price second hand and from the searching I did, I didn't find that many negative comments. But I must admit I know nothing much about Gso or altair so any info would be useful regarding those companies and their products.

I was thinking about a 32mm at some point as well.

[brantuk]

I have an Omni 2x barlow as well - it didn't impress me I'm afraid - bit too close to the quality of SW supplied eyepieces for my liking - but bare in mind I'm a tad biased cos i do have one or two good quality eyepieces as well. I'm optimistic about your supplied 25mm though - they state it's "good quality" on the website and they do give great after sales service if any thing isn't right.

Edit - crossed posts - I just read you're buying s/h - give it a good check over before parting with cash - but on the face of it looks good

[skir]

I have an Omni 2x barlow as well - it didn't impress me I'm afraid - bit too close to the quality of SW supplied eyepieces for my liking - but bare in mind I'm a tad biased cos i do have one or two good quality eyepieces as well. I'm optimistic about your supplied 25mm though - they state it's "good quality" on the website and they do give great after sales service if any thing isn't right.

Edit - crossed posts - I just read you're buying s/h - give it a good check over before parting with cash - but on the face of it looks good

Ok I'll avoid the omni then. Can you recommend any other 2x barlows. I'm just lazy when it comes to maths!

[brantuk]

Well - for around £40 there's the Tal 2x which is great vfm - I sold mine on though when I got a Powermate. Meade do nice eyepieces - don't know if that extends to their barlows but worth checking out I reckon.

The maths is easy - a 2x barlow will halve a 10mm eyepiece to 5mm. Or - it effectively doubles your your focal length. But I did have to get calc.exe out for the 1.6x lol

[skir]

Yeah the 2x I'm ok on the maths but 1.6?! I've seen a short Meade 2x for about 30. I've read the tals are very good, but aren't they difficult to get hold of?

[skir]

Doh! Just remembered I've got a 20 odd year old tal newt at home which is painted russian military grey (I'm not kidding) wonder if that has a Barlow in the box? Shame I'm not going to be back there for a bit to check.

[brantuk]

Fraid I'm not familiar with anything else under £90. The Orion Shorty Plus is apparently the same piece as the Celestron Ultima - but I don't know if you can still get them. Worth trying your old Tal newt though - I understand some of the old glass is pretty good spec. But I'm fairly new being only 5yrs into astronomy.

Hope I've helped

[skir]

Fraid I'm not familiar with anything else under £90. The Orion Shorty Plus is apparently the same piece as the Celestron Ultima - but I don't know if you can still get them. Worth trying your old Tal newt though - I understand some of the old glass is pretty good spec. But I'm fairly new being only 5yrs into astronomy.

Hope I've helped

You've been a really big help thanks. Undoubtedly I am going to be asking an awful lot more questions. And as my mount is showing up tomorrow, they will start increasing in number!

[Mr Fiery Jack]

BST Explorers/ Starguiders, Meade 4000 series plossl's, Vixen npl all respectable ep's and all in the £30-£50 range. I have used all these and they perform very well for their modest budget. So so many more out there too. Good luck.

Paul.

the Starguider/BST offer the very best up-grade for the very minimum of hard earned cash. Tried, tested and approved over and over again.

[skir]

the Starguider/BST offer the very best up-grade for the very minimum of hard earned cash. Tried, tested and approved over and over again.

Yes, I'm pretty sure I'll be buying some of these.

[wookie1965]

This might be just the right Barlow for you which would go very well with the BST`s and from same supplier,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skys-the-Limit-2-2X-ED-Barlow-Lens-with-1-25-adapter-/380521245445?refid=store

[skir]

This might be just the right Barlow for you which would go very well with the BST`s and from same supplier,

http://www.ebay.co.u...445?refid=store

I wonder who makes it for them?

In any case I'm going to hold off on a Barlow until I can check on the very old tal telescope I have at home and see if that has a Barlow in the box. I have a sneaking suspicion that it does. Going to be a few weeks before I'm back there to check though.

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

I think I'll buy the BST 15 and 25mm to complement my standard 20mm plossl and 7mm HR planetary. Can the BST's also be used for projection photography? I will buy them anyway for viewing.....

[rwilkey]

Sounds like a plan! You'll soon want the 25mm too though The nice thing about them is that they're afocal, which means you can swap them over and refocussing requirements should be minimal or even non-existent.

I think you mean 'parfocal'

[AstroAdam]

I think I do!

I knew it didn't sound right when I was typing it!

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