Future eyepiece upgrade advice - SWE200P/Eq5

[Lee M]

Jez,

I think I can probably say without fear of getting shot down that the 10mm SW EP isn't fantastic. And that replacing that with an 8mm BST would be rather good.

Just got one myself and I really like it. Big improvement.

Lee

[John]

Soft edges with low to moderate cost wide angle eyepieces in fast scopes are almost inevitable but it bothers some people more than others. Keeping the field of view sharp right across with scopes with focal ratios of F/6 or faster (ie: F/5, F/4.5 etc) needs top optical design and execution and this costs money.

An element is a lens within an eyepiece. Sometimes these are single lenses and sometimes a group of two or more lenses to do a particular job. A negative element or group has the effect of shortening the focal length of the eyepiece which is an often used technique to achieve more eye relief in short focal lengths. Some eyepieces use just 3 or 4 elements in a couple of groups wheras more complex designs can use as many as 8 or 9 elements.

[M00NMonkey]

Soft edges with low to moderate cost wide angle eyepieces in fast scopes are almost inevitable but it bothers some people more than others. Keeping the field of view sharp right across with scopes with focal ratios of F/6 or faster (ie: F/5, F/4.5 etc) needs top optical design and execution and this costs money.

An element is a lens within an eyepiece. Sometimes these are single lenses and sometimes a group of two or more lenses to do a particular job. A negative element or group has the effect of shortening the focal length of the eyepiece which is an often used technique to achieve more eye relief in short focal lengths. Some eyepieces use just 3 or 4 elements in a couple of groups wheras more complex designs can use as many as 8 or 9 elements.

And all became clear!!! Cheers John, great info!!

[AndyH]

I will also have to upgrade the barlow at the same time. do you know if the TAL 2x is still being made. I was looking around earlier for prices etc and it doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere. It hasn't gone obsolete has it?

It IS still being made, but for some reason isn't being brought into the country by the importers at the time being. Only way at the moment is to keep an eye out second hand, or look for an alternative.

[M00NMonkey]

It IS still being made, but for some reason isn't being brought into the country by the importers at the time being. Only way at the moment is to keep an eye out second hand, or look for an alternative.

Hi Andy thanks for the reply,

The TAL 2x seems to come highly recommend and at reasonable price. Do you know of a decent equivelnt? seems strange none are coming into the country??

Cheers

[nephilim]

Jez,

I think I can probably say without fear of getting shot down that the 10mm SW EP isn't fantastic. And that replacing that with an 8mm BST would be rather good.

Just got one myself and I really like it. Big improvement.

Lee

Haha, your not wrong there, the only use I have out of my 10mm Skywatcher is I use the aluminium sleeve as a nosepeice for my modded XBoxcam, the ep itself has only been out of the box once & i upgraded straight away to a Meade 5000 HD-60 9mm & its fantastic.

Steve

[M00NMonkey]

Jez,

I think I can probably say without fear of getting shot down that the 10mm SW EP isn't fantastic. And that replacing that with an 8mm BST would be rather good.

Just got one myself and I really like it. Big improvement.

Lee

Haha, your not wrong there, the only use I have out of my 10mm Skywatcher is I use the aluminium sleeve as a nosepeice for my modded XBoxcam, the ep itself has only been out of the box once & i upgraded straight away to a Meade 5000 HD-60 9mm & its fantastic.

Steve

Thanks Steve, Lee

I am working on resolving this 10mm problem as we speak.

[AndyH]

Hi Andy thanks for the reply,

The TAL 2x seems to come highly recommend and at reasonable price. Do you know of a decent equivelnt? seems strange none are coming into the country??

Cheers

I haven't used a barlow in many, many years, so I'd be BS ing you if I recommend one, to be brutaly honest. Lots of folk use em, so ask about and see what the general opinion is.

Sorry to be of 0% help.

[M00NMonkey]

I haven't used a barlow in many, many years, so I'd be BS ing you if I recommend one, to be brutaly honest. Lots of folk use em, so ask about and see what the general opinion is.

Sorry to be of 0% help.

I am still grateful for your honesty

Cheers

Jez

[M00NMonkey]

Ok, so I know this thread is titled future upgrade advice, but, it was started a few days ago and NOW IS THE FUTURE!!

The 8mm BST starguider is purchased!! to replace the rubbish stock 10mm ep. I wil make do with the stock 25mm as that seems pretty ok. I gonna wait and see if any TAL 2x surface, so i will again make do with the stock barlow. Only thing left is go for a 18mm or 32mm bst. More interested in the 32mm as i can get 16 with the barlow. whereas the 18 gives me 9 and i have an 8 already.

Anyway, thanks to all that helped in my decision, really useful info gained from this thread and the links within.

Cheers

Jez

[nephilim]

If your going to go for a 32mm then I'd seriously think about a nice 2", yes it not going to be cheap at around £100 for a decent'ish' one, BUT if you say shell out £40-£50 or so on a 1.25" you'll soon be thinking 'wish i'd gone for a 2"' (Thats how I'd be haha) its just a thought, I've no plans to shell out more on 2" ep's APART from a nice 28-32mm.

Steve

[M00NMonkey]

If your going to go for a 32mm then I'd seriously think about a nice 2", yes it not going to be cheap at around £100 for a decent'ish' one, BUT if you say shell out £40-£50 or so on a 1.25" you'll soon be thinking 'wish i'd gone for a 2"' (Thats how I'd be haha) its just a thought, I've no plans to shell out more on 2" ep's APART from a nice 28-32mm.

Steve

Would i not have to get a 2" barlow too, or another additional 18mm EP (or there abouts). I like the fact that the barlow doubles up all the EP's sizes.

[nephilim]

Would i not have to get a 2" barlow too, or another additional 18mm EP (or there abouts). I like the fact that the barlow doubles up all the EP's sizes.

Ah, I see your point there, I'm going for a low power 2" just for the nice wide fov I'd get.

Steve

[M00NMonkey]

Ah, I see your point there, I'm going for a low power 2" just for the nice wide fov I'd get.

Steve

Yeah, that'd be good but i know that i would soon be thinking 'i wonder what it's would look like with the barlow'.

I am just going to have to reside in the fact that I will constantly be emptying my pockets haha