Eyepieces for Skymax 127 Mak - totally confused

[Kamet]

Having read so many posts about replacement eyepieces for the Skymax 127 Mak I am now more confused than ever. It would appear that the 25mm one is a possible to keep, but I need to replace the 10mm and barlow. My scope is on a goto.

So I see that people suggest a 10, 18, 32 ....fine with that......but what make? What about a barlow? I know people will then ask how much money have I got. Well I suppose I could say that I would go up to £50 each. However, if a better lens cost more....then perhaps I could buy one every other month I will eventually be taking this scope to use in Sweden where I hope to get much darker skies than at home in the UK. I want to get the best from this scope now that I've taken the plunge......so do want to have better eyepieces. I know you could say the 'skies the limit' when it comes to spending money.....but I do have to justify my spending to my other half

[DrRobin]

Hi,

I would agree with you, the 25mm is not half bad, I still have one from my 127 Mak days, I use I for aligning my C11. The only problem with the 10mm is the eye relief, you have to have your eye in the right place. If you are looking to upgrade your Barlow (and again I didn't think one supplied was all that bad) look out for a second hand Televue 2x or 3x, they should come up for around 50 or 60 quid. Slightly cheaper new is the revelation 2.5x Barlow at around £35 I have the 2.5x and it is pretty good for the money. I would avoid the 5x, it will be just too powerful for your scope and you will loose too much light.

As for eyepieces keep a look out for Baader Hyperions on the second and market, they are very good value for money, but a little expensive new, but you could pick one up in budget second hand. There are lots of other good makes coming up on the second hand market, almost anything from Televue will be good, but Revelation/GSO seem quite good too.

Try looking on here(when you have 50 posts), Astrobuysell and eBay. That is one good scope you have, I started with one of those and sometimes which I had kept it.

Hope this helps?

[Naemeth]

As your scope is F/11.81, you aren't too likely to actually notice much difference between eyepieces. You can't go far wrong with a set of BST Explorers / Starguider EDs, available from here @ £47 each.

http://www.skystheli... eyepieces.html

Don't bother with the 5mm though.

Oh, and add a 32mm Plössl too, GSO / Revelation is fine . The Vixen NPL 30mm is also very good too.

To be clear:

8mm, 12mm, 15mm, 18mm, 25mm BSTs / Starguiders (exact same eyepiece just different branding), 32mm Plössl (GSO or Revelation, different branding) should cover all magnifications you will need for a while .

[spektrumdx8]

The BST starguiders definitely seem to suit the 127- if you only had to get 2 eyepieces, then the 8mm and 18mm will suit you fine !!

Haven't had to use the skywatcher barlow on them yet so will try that sometime, The supplied 25mm is ok but the 10mm is basically unusable ,,

Let us know how you get on.

[Kamet]

Thank you for the quick response - all very helpful. Will look at what you have suggested today. When I first set up my scope I was about to give up as I couldn't get anything in view/focus - then suddenly ....wow the moon !!! Now realise I must have been trying with the 10mm......it wasn't until I used the 25mm that I got a result !! So hopefully, with some decent lenses I will begin to enjoy my new scope. Nice to hear that I didn't make a costly mistake buying this scope as a starter

[Dunkster]

I would suggest the following focal lengths to get started with:

30 or 32mm - lowest magnifications for looking at faint or large objects

10mm - mid range for nights when the conditions aren't the best

7 or 8mm - high power for planetary (when the conditions are good) and lunar

Good options are the Vixen NPL (£35) and Starguiders, although the latter is lacking one close to 10mm. You could substitute 30/32mm for a 25 or 24mm if you go for one of the wider able eyepieces such as the Starguider or Hyperion.

You can always add more later

[TransparentBadger]

When I first set up my scope I was about to give up as I couldn't get anything in view/focus - then suddenly ....wow the moon !!! Now realise I must have been trying with the 10mm......it wasn't until I used the 25mm that I got a result !!

Over the two weeks I've had my 127 I've noticed that the GOTO can miss objects, certainly with the 10mm eyepiece. The 25mm does make things a lot easier. Like you I'm looking at what eyepieces I can add and I think I've come to the conclusion that I want an eyepiece to give a wider view and a high power eyepiece with the best eye-relief I can find as I've noticed that even at 300x mag (using the stock 10mm eyepiece and x2 Barlow) the moon is acceptably bright and doesn't seem to suffer too much from atmospheric influences. I've got a feeling this scope can be pushed past it's theoretical limits when it comes to such a bright target.

[RikM]

The supplied 10mm and barlow aren't that bad. People often mistake the short eyerelief and too much magnification, for poor quality. The Skymax doesn't need anything exotic to give good views so long as the focal length is reasonable and the eyepiece is comfortable to use. Baader Hyperions, Celestron Xcel-LX, Vixen NPL in the longer focal lengths are all very nice eyepieces for this scope. BST / Starguider eyepieces have their followers and are an economical way of getting a few different focal lengths.

With that scope I used to use the 25mm Skywatcher MA, a 15mm Revelation plossl and a 2x Barlow. That covered everything for me.

[Kamet]

Well, been looking around and can't find anything on the second hand market......if they were any good why would people sell them I ask??

So hedging towards paying a bit more than £50 - maybe £75?....... perhaps just buy 3....... a 32mm, 18mm, and 7 or 8. Now it is just the brand Think that wipes out Tele Vue and Baader Hyperions unless someone knows of a deal anywhere!!

[Naemeth]

Well, been looking around and can't find anything on the second hand market......if they were any good why would people sell them I ask??

So hedging towards paying a bit more than £50 - maybe £75?....... perhaps just buy 3....... a 32mm, 18mm, and 7 or 8. Now it is just the brand Think that wipes out Tele Vue and Baader Hyperions unless someone knows of a deal anywhere!!

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

It's of course up to you, but at that focal ratio you would be better (in my opinion) buying more eyepieces, and the BSTs will work well (they work well up to about F/5). Perhaps get an 18mm, an 8mm and a 32mm Plössl.

[brantuk]

"if they were any good why would people sell them I ask??"

They may be selling in order to upgrade to a better eyepiece. Or it may be they upgraded the scope and need a different set of focal length eyepieces - or different type of ep to suit the new scope. Sometimes they sell to raise cash to finance another hobby or pay a bill - can be any of a number of reasons for selling a good piece of kit.

[rwilkey]

Hi Kamet, here is the link to the BST Explorers/StarGuiders, which I also highly recommend: http://www.ebay.co.u...cat=0&_from=R40

As for a 32mm, I recommend the GSO Plossl, or the TeleVue 32mm Plossl if you can stretch to that.

[Kamet]

"if they were any good why would people sell them I ask??"

They may be selling in order to upgrade to a better eyepiece. Or it may be they upgraded the scope and need a different set of focal length eyepieces - or different type of ep to suit the new scope. Sometimes they sell to raise cash to finance another hobby or pay a bill - can be any of a number of reasons for selling a good piece of kit.

Point taken Think I knew that really.....but so wary of buying something I am not sure about second hand.....but I HAVE bought second hand off ebay, so not adverse to the method. Just couldn't see anything today, and of course not having written 50 posts yet....can't access second hand on this forum yet

I am thinking of visiting a shop!!! Now there's a thought

[Naemeth]

The BSTs from eBay / Sky's the Limit are brand new not second hand by the way .

[Kamet]

Well thanks to everyone's suggestions..... I have spent way more than I was going to, but thought what the heck!! So I have bought a TeleVue 32mm, a 9mm Celestron Xcel-LX and a 15mm BST starguider. I ordered yesterday, each from a different supplier, either free p&p, or standard delivery ( from Amazon) . They all arrived today Can't complain about that can I. I also can't complain about the views I got tonight of the moon and Jupiter. Light pollution was pretty bad as I am set up in front of my house with street lights close by. Then things deteriorated by 8pm so called it a night. However, the short window did give me my best view of Jupiter so far, and the close up of the moon was amazing in its detail. So all in all money well spent. I am now really looking forward to giving my scope a 'proper' trial when I go to Sweden next month for two weeks - just hope I get some clear dark skies

[Dunkster]

That's a nice trio of eyepieces you've got now, congrats

The Moon was lovely and crisp tonight, and Jupiter wasn't bad either. Both of those are so bright themselves that they can be seen in light polluted conditions, it's the clusters, galaxies and nebulae you'll need the darkness for.

[DrRobin]

Hi,

That is brilliant to get such a nice set so quickly and then to get great use out of them on the first night. You won't regret buying quality kit even if it does leave a big hole in the bank balance.

Robin