Barlow for 200p for more mag. from stock eyepieces?

[rodhull]

Recently got my first scope, a Skyliner 200p following many months of lurking on here and reading recommendations and have been enjoying the views! However, I want to improve on the choice of magnifications without breaking the bank (only have the stock 10mm and 25mm eyepieces).

I've been looking at Barlows and the Revelation x2.5 is well reviewed for the price. My only concern is that using it with the 25mm will result in a 10mm equivalent (which I already have) so I was wondering if the ED x2 also from Revelation might be a better fit (I'd essentially get 2 more mags of 5mm and 12.5mm equivalent).

I'm really trying to improve views on things like Jupiter and smaller nebulae which currently using the 10mm don't fill much of the field. Getting a "larger" view to try to see more is what I'm after.

Any opinions? Am I thinking along the right lines? I really don't want to spend more than £45...

Thanks in advance!

[bingevader]

Hello,

5mm will be too much in my opinion,unless you have very dark skies, that'd be 240x magnification.

200x would be the most useful maximum magnification.

I have the same 'scope and a 6mm EP and there are times when the conditions mean that it's too much.

Most of the time it is spot on and gives excellent views with plenty of detail.

Cheers

[triton1]

hi there

surely a 5mm ep would give 200x mag.

[bingevader]

It's a Skyliner 200p - 1200mm

And don't call me surely!

Cheers

[tibbz2]

Yup I have the same 6mm in my 200p and it's a great EP, considerably bigger than the stock ones though!

[KevUU]

I suspect the others may be right that 5mm will be too much - I don't talk from experience but am looking at ep options at the moment for the same scope, and have heard the same advice from many places.

In which case you'd be spending your £45 on a barlow to give you 12.5mm. That may be useful, at just under x100, although you already have x120 with the 10mm. Also you could still use the barlow later with any other eps you buy.

I am tempted, however, to suggest that a 12mm BST for the same money would give you more improvement. I've just ordered one myself, everyone says good things about them. If you did get a barlow later, the 12mm would barlow up to 6mm which is more useable than 5mm would have been.

I reiterate that I'm essentially just recounting the distilled advice from my own investigations, since I haven't actually trodden these paths myself yet (hopefully at the weekend )

Good luck

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

12-8mm is my usual working area. BSTs are great for the money and the stock eyepieces dont barlow well at all. My first ep upgrade was an 8mm bst and it was a great addition.

[bingevader]

The 8mm BST would be a good safe bet.

They are highly recommended by many users here and only just over your £45 budget.

It would be a notch up in magnification and a good improvement in quality of view over the stock 10mm.

Cheers

[moffer]

Relative newbie here, so for what it's worth....another thumbs up for the 8mm BST. That's what my son and I chose as a first additional eyepiece for our 200p. Haven't had much chance to use it yet, but our first views of saturn the other night were stunning, as was the M13 glob. Next up, and for my birthday in 2 weeks time, will be the William Optics 6mm SPL for nights of good seeing. After that, and when funds allow, we'll probably get the 12mm BST. Haven't looked further ahead than that, but have decided not to bother with a barlow as I had one back in the 70's with my 8.5" newt and hardly ever used it.

[Andy_E]

Another vote here for the 8mm BST... will give much better views that barlowing the stock eps.

[ronin]

I would look initially at what the eypieces you have actually are. It seems that Skywatcher are including the modified Kellner type eyepieces more and more with their scopes. If they have done this with the 200P then I would suggest you forget the 2 you have and consider starting as if you have none. To me it makes a slight difference on choices.

Everytime I read a product specification on the Skywatcher site the eyepiece detail is hidden but it seems to be very often these RKE type eyepieces and on something like the 200P they will not perform well.

[rodhull]

Thanks for all your advice. I decided to go for a Barlow in the end just so that in the future I have that option of "doubling up" the no. of choices of mag for any EPs I get in the future. I settled on the Baader Classic Q x2.25 in the end. I'll be looking at a BST 8mm in the next few weeks as well in addition to this I think.

The eyepieces that came with the scope I don't find too bad (although it's my first I'm certainly not an expert!) Pretty sure they're both of the Plossl variety (they say so on the outside and boxes at least).

The 25mm certainly affords good sharp, clear and wide views. The 10mm is slightly less crisp and a much narrower field of view, but in good seeing conditions has given me great splitting power for doubles and I saw a good view of my first nebula in it the other day (Clown Face) which made my night!

[John]

The Skyliner 200P comes with two eyepieces of the Modified Achromat (MA) design. They are not plossls unless they have been upgraded prior to the delivery of the scope to yourself.

They seem OK until you try a better quality eyepiece !

[bingevader]

Well, if he were to try something in your EP collection John, then maybe.

But on a more modest budget, I think you're being a bit harsh on the 25mm at least.

My 25mm TV plossl is a better EP than my stock EP, but it doesn't blow it out of the water.

I just wouldn't start by replacing the two he already has.

Cheers

[John]

Well, if he were to try something in your EP collection John, then maybe.

But on a more modest budget, I think you're being a bit harsh on the 25mm at least.

My 25mm TV plossl is a better EP than my stock EP, but it doesn't blow it out of the water.

I just wouldn't start by replacing the two he already has.

Cheers

I was thinking of eyepieces such as the BST Explorers, Vixen NPL's GSO Plossls, that sort of thing. I did notice the OP's budget guidance

I agree that the supplied 25mm is better than the supplied 10mm though.

[bingevader]

I don't think he can go far wrong with the BST Explorers.

The 8mm will be a good starting point.

Have fun!

Cheers

[rodhull]

Just thought I'd report back with my findings having used the Baader Q-Turret x2.25 Barlow with the stock SW eyepieces:

It certainly improves mag. very well on planetary objects used in conjunction with the 10mm (Saturn for instance) under good seeing conditions but is very hard to achieve/maintain focus. Same for splitting v. close double stars, it works well, but definition/resolution appears slightly muddy - I presume this is down to the stock 10mm not being that great.

Threading the lens piece by itself directly onto the 25mm gives a high degree of "kidney-beaning" but works better on the 10mm.

Overall, I'm pretty happy since I get a nice range of mags and the Barlow wasn't expensive but seems to perform pretty well.

I think I'll definitely get a BST soon though too - the Barlow is handy as well for laser collimation as well as a stopgap until funds allow for the BST purchase! Do people still recommend an 8mm over a 6mm?

[Schorhr]

I'd reccomend a 6 and 9mm 66deg wide angle eyepiece, 32eur/28gbp each. Great value, and will be fine at f/6 .