recommended eyepieces for skywatcher explorer 200p

[rob1]

hi can someone recommend some good eyepieces for a skywatcher explorer 200p, around the £50 price mark?

thanks

Rob.

[rob1]

what about these? http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

[E621Keith]

The NPL is good, but what do you want to use it for?

Short focal length NPL have very little eye relief, so if you want to us it for planets, BST Explorer may be a better option. If you want it for deep sky, NPL will do a good job.

[Stargazer_00]

I'd second Keiths comments about what use. If you are after eyepieces which individually cost around £50 each and come in a range of focal lengths you can collect then you'd be hard pushed to better the BST Starguiders (eBayt- skys the limit).

In terms of "I have £50 to spend what is the best eyepiece for me" you would need to give more information about what specifically you want to look at (object type)

[rob1]

i want to get a couple over the next couple of months, so the BSTs are my best option do you think? and i have the skywatcher 10mm and 25mm ones that came with the scope, its all i have at the moment would it be worth replacing them and selling the skywatcher ones cheap on ebay?

thanks for the advice!

[Stargazer_00]

Personally I'd recommend the BSTs at this price point because I think they are uniquely comfortable, affordable and offer great views. Wider field than most at this price range, good control over a number of common abberations, work well in fast scopes so will be transferrable to other scopes should you ever get one.

To start with I'd use the 10mm and 25mm you have for a while to ascertain wher you feel you need to go in terms of eyepieces. Then start buying them. A good start is perhaps the 8mm or the 18mm depending on which side you prefer (low mag, high mag).

Put it this way, if I had no eyepieces and wanted to start collecting BSTs id probably buy in the following order

25mm (replace the 25mm), 8mm to (replace the 10mm), 18mm, 15mm, 12mm, 5mm.

As it is though you have a 10mm and a 25mm, both of which would benefit from upgrading but it might perhaps be wiser to fill out the in between ranges first.

[bingevader]

Yep to the BSTs, but I'd fill the gaps first before replacing EPs you already have.

The 25mm really isn't that bad.

The 10mm isn't that good, but isn't a bin job straight away!

Cheers

[Mad Taff]

Hi Rob

I have the same telescope as you which I have had for about three months now. I pretty soon bought an eyepiece to replace the 10mm one. My choice was the 8mm BST Starguider as I was looking for something better to study the moon and Jupiter. Hopefully I will get good views of Saturn when the skies clear up enough down here. I am delighted with my choice as it is a great eyepiece that is sensibly priced. The Starguiders have great reviews on this forum. I am still using the standard 25mm eyepiece that came with the scope for DSOs, which I find actually isn't too bad an eyepiece. My next investment will be in replacing that one for something of better quality, and there is loads of good advice on here. Good luck with your choices. Cheers, Phil.

[Pete Presland]

televue plossl's tick all the boxes for me and if you look after them you will not loose any money if you resell them

[valefor]

i was also looking at replacing my 10mm with an 8. ive heard good things about the bst's. but i was wondeing what people think of the ed's. i was looking at these,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370782587867?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[bod00]

i was also looking at replacing my 10mm with an 8. ive heard good things about the bst's. but i was wondeing what people think of the ed's. i was looking at these,

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1423.l2649

These are the same EP as the BST just at another angle and £2 more expensive than sky's the limit (would deal with them, very good service and support)

I have the BST and i must say they have performed very well in a poor scope so they should perform very well in a 200p

One thing i have noticed is that with the extra FoV you get with the BST the 8mm fits the whole moon in the same as my stock 10mm but at higher mag so this might be something to consider, i was going to get the 8mm and the 12mm but seen as the FoV is wider i am not 100% sure i will see that much more detail so i would agree with stargazing replace the 25 and swap 8 for the 10, although this will bump the mag up to 150x from 120x you should still see the same view just hopefully better detail and quality

good luck

[Stargazer_00]

the 25mm BST shows approx the same sky as a 32mm plossl so it is a great addition to a set as it not only replaces the 25mm plossls supplied but also negates the reason to pick up the 32mm plossl that so many of us have.

I have both and it was only later when I actually got a clue that I'd realised what id done..

[bod00]

that was going to be my next question, i have the 25mm but with my new scope (150pl) the mag will increase slightly from 40x to 48x and seen as BST dont make anything after 25mm is it worth going for a 30/32 but this would be around 40x so would it be worth it??, so i guess you may have cleared that up for me already

probs go for the 18mm and then might as well get the 12mm in for a penny and all that!

[Stargazer_00]

Based on a 1200mm scope (both the 200p and the 150pl)

The 25mm has 60 degrees apparent field of view. So it shows 48x mag and 1.25 degees true field of view

A 32mm plossl (not the one ones in kits which have less) have a 50 degee apparent field of view. So it would show 38x mag and 1.33 degrees true field of view, albeit in a narrower apparent field.

For me this is close enough to declare the 25mm BST not only a direct replacement for the 25mm plossl but also mitigates the need for a 32mm plossl. Others might disagree as there is a nominal difference of 0.07 degrees true field. So a 7% difference.

On a side note, regarding the BSTs. I was out tonight comparing the ES 82 degree 4.7mm with my mothballed BST Starguider 5mm. On the lunar surface and jupiter I could tell very little on axis between them. The seeing was quite variable tonight and the didn't really help in any real way. The ES 4.7mm is very tight on eye relief and the 5mm BST is, now in hindsight, remarkably comfortable to use by comparison. There is a very real trade up here (price aside) between extra field of view versus comfort and I think I might just prefer the BST for the moon! That's a real hats off for the eyepiece considering the ES costs 3 times a much.

EDIT this test was in a F5 6" newt, not a 1200mm FL scope. I didn't get my 10" dob out which has a 1200mm FL. At this FL the magnification would be such that I suspect I'd prefer the 4.7mm for less nudging.

[Qualia]

hi can someone recommend some good eyepieces for a skywatcher explorer 200p, around the £50 price mark?

Apart from Stargazer's excellent advice and patient explanation above, I'd also agree with Bunnygod that the TVPs will also be more than worthy.

[wookie1965]

BST`s from Skys the limit great service and for the price fantastic eyepieces the 15mm was voted best in class in Sky at Night magazine (January) so they cant be that bad.

[Mattscar]

And another for the BST's from Skys the Limit. They are also really good for people with glasses, my dad couldn't see much using the supplied EP's, but with the new one he can see all sorts now.

[rob1]

Wow thanks for all the advice! BST's it is.

clear skies.

Rob