help please for a novice

[mr snoops]

hi everyone, sorry to be a pain but im very confussed about eyepieces. i am fairly new to star gazing having being bought a tasco scope some years back(i know they have a lot of bad press but it was a gift) my intention is to use this scope & then progress on to something better. the scope has been retrieved from my loft & reassmebled, at the moment i can only find a 4.5 eyepiece, a 1.5 erecting eyepiece & a 3 x barlow lens having lost the instructions im lost. having read about the poor lens quality of tasco scopes i was wondering what replacement eye pieces/star diagonal would be required to to turn a poor instrument into a reasonable tool. and what sort of images would i be able to see, the scope has a focal length of 700mm & d=60mm

any suggestions welcome as all i want to do is get out there & explore

thanks in advance

[brantuk]

Hi Mr Snoops and welcome to SGL

I've no experience with your scope but if you would like some 1 to 1 help setting it up you'd be very welcome to join us at one of our sessions in your local area. East Mids Stargazers is a growing bunch of folks mainly from SGL that got together for regular observing sessions in the Leics/Notts/Derbys/Lincs area. We meet regularly at dark sites in Belper and Wymeswold.

If you'd like to pop down to the next meeting to get a feel for the group you'll find us quite helpful and friendly. Just click the EMS link in my signature for further details - leave a brief intro so the folks can say hi - and we'll soon have you up and running.

[Steep]

It probably came with 4.5 and something like a 20mm, unfortunately the one you cannot find is likely to give you the better views. There's a seller on eBay called skys_unlimited who sells BST eyepieces at about £45 each. These are supposed to perform far better than their price suggests and the thing is, a decent eyepiece s something you can keep to use on a new scope when you upgrade. FLO sell eyepieces starting under £30 and will be happy to advise you I'm sure. My own advice as to what power to get would be start with a 10mm, it's a good middle range size that will give reasonable planetary views and work on brighter dsos as well. More powerful eyepieces like the 4.5mm will magnify more but give fuzzy shimmery views in your scope unless the sky is perfectly clear and dry.

[mr snoops]

thanks to you both for your replies, i will at some time like to come to one of your meetings & thanks for the invite. i will also look into the eye pieces you have also mentioned.

again thanks a lot for your time & experience

[Qualia]

Dear Mr. Snoops,

The 4.5mm EP is going to give you a magnification of around 155x which will be useful for lunar observation and working on Jupiter and Saturn. The 1.5mm EP - if I've read that right - seems like it was used as a marketing ploy to offer around 500x . This, as you can appreciate, just won't be possible to use, for among other factors, it's just way too powerful for our atmospheric conditions to handle. Along a similar theme, the Barlow won't be useful with the supplied EPs.

My own feeling on this is that if I were to suggest a given EP upgrade for the Tasco, I feel that by the time you spent that few bob (even on the secondhand market) it would have been wiser to put that cash towards a better telescope. Yes, I know, EPs will remain while the telescope will go, so it's not like you've wasted money, but I still feel it would be better to get a decent telescope which already comes with the supplied EPs - that way you're kind of 'killing two birds with one stone'.

For example, if you have a gander at ABS, you'll be able to find decent reflecting telescopes (most will be Skywatcher) between £50 to £200, depending on type and aperture, most of which will come with the supplied 10mm and 25mm.

To get an idea of what you will need to look out for, what might be necessary to ask and to receive some top quality info to boot, I'd seriously recommend meeting up with Brantuk who is not only one of SGL's most seasoned and experienced observers but comes across as a top class fellow, patient, generous with his time and help and a reservoir of insight.

My advice, then, is to hold out and save just a little more and get yourself and telescope along to one of those astro-sessions before you spend a penny.

Good luck and welcome to SGL

[coulthamst]

Hi Mr Snoops. Before buying new eyepieces it is also important to measure the diameter of the telescope eyepiece socket. Many older small telescopes only take 0.965"/24.5mm eyepiece barrels, whereas the current standard barrels measure 1.25"/31.5mm. Should your scope only take the smaller size, modern eyepieces will not fit.

[Aronnax]

Hi Mr Snoops. Before buying new eyepieces it is also important to measure the diameter of the telescope eyepiece socket. Many older small telescopes only take 0.965"/24.5mm eyepiece barrels, whereas the current standard barrels measure 1.25"/31.5mm. Should your scope only take the smaller size, modern eyepieces will not fit.

I second this. Do check the barrel diameter before purchasing. Definitely take up the invite to get along to a session with other people and I'm sure they will get you on the right track

Clear skies!

[moriniboy]

My original Tasco 114mm (500mm fl) came with 0.965" ep's and a sleeve to allow them to be used in the 1.25" focuser tube.

The transformation in views when changing from a supplied 0.965" to a 1.25" Celestron plossl I can still vividly remember to this day, the scope was actually quite good, it was the ep's which were the limiting factor

[mr snoops]

agai cannot thank you all enough, quite a lot of info to absorb so will take it all on board & be in touch

again thanks a lot to all who have replied

[ronl]

Try this link http://www.swindonstargazers.com/beginners/eyepieces.htm

it might help explain what you need to know about eyepieces.

Hope this helps. Clear Sky's