From novice to apprentice. Advancing in amateur astronomy.

[fredrikb]

Got a Skywatcher explorer 150p and have played around with it and the included EPs for a while now until I borrowed a couple of Meade EPs and got a more detailed experience by far! So now I want to buy my own, even more fancy equipment. My wife (love and curse her) would go crazy if I exceed USD150 per EP, and would love me still if I keep it below USD100.

Enough storytelling - on with my questions:

-What should I consider when upgrading the basic, included equipment? Got a 10mm and a 25mm.

-Any examples of what I should get?

[Bizibilder]

The 25mm SW eyepiece is not too bad, the 10mm is poor and could be replaced. To keep the cost sensible maybe this range http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-x-cel-lx-eyepiece.html at under £70 each. The other thing to consider is a 2x Barlow lens as this effectivly doubles the magnification of any eyepiece. In effect giving you twice the number of eyepieces than you physically have. Your 25mm and 10mm will "double up" to 12.5mm and 5mm with a barlow.

Alternativly you could try the second hand market?

[fredrikb]

The 25mm SW eyepiece is not too bad, the 10mm is poor and could be replaced. To keep the cost sensible maybe this range http://www.firstligh...x-eyepiece.html at under £70 each. The other thing to consider is a 2x Barlow lens as this effectivly doubles the magnification of any eyepiece. In effect giving you twice the number of eyepieces than you physically have. Your 25mm and 10mm will "double up" to 12.5mm and 5mm with a barlow.

Alternativly you could try the second hand market?

Thanks! Got the included barlow. A follow-up question. 1.25" or 2"?

[Bizibilder]

Generally 1.25" is fine except for long focal length, wide field eyepieces where you will often only find 2" are available.