Some eyepiece help needed

[Hythlodaeus]

Hey folks, I need a little advice on the first couple eyepieces to buy.

Just got a new scope, skyprodigy 130, off ebay, but it only came with a 25mm Kellner eyepiece.

I have two other  eyepieces  from my old tal-1, a 25mm plossl, and a 15mm kellner, i also have a x3 tal barlow.

After reading the eyepiece post   "Eyepieces - the very least you need", Im looking at getting a 7.5mm for high power,  15/20mm for medium, 25mm for low (i think)

I had a flick through the FLO websites eyepieces looking at skywatcher/celestron plossls, only worry i have is reading the description it mentions the eyepieces are best suited for f6 scopes or slower, the skyprodigy is an f5, will this have much of an effect?

Are 5/6 element eyepices better suited for an f5 scope?

I'm looking at speding about £75 ish, either 1 or 2 eyepieces and a light pollution filter.

Cheers.

[Hootsitabernacle]

go onto fleabay and check  out BST EP's..very good and reasonable price too

[nightfisher]

+1 for BST`s

[LukeSkywatcher]

BST's certainly are favoured by many because of the quality of view v's cost. Vixen NPL's are also in this camp, but they dont have the same eye relief as the BST's.

[Bart]

The BST series are very good for the money, 60* afov and nice clear views. Excellent value

Barry

[ronl]

BST Starguider are made for fast scopes f/5 or greater, I find them 

to be a very good eyepiece and great value for money, good eye relief 

and 60 Degree FOV, at £49.00 I love them.

[hobsey]

BST Starguider are made for fast scopes f/5 or greater, I find them 

to be a very good eyepiece and great value for money, good eye relief 

and 60 Degree FOV, at £49.00 I love them.

If thats the case, I will sell my BST 8mm I have acquired for my SCT.

[brantuk]

Try it first hobsey - I reckon at nearly 190x magnification it'll give you quite nice views of planets, globulars, and some doubles.

[bingevader]

If thats the case, I will sell my BST 8mm I have acquired for my SCT.

Why? It should be super in your 'scope.

As Brantuk has said, try it first anyway.

[hobsey]

Sorry, ignore me.

I'm getting my fast and slow f/stops mixed up. 

[Schorhr]

+1 for bst, hr-planetary or similar as those types cost around £40 and are the best bang for the buck in the price region, but I would recomend a 30 or 32mm Plössl as it's a cheap eyepiece giving you the maximum field of view possible on a 1.25" focuser; so would a 24mm wide angle eyepiece, but the plössl are way cheaper at 10-30£.

I have a light pollution filter, more usable then a uhc filter on small telescopes, bu honestly they don't have as much as an effect as advertised. Get some decent eyepieces first ;-)

The budget variant would be the 66degree eyepieces that cost 26£ or so shipped, don't perform as well as the bst regarding the outer field sharpness at f/5, but the 6mm is pretty good and the wide field views of the moon are amazing.

7.5mm is a good magnification, I have a 8mm hr planetary. Similar field to the 6mm 6degree eyepiece, I use both, even the cheaper one is a bit less ideal on f/5 it's a good eyepiece, much better then the included 10mm!

6mm and a 2x Achromatic barlow are much more suited for high power. Planets, moon and such are amazing at around 200x even at the 130/650mm telescopes that aren't planetary specialists.

I would not want to miss my 3.2mm and 2.5mm eyepiece anymore, and certainly never leave the house without the 6mm and barlow.

Also smaller deepsky objects are nice to view at 150-200x, but of course only under dark skies and good seeing conditions, else 150x is probably the limit.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/200607942106?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1

I am usualy against barlows, but a cheap achromatic one beats any cheap plastic barlow and fills the gap in a missing eyepiece palette nicely.

Budget version

30mm Orbinar Plössl

6mm 66degree eyepiece

2x achromatic barlow

54£ total

Better bst/hrplanetary eyepieces if there is more budget, and/or a 20mm66deg to fit the gap inbetween. Later a higher power eyepiece as the barlow will slightly reduce contrast and introduce some color fringe.

[Qualia]

the description...mentions the eyepieces are best suited for f6 scopes or slower, the skyprodigy is an f5, will this have much of an effect?

Don't quote me on this but I think faster scopes increase the angle of light coming into the telescope so are more susceptible to aberrations like coma, astigmatism etc.

[Schorhr]

Coma is allways an issue, but cheaper eyepieces won't show sharp stars at the outer fied... At f/5 that's still acceptable in my opinion, but everyone has a different tolerance.

Especially the bst, tmb hr planetary have a built in barlow element and perform well on f/5 given their price, same with the 6mm6deg eyepiece, on Plössl and Erfle eyepieces it's much more noticable.

I also have a 20mm erfle and it can get a bit anoying, but as the field is so large (70 degree aparent field of view) it's still better then using a eyepiece that's sharp to the edge of the field but only has 50degree afov to start with...

[Rob63]

+1 for BST's from me, I have 8mm and 15mm and am very happy with both and great service from skies_unlimited ebay shop

[Pyrodave]

+1 for BSTs I have the 8mm and will be getting others when I can 

[bingevader]

Is that £75 in total, or per EP?

There are still some Maxvision EPs left. They are re-branded Meade 5000s, so exceptionally good value for a top class EP. The 16mm (£50), 20mm (£59) and 24mm (£67) are all under £75.

Cheers

[Bart]

Is that £75 in total, or per EP?

There are still some Maxvision EPs left. They are re-branded Meade 5000s, so exceptionally good value for a top class EP. The 16mm (£50), 20mm (£59) and 24mm (£67) are all under £75.

Cheers

+1

[TwoPi]

I have the Maxvision 24mm (the 82 deg version) and the 16mm (the 68 deg version). Both are excellent eyepieces, but be aware that some find the eye relief a bit tight on the 16mm.