Eyepiece kit

[Nuno]

I am getting a 200p dob soon and I was looking at the accessories that is most usually needed.

I found this kit ( http://www.astroshop.eu/omegon-suitcase-with-eyepieces-and-accessories/p,8353 ) on the same site I usually buy equipment for this hobby and it looks interesting but I dont really know if it is a good kit. 

I am asking this because this type kit's have all the  accessories that I will eventually want so it will allow me to gain experience with diferent tools and have a more variety of options that I can explore on observation sessions.

Cheers

[triton1]

If I where you I would wait.You will probably get a 25mm,10mm and a Barlow x2 with your kit.I would use these to start with and see how you get on with them,with the Barlow this gives 4 ep,s.I have never heard of this make and it seems to me your getting too much for your money so it's probably cheap tatt.You could get a couple of bst explorers for that and change left.Hope this helps

Jonn.

[Andy_E]

As above really. Your telescope will come with everything you need to get you started. A large amount of the stuff in such a kit will hardly (if ever) be used.

[wookie1965]

+1 for the above you will probably never use the filters and the eyepieces may not be up to much better waiting until you have your scope then if you want to up grade come back and ask there are plenty of different eyepieces go for depends on your budget.

[baggywrinkle]

Triton has it nailed.

I bought a Celestron EP kit to go with my 6SE and generally now I hardly use them as I have found better ep's.

Some kits might have one or two good lenses for your 'scope and use but the others might just be a compromise.

[Reeny]

I received our 200P dob yesterday and have the eyepiece dilema to consider.

I already bought Revelation 9mm and 12mm for the old scope, knowing they would fit into the 200P.

Yesterday didn't go well for me.

The plossls could not focus on the stars at hi mag, but were amazing for views of the moon.

I am sure the dew, mist, and low cloud were the cause of the problems (not the kit)

But I need clear skies to make sure that the eyepieces are OK.

The revelation gear has been discounted by 20% at some retailers

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Revelation_Eyepieces_34.html

The £120 Revelation kit will have some good stuff in - the eyepieces, moon filter, and the case.

And some bad stuff - coloured planetary filters / and the 2x Barlow if it only has a basic single element lens.

I have a 2.5x Barlow with 4-element lenses which is amazingly good.

Hopefully the Reveleation eyepieces will work OK and give me a good spread of magnifications, along with the standard 25mm.

If I were to upgrade the £25-£30 Revelations, I would go for 25mm BST (or MaxVision) / 16x MaxVision, giving:

25mm = 48x / 16mm = 75x / 25 x2.5 = 120x / 16mm x 2.5 = 188x

Those two would set me back about £120 to £130 (same as the Revelation kit with 5 EP's)

I can't recomend anything yet.

But these are the options I am busy considering at the moment.

Hopefully the rain will stop soon.

[Nuno]

Thanks for all your opinion guys I myself was a little suspicious about those kits.. but the thing is, I am getting the skyliner 200p dob and it comes with a 10 and 20 mm eyepiece.. but no barlow. Most of the time I will use my scope to view planets but I will also want to be able to see some DSO like everyone xD.. 

I realized that for planets a barlow is the best thing (although I dont have an idea of which ones are the good ones).. but for DSO should I get a good 30mm eyepiece? 

[brantuk]

The Antares 2" 1.6x, 1.25" Orion Shorty Plus 2x, 1.25" Tal 2x, and 1.25" Celestron Ultima 2x are pretty good as barlows go and at a reasonable cost. But the last two are out of production and only available s/h now.

A 30mm wide field eyepiece would be nice in your scope for low power dso observing. Try and get one with as wide a field of view as possible and don't be afraid to spend a little extra on as good quality a one as budget allows.

[Naemeth]

I wouldn't bother with eyepiece kits. Often you can get much better value buying eyepieces separately, that way you can be sure you'll use them all .

[Charic]

Nuno........ How you doing with the EP`s?  Ive owned the 200P since September and have only bought an 8mm BST Starguider. Hardly use the 25mm st present, as I prefer to use the Binoculars.

[Nuno]

Nuno........ How you doing with the EP`s?  Ive owned the 200P since September and have only bought an 8mm BST Starguider. Hardly use the 25mm st present, as I prefer to use the Binoculars.

Hi Charic.. I dont have any EP yet.. but Im getting the skywatcher 200p dob this year and it comes with a 10mm and a 25mm.. Where I live it has some light pollution so I will do planetary observations more often..

Thinking of getting a barlow and an extra eyepiece but dont know if I should get an high power  or a low power magnification EP. I know that high power is used for planets mainly but on the other hand I will have the barlow to do the job. Dont know what will should be best. (for example: a 6mm EP or a 32mm EP)

[stevend]

A great piece of advice I got from SGL was to get used to your scope before buying any EPs. That way you know your money *should be* better spent as you discover the scopes strengths and limitations and realise where your observing priorities are; eg Planets, DSO, Nebulae etc.

[Charic]

Nuno.....32mm gives you a wider and generally brighter view compared to lower EP`s of 6mm - 8mm, they  give you closer views, but not so wide. You will find that when you get your telescope, you will use the 25mm for general viewing, and then switch to the 10mm for close work. I generally just use my 8mm lens at present for the Moon or Jupiter or M31 Andromeda ( even I suffer light pollution here) The Barlow is an optional lens. You should normally just buy the required eyepieces for their purpose, having said that, If you already have 3 or more lenses already, The barlow may complete your eyepiece set. The Barlow can also be used to better effect laser collimation ( standard collimation cap with 1mm hole works well, so try this method first?) The supplied Skywatcher 25mm  is good enough not to worry about, but I find the 8mm BST better to use than the supplied 10mm  (BST a better quality lens). Wait till the telescope arrives, try both lenses( you will be surprised at what they can do). But I and others may suggest you change the 10mm  if you need to change anything ( we say change, but you`ll keep and still have the 10mm in your collection, its just that it may or may not get used, who knows?)  A 6mm - 9mm is an ideal High power lens. If either of those lenses were Barlowed you would get between 3mm and 4.5mm which is pushing the limits of your telescope even on the best of nights. Remember a Barlow lens virtually doubles the telescopes focal length, which inturn halves the focal length of the eyepiece, effectively giving a higher power ( If you Barlow, You  should carefully  select  lenses without overlaps in focal length) For example, no point  having a 2xBarlow with a 6mm & 12mm lens, as the barlow turns the 12mm into a 6mm, But a 10mm  and a 16mm  would give you  a 5mm 8mm 10mm & 16mm lenses.  Confused? Plenty of time to study and learn before it arrives!

[Charic]

......I realized that for planets a barlow is the best thing (although I dont have an idea of which ones are the good ones).. but for DSO should I get a good 30mm eyepiece?

...... A 6mm - 9mm is an ideal High power lens. If either of those lenses were Barlowed you would get between 3mm and 4.5mm which is pushing the limits of your telescope even on the best of nights. Remember a Barlow lens virtually doubles the telescopes focal length, which inturn halves the focal length of the eyepiece, effectively giving a higher power ( If you Barlow, You  should carefully  select  lenses without overlaps in focal length) For example, no point  having a 2xBarlow with a 6mm & 12mm lens, as the barlow turns the 12mm into a 6mm, But a 10mm  and a 16mm  would give you  a 5mm 8mm 10mm & 16mm lenses.  Confused? Plenty of time to study and learn before it arrives!

Nuno.........having re-read my text above, I`d like to revise my/our understanding of the Barlow lens.

A Barlow lens, when used in an optical system increases the effective focal length of that optical system. It does not change a 6mm or 9mm eyepiece into a 3mm & 4.5mm! The 6mm and 9mm are still 6mm/9mm lenses, only the focal length of the telescope has changed.

With the new longer focal length,  magnification  will change for the eyepiece in use. In my case I have the (original) 1200mm (f/6) focal length, giving me 150x power when using the 8mm BST [ 1200/8=150]   If I now 2x Barlow the 8mm, Its still an 8mm eyepiece, but now using a focal length of 2400mm  and  formula  FL(T)/FL(EP)  [2400/8=300X)  gives me 300x power ( Note; The Ratio of the telescope is now an f/12 [2400/200=12] The eyepiece is still  an 8mm and has the same eye relief and focal length

.

Thats how a Barlow works!

Some will  still say you effectively have a smaller focal length eyepiece of say 3mm, if 2x Barlowed from a 6mm, but the Barlow only affects  upstream of the eyepiece, not the actual eyepiece.

I found this Calculator very usefull....    http://www.stargazing.net/naa/scopemath.htm  maybe you can determine what  eyepieces you need by using the maths ?

[Nuno]

Nuno.........having re-read my text above, I`d like to revise my/our understanding of the Barlow lens.

A Barlow lens, when used in an optical system increases the effective focal length of that optical system. It does not change a 6mm or 9mm eyepiece into a 3mm & 4.5mm! The 6mm and 9mm are still 6mm/9mm lenses, only the focal length of the telescope has changed.

With the new longer focal length,  magnification  will change for the eyepiece in use. In my case I have the (original) 1200mm (f/6) focal length, giving me 150x power when using the 8mm BST [ 1200/8=150]   If I now 2x Barlow the 8mm, Its still an 8mm eyepiece, but now using a focal length of 2400mm  and  formula  FL(T)/FL(EP)  [2400/8=300X)  gives me 300x power ( Note; The Ratio of the telescope is now an f/12 [2400/200=12] The eyepiece is still  an 8mm and has the same eye relief and focal length

.

Thats how a Barlow works!

Some will  still say you effectively have a smaller focal length eyepiece of say 3mm, if 2x Barlowed from a 6mm, but the Barlow only affects  upstream of the eyepiece, not the actual eyepiece.

I found this Calculator very usefull....    http://www.stargazing.net/naa/scopemath.htm  maybe you can determine what  eyepieces you need by using the maths ?

Hi Charic,

Thank you for your post. I agree with you that is a common mistake to say that a barlow will affect the EP. I have been studying how the optics works and I can confirm that fact

As for the general topic itself, I have already ordered my scope, only with the barlow (2x) and a colminator. I will keep this setup until I have sure I want to upgrade

Thank you for all your help guys

Cheers everyone