Some advice

[mark-5248]

Hi All,

I had my Dosonian 200p ot tonight for the first time, wow, naked eye, could see a few things, through the scope a whole lot more, I think I managed to spot Auriga, namely Capella and two other bright stars so that the 3 looked like a reversed upper case L, plus a few more.

What I did find was that the supplied eyepieces were a bit of a struggle, the 10mm I could see roughly 80/90% of the view and the 25mm must have been maybe 50% view, I have read the sticky on eyepieces, but looking for recomendations of some to try/consider that will work with glasses, the 10mm I can live with for a couple of months, but already know just from tonight I need to change the 25mm.

I have what looks like a good ipad app, so was wondering if there is a way to mount the ipad on the scope or mount, it will certainly help to find/identify things.

Cheers

Mark

[nightfisher]

BST explorer/starguider eyepieces are very good, and £47 each good value from alan at skies the limit

[LouisJB]

I get on really well with the standard skywatcher Plossls (10 and 25mm), it sort of depends on your pupil size and the eye relief you need, amongst many other things.

For wide field > 25mm the BST do seem to get good reviews (I'm tempted to get some myself when I get a longer focal length tube) - but if you want higher mag eyepieces with adjustable eye relief the Celestron  X-Cell LX are not too bad and not too expensive either. They have adjustable eye relief so if you have glasses or anything you should be able to adjust them to suite your eyes.

[wookie1965]

BST explorer/starguider eyepieces are very good, and £47 each good value from alan at skies the limit

+1 for the BST eyepieces i wear glasses and these are brilliant just to let you know these are now £49 still a bargain for the views you will get with them i have four and plan to get the last two so i have the set.

[NGC 1502]

Hi Mark, eyepieces are a personal thing, what one person likes, another may not.

But most would agree that for eyeglass wearers, try to get EPs with around 20mm eyerelief, so you can see the whole field of view.

You don't really need a load of EPs,  three well chosen ones can suffice, low medium and high power.

With a 200p, I'd be looking at around 40 - 60x for low power, about a 25mm EP.

For medium power, about  100x, 12mm EP.

For high power, about 170x, 7mm EP.

Those mags and eyepieces are a matter of opinion, they would suit me, but not everyone, so best to ask around.

Regards, Ed.

[mark-5248]

Many thanks for the replies everyone, 16mm eye relief is the minimum I will get away with I would think, but closer to 20 would be ideal, distance from eye to surface of glasses is aprox 18mm, will check out some of the suggested ones.

Thanks Again

Mark.

[Astro Imp]

Unless you have a problem with astigmatism you don't need to observe wearing glasses.

Until recently I always wore my glasses, then started upgrading to the Celestron X-Cell LX eyepieces. Although I could use them with my glasses (they have 20mm of eye relief) I found that removing my glasses and fully extending the twist up eye guard was much better. Using the eyepieces in this way helps to exclude stray light.

Remember that what anyone else says is only their opinion and you may come to a different one.

[mark-5248]

Hi there, yep very bad astigmatism, good eye is +8.5 prescription on top, even with ultra thin lenses they are a bit thicker than most, all that depth added really does play havoc on eye relief - for everything, cameras,binos, rifle sights etc, always costs a bit more to get what I need with any kind of optic lol

I need to go and see a range really, even just holding up to my eye I will see what edge to edge coverage I get, if that makes sense, do not need to see anything through it, just see the edges/sides.

Cheers all, your input is very much appreciated

Mark

[Charic]

mark-5248........you can buy the BST eyepieces from Alan at (skies_unlimited - ebay) Pay for two lenses, try them out, keep the one you like, send the other one back for its full refund price. that way you can really try before you buy, as you mentioned your eyesight. speak with Alan, I`m sure he`d allow you to test several lenses to find the right one for you ( in sets of two, maybe 3,  but you have to pay up-front) as NGC 1502 states "Hi Mark, eyepieces are a personal thing, what one person likes, another may not"
As for the BSTs, I own a starguider 8mm  and it has, according to the website 13mm eye relief and 60` AFOV (apparent field of View) but try them first. as for the 25mm you have I quite like it, but that will become a BST at some time. in the BST`s they have 5mm 8mm 12mm 15mm 18mm 25mm before going onto 2" barrels. At time of writing I`d like the 5mm 12mm 18mm and  I`ll either stop at the 25mm or go  higher with a  2" 30+mm  something.

[ollypenrice]

The last thing you want anywhere near a visual telescope is a computer screen. Red acetate, red screen option, dimmed screen... forget it. dark adaptation is absolutely vital in visual astronomy and takes at least half an hour to acheive. I have this every working night, trying to help steer the Dob after coming away from a suitably dimmed red screen on the imaging rigs. It's hopeless! I can't see a thing...

I know modern man hates to be separated from his Apple products but leave them indoors while observing visually.

Olly

[mark-5248]

Hi All,

Many Thanks for all your replies, all very much appreciated, and just spotted - being a newb I actually got he eyepices the wrong way round, in my post, it`s the 10 that is worse than the 25 :-), anyways, I have tried a few eyepieces, simply by holding up to my glasses and seeing how much of the barrel I could see, and have bought .... a Baader Hyperion, large lens diameter and the eye relief works for me, got the 17mm and the rings, and is so much better.

Cheers

Mark

[rwilkey]

Hi Mark, the Baader Hyperion can be a bit soft on the edges for the 200P, in this case the Celestron X-Cel LX are often recommended as a good substitute.

[mark-5248]

Thanks for the tip on the celestron Robin, had a couple of hours out last night, in the garden, what a difference the Baader made to the standard, tried it at 17mm, and with the fine tuning rings, with both ( I think it was 9.2 mm) saw some detail on Jupiter  - for the first time ever, could make out the colours , so looks like a 5mm is on the cards, I found the Baader perfect for me, wide lens and the eye reflief made viewing comfortable and easy.

Cheers All

Mark