Eyepiece upgrade for Skyliner 200p; recommendations?

[Myopicus]

Hi all, 

I'd like to hear peoples experience, opinions and recommendations about suitable eyepiece sets for the Skyliner 200p Dob.

I'd be looking at spending £150 - £250, so that's a mid range set I guess.  Also,  I wear glasses so would want generous eye relief.

Many thanks

mace

[triton1]

Bst star guides £49 each from Alan at skies the limit.They come in 5,8,12,15,18 and 25mm.Excellent eyepiece for the money.

[triton1]

Sorry starguiders I meant to say.

Regards Jonn

[Myopicus]

Addendum:

Forget the set question, I've been trawling the forum (the search functionality on this forum is enigmatic, no?) for answers. 

Also wondering if 2" is really worth the extra dosh?

[rory]

As above, can't go wrong with starguiders.

You could get the whole set for your budget.

I would say a. 2" low power eyepiece is great for spacewalk views. I tried a few with my old dob, the Hyperion aspheric 31 mm is a very nice e/p .

[faulksy]

for that money get a delos, or maybe a nagler

[DRT]

I have the same scope and recently bought a set of Celestron X-cel LX's.

I have all of them apart from the 2.3mm but you could get four within your budget. 5mm, 9mm, 12mm and 18mm would give you a good range. I really like these and have read lots of other complimentary reviews.

[bingevader]

Or ES 82^o.

[Myopicus]

Or ES 82^o.

Thanks for that, sure it's fab, but haven't got a clue what it means!  

Is there a thread on here that explains all of the abbreviations that people use, please?  Took me a couple of days to realise that EP meant eyepiece!

But then, I am basically a bit thick, fairly unimaginative and not that well educated. sadly.

m

[John]

You aren't thick - I think we get a little lazy from time to time and speak in our own little shorthand ! 

ES means the brand Explore Scientific. The 82 refers to the field of view, in degrees, of a certain Explore Scientific eyepiece range - thats an ultra wide angle eyepiece. 

TV means the brand Tele Vue. Delos and Nagler are Tele Vue eyepiece ranges, the former a wide angle eyepiece and the latter an ultra wide angle. These are pretty expensive at £200+ per eyepiece.

BST means, er , BST as I've never seen an explanation of that acronym but they are best known for the BST Explorer range of eyepieces which are very popular. They have now been re-branded BST Starguiders I believe. Same eyepieces though.

There are loads more that we tend to throw around so feel free to ask what we are on about at any time

In answer to your original question, I think the BST Explorer / Starguider range are the best fit with your budget and scope and you could get 3 for a bit under £150 and see how you like them. They are better quality than the ones you find in the eyepiece sets that you see around. 

Hope that helps 

[TractionMan]

Another vote for the X-Cel LX's. Great bang for the buck so to speak. But the BST are supposed to be just as great. Choosing new EP's is not an easy task though. Best of luck!

/Stellan

[Jules Tohpipi]

When I had the Skyliner 200p, then I treated myself to these:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics-eyepieces/william-optics-spl-eyepiece.html

I got the 6mm for special occassions (good seeing) when I wanted the highest magnification to see planets/moon as big and as detailed as possible.  As I look at moon/planets frequently, so I could justify something more expensive (without going crazy).  The 6mm has great eye relief and is clear to the edge.  This means it works well with my glasses (I can see the entire field of view) and I don't have to nudge the telescope along so frequently because the view at the edge is practically as good as the view in the middle.  The performance of this EP exceeded all my expectations.

http://www.explorescientific.co.uk/en/Eyepieces/Maxvision-68-Okular-24mm.html

I treated myself to this for widefield views.  You might have read elsewhere on the forum that this is a re-make of a much more expensive EP that sold for several times more money.  So, it has become very popular indeed as it's a superb bargain.  Again, great eye relief for my spectacled eyes and very clear to the edge.  Much better than I ever expected and sooo much better than the supplied Skywatcher 25mm EP. 

I mention the two above because you might be like me i.e. wanting a great widefield EP and a great EP for close-up work (without breaking the bank).  Then flesh out the other areas with the BSTs - as and when budget allows.

[Jules Tohpipi]

Oh, and just to add, avoid the 16mm Maxvision because it has terrible eye relief.

[bingevader]

Thanks for that, sure it's fab, but haven't got a clue what it means!  

Is there a thread on here that explains all of the abbreviations that people use, please?  Took me a couple of days to realise that EP meant eyepiece!

But then, I am basically a bit thick, fairly unimaginative and not that well educated. sadly.

m

MMHA (just made that up   )!

My most humble apologies! I was on my way out the door. It wasn't very helpful really, as you were asking for advice on a whole set for £150-£250, I do apologise. Vixen NPL (honestly, that's what they're called!) plossls would be another option. The ER (eye relief) will be a little tight below the 10mm though (that's how close you have to get your eye to the eyepiece in order to see through it properly  ).

Cheers

[CumbrianGadgey]

I have the BST starguiders which I bought for my Skywatcher 130M. I now have the 200P and they work just as well in that. The parfocal aspect is a good one, whichever EPs you ultimately go for. Being able to swap from a 25mm to a 5mm without the need to re-focus is a great boon, especially if your eyes are like mine and it's all a bit of hard work!

I have to add that with the Starguider 5mm in the 200P, I saw Ganymede's shadow crossing Jupiter perfectly a few weeks ago...they can't be that bad.

[David55]

For my 200p I've found that a 2" 32mm Skywatcher Panaview, a 12.5mm Meade Series 4000 Plossl, and a 6mm Williams Optics SPL cover most of my needs for both deep space and planetary viewing. The 32mm is wide angle and great for finding objects and viewing clusters. The 6mm gives about as much magnification as the English climate can support and the 12.5mm sits nicely in between, with enough eye relief to be comfortable whilst providing a crisp clear view. And as a bonus,they are all so different I size and shape, which makes using them I the dark easy.

[AlexB67]

I have the BST starguiders which I bought for my Skywatcher 130M. I now have the 200P and they work just as well in that. The parfocal aspect is a good one, whichever EPs you ultimately go for. Being able to swap from a 25mm to a 5mm without the need to re-focus is a great boon, especially if your eyes are like mine and it's all a bit of hard work!

I have to add that with the Starguider 5mm in the 200P, I saw Ganymede's shadow crossing Jupiter perfectly a few weeks ago...they can't be that bad.

I've had some excellent views with the 8mm BST starguider.  I don't own the 5mm so I can't comment but the 8mm supplied me with beautiful views of the GRS, festoons, all sorts of fine details on the bands for my eyes to feast on  .

I can't really comment on the other suggestions not having tried them, but IMHO for 49 pounds BST are excellent for planets.

I also own a more premium pentax 10.5mm which is a bit low for power planetary, but provides stunning views too, but that eyepiece is a whole lot more costly.  Since the two are different focal lenths it hard to make any concrete comparisons,  but apart from some aberrations differences between an eyepiece such as the BST and the more premium pentax XL. In terms of contrast and a nice black background,  the BST holds up excellently against it on axis IMHO, and that is in a pretty demanding scope at f4.7!

The BSTs are rated good for f/5, and it is not as if the views are ragged by any means in my scope. The BSTs should perform very well indeed in the 8 inch skyliner I think.