Skywatcher UWA as an upgrade to included eyepieces

[Russko13]

It's my birthday next month and I was originally saving for an ED80 and mount and gonna get some accessories for my birthday such as a finder and diagonal but as I'm In a bit of debt at mo I've asked for the skywatcher evostar 90mm f/10 frac for my birthday next month as I haven't got a big budget am currently enjoying my observing sessions with my bins and tripod but would love something to sit alongside it to give better views of planets and the moon, looking at also upgrading the diagonal to a WO dielectric 90 degree and better eyepieces, has anyone used the ones below and do you think they will be a good upgrade from the ones that the scope comes with, sorry for rambling!

www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/SkyWatcher_Ultra_Wide_Angle_6mm_Eyepiece_1.25_.html

[John]

I've used that range. The 9mm is the best followed by the 6mm. The 15mm and 20mm are OK in slow scopes (F/10) but show quite a lot of distortion at the field edges at F/8 or faster. Quite nice eyepieces for the money and a step up from the standard ones supplied with the scope im my opinion.

[russ]

As John says, they are nice upgrade from the standard eyepieces for the money. I have the 6mm and 9mm, and they work brilliantly in the C6 and 90mm Mak. The whole range will work perfectly with the F10 Evostar 90. Will be a nice setup. I've owned the Evostar 90 myself and it was a superb scope, so don't be too down about not getting the ED80.

One note, not sure how much they charge for the William Optics diagonal these days but i found it to bo no better than the Skywatcher dieletric diaognal. So possibly a chance to save some cash there.

And finally we bought our Skywatcher UWA's direct from China via Ebay, they cost £17 delivered each. I think they are £30 in the UK, so for a set that's a £40 saving. All helps when things are tight, as they are for me too.

[Reeny]

I have the 6mm.

Good points = comfortably wide 66^o view, good eye relief, light weight eyepiece, with good light transmission = bright image.

Negative = Not as sharp as a Plossl in my F6 scope, reflections or blackouts depending on eye placement.

I found some for £27-ish pound on Ebay after I bought mine.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/wide-angle-eyepiece-1-25inches-66-degree-F-6mm-/140717462903?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item20c36a1577#ht_1411wt_1125

I can use the 6mm on the 3" scope, where it performs well.

In the meantime it is holding it's own on the 8" dob at 200x magnification where it is not perfect - but it is usable.

[Russko13]

Thanks for the replies and I've looked at both diagonals and the WO 1.25 is the cheapest at £65 so I've gone with that, I'll still be getting the APO but prob not until after the summer and I've read great reviews on the evostar 90 so that will make a great addition to my mounted10x50's for an observing session

[AlexB67]

If you fish around a bit and you are really on a budget I think you can get this eyepiece even a little cheaper, for example

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/wide-angle-eyepiece-1-25inches-66-degree-F-6mm-/140717462903

I suspect it is the same though I can't be a 100% percent sure if there are differences like coatings for exmaple, but I suspect they likely come form the same source/factory, Orion sell them too. I have the feeling that it could well be case of skywatcher just putting their label on them with a small mark up in price perhaps.

I've seen them even cheaper than that elsewhere too, that was just a quick search on the bay.

Good luck with the purchase

edit: in that advertisements the barrel does seem slightly different, perhaps not the best example I gave, but anyway, I have seen what look like exact copies elsewhere.

[Russko13]

Cheers il definitely look around after looking at all the televue range for my future ed80 the price of the skywatchers at £39 are very reasonable indeed lol