Recommended eye pieces for 150PDS for a short-sighted stargazer?

[ianpwilliams]

I'll be buying the 150PDS soon, so I was wondering if anyone could recommend a couple of eye pieces for me to buy with it? I am short-sighted and I wear glasses, and I believe that this can restrict certain eye pieces. I also note that FLO don't currently say what eye piece comes with the 150PDS, so I'll need to ask them when I'm ready to buy.

[ronin]

Usually a 25mm and a 10mm are the ones supplied with Skywatcher scopes.

The 25mm is generally reasonable the 10mm more use for throwing at cats.

Actually FLO say Eyepiece to be advised and it reads that you get 1 eyepiece.

Usually the upgrades suggested are the BST Starguiders at £49 each. Simply good eyepieces and a good price.

The scope is f/5 so I would generally suggest a 5mm for some magnification (150x) and say a 12mm or 15mm for the middle ground. Try the 12mm.

I have assumed that you get something like a 25mm with the scope.

The "problem" with being short sighted is that you need eye relief and plossls tend to have eye relief of about 2/3 the focal length. So at 10mm or less you have to get very close, with glasses you probably are looking at a minimum of a 15mm Plossl to stand any chance.

I just take the things off, then spend time trying to recall where I put them, and walking very, very carefully.

The BST's have something like 13mm or 15mm eye relief, I have read each of those values. But as I have the set I am pretty sure they work.

The Celestron X-Cel's have a little more eye relief, about 17mm I believe, they are £64 each.

My  eyes are -4.75 and -5.

[ianpwilliams]

Great, thanks for that. I'm sure it will be a 25mm that comes with the scope.

[rwilkey]

Great, thanks for that. I'm sure it will be a 25mm that comes with the scope.

They often do the 28mm Sw LET 2" ep, if its just the one.  Though a good ep, it's not good for middle and higher mags.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Note that short-sightedness need not mean you have to wear glasses when observing. Simply changing focus will adjust the focus in the same way as the diopter adjustment provided by your glasses. If you also have astigmatism (like me) you do need to observe wearing glasses. You then need to buy eyepieces with long eye relief. The latter is the distance between the eye lens of the EP, and the optimal placement of your pupil. I find I need a minimum of 16 mm eye relief (20mm is roughly optimal). Long focal length EPs are generally OK, in the short focal lengths, cheaper EPs are generally not good. All my EPs have long eye relief.

[DanLXIX]

I got the 28mm 2" eyepiece with my 150PDS when I bought it a few weeks ago, and I've supplemented it with an 8mm and 18mm BST so far.

[Charic]

ianpwilliams.......Hi, my right eye is Sph 1.50 Cyl 1.00 Axis 70  add 1.75! so a little short sighted with astigmatism. But I don't wear or need to wear my glasses at the telescope, and my BST's are perfect for me. What I couldn't do was focus on the reticule of my Telrad when I had that, and  I didn't want to keep swapping glasses on/off, so I sold the Telrad?

The telescope should make all the correction required, as highlighted by michael.h.f.wilkinson and I support the comments of ronin  the BST's are very comfortable in use. I also went exactly the same route with my BST's as DanLXIX has suggested, then the rest of the set came shortly afterwards. 

If you want more information about eyepieces in general, check out the website at http://www.swindonstargazers.com/beginners/eyepieces.htm produced by rwilkey

Lastly, the BSTs can be purchased on trial? If you don't like them, you return them for a full refund. Contact here http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Skys-the-Limit-Astro-and-Optical/BST-Starguider-ED-

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I would prefer to use my glasses with 1 diopter cylindrical astigmatism, but maybe that's just me. My own astigmatism is just shy of double that figure, so I definitely need to wear glasses. Long eye relief EPs need not be too expensive. The TS HR Planetaries have a good erputation, and are not that expensive.

[ianpwilliams]

I don't think I have astigmatism. If I have, then the optician has never told me. I am definitely short sighted though. And yes I've read online about you don't need to wear glasses when observing, which is great news.

Thanks for the links, that guide look really useful!

[ianpwilliams]

Ok I've read through the guide, and I've looked on FLO.

The eye piece guide suggests getting a 2x Barlow and a moon filter as well as eye pieces. So I was considering:

Skywatcher 2x Deluxe Achromatic 1.25" Barlow - £29.90

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-deluxe-2x-barlow.html

Baader Neodymium Filter 1.25" ( was considering this because the review on FLO suggests that this filter is good for both moon and light pollution) - £44.90

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction/baader-neodymium-filter.html

Then for eye pieces, the guide recommends Celestron Plössl eyepieces. It recommends a 32mm for DSO (which I'm more interested in), and a 9mm. So that means:

Celestron Omni Plossl Eyepiece 32mm - £49.50

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html

and the FLO website for shorter focal lengths for spectacle-wearers suggests the "Celestron X-Cel LX eyepiece", so I was looking at the:

Celestron X-Cel LX eyepiece 9mm - £64

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-x-cel-lx-eyepiece.html

Opinions would be welcome. One thing I do notice is that these are all 1.25" (it looks like the 150PDS takes 1.25" and 2"?), so I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

And of course the other thing is it's a lot of money (which I did expect)! £189! But I suppose I would be getting off to a good start, and like the eye piece guide says, the 2x Barlow would effectively give me 8 focal lengths, not included the eye piece that came with the scope.

[YKSE]

The 32mm will not be your DSO viewing EP, it'll be used mostly as a finder EP, from my experience when I had 130P.

FLO has very attractive prices, but I'd still recommend you to take a good and hard look here:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?

Any new EP will depreciate 30% to 40% the minute you bought. buying used will save you good amount of money if you hold on with the hobby.

[Caldwell14]

BST/Starguiders are the way to go for a first up-grade, remarkable eps for the money.

[ianpwilliams]

The 32mm will not be your DSO viewing EP, it'll be used mostly as a finder EP, from my experience when I had 130P.

FLO has very attractive prices, but I'd still recommend you to take a good and hard look here:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?

Any new EP will depreciate 30% to 40% the minute you bought. buying used will save you good amount of money if you hold on with the hobby.

I'm hopeful that I won't need a dedicated finder eyepiece, because I'll have GOTO (although I will have a go at manual star-hopping, because I'd like to know how to do it anyway). So what focal length would you recommend for DSO?

[ianpwilliams]

Also, it's slim pickings on Astro Buy & Sell for BST eye pieces at the moment. The only one I can find is a 25mm BST Starguider for £38, which is £49 new, so I reckon I'd be better of going new. 25mm sounds good though.

So would most people recommend BST Starguider over Celestron Plossl?

[Charic]

ianpwilliams.........I chose the 32mm Panaview for better wide-field views of M31 Andromeda Galaxy, because I can't view the whole Galaxy in  using either of my 25mm EPS.

Now from my back yard, M31 is a  tiny grey smudge!, but from my first proper dark site, I was blown away with how much galaxy there is,  but its just not visible from my garden. Now the 32mm gives me lots of space? The Moon sits in a Sea of Space!. Such an awesome view. I could have gone wider than a 32mm but suggestions recommended 32mm to be more than enough on my f/6 Skyliner. I've not actually observed M31 since from a dark site, but the first time was awesome, I'll be ready for the next bigger Wow!

Now just looking through your list, I have the SW Deluxe Barlow (with T-Adaptor) and the ability to just use the lens cell directly fitted to an EP. That works for me. The Filter I would forget, It isn't going to switch of the lighting? And for that price, you've almost the money for a decent BST Starguider of your choice?  You can view / filter the Moon with your normal Sunglasses, or just remove the 2" aperture cap on the dust cover (if fitted) this will reduce the aperture/ f/ratio ect but for short term use on the Moon its perfect. Moon light although bright, will not blind you.

Plossl eyepieces have short eyerelief, so as the focal length reduces, the nearer you have to get to the eyepiece, even touching?

Ive never tried the X-cel LX's. They get good reviews, but always seem to be mentioned in the same breath with a BST. The X-Cels are slightly dearer, but don't discount the BST's.  If you buy the excels and you don't like them, your stuck with them  or sell them at a loss. Could the BST's have worked just as well. You pays your money, but try the BST's first.

Just saw your last post. The 25mm was the only BST. I was able to buy cheaply. I did get mine even cheaper, but not many available these days, which shows, their either duck doo and people are to embarrassed to sell them, or their good and become keepers for a long time?

I did see a whole set recently, and asked the seller why!  He was changing hobbies for a new project and everything had to go?

[YKSE]

I'm hopeful that I won't need a dedicated finder eyepiece, because I'll have GOTO (although I will have a go at manual star-hopping, because I'd like to know how to do it anyway). So what focal length would you recommend for DSO?

For Star-hopping, I would think that you will need a finder EP for wide FOV is very helpful, it was necessary for me when started with 130P with EQ2 manual mount, a 32mm plössl for find the right star field.

18mm Baader Classic Ortho(BCO) was the one I used as DSO EP, after locating the star field with the finder EP. All the Messsier galaxies I found with 130P in my backyard (some 30 of them) was with 18mm BCO. I wear glasses, 18mm BCO was of the best value for the performance. I've not yet seen it on second hand market though during about about a years time checking the above ABS site regularly.

[ianpwilliams]

Thanks. Maybe I'll go for 32mm and 9mm BST eye pieces and a 2x Barlow then.

And yes, I have light pollution issues, so although I can't wait to see M31, I fear it will just be a smudge too. And I won't have many opportunities to go to dark sites either.

I will be imaging eventually though, and having seen how well light-polluted images can be processed, at least I will get to see the likes of M31 on a computer screen, if not directly.

[Charic]

.....I just hope it all works for you. 

I note your slip on the digits for the  9mm BST?

 BST's come in 5,8,12,15,18 & 25mm

[ianpwilliams]

Seems the only way is to try and buy, and like you say, that website let's you do that. And yes it was a mistake. So BST's don't come in 32mm then?

[Charic]

........correct.  The 32mm I use is the Sky-Watcher Panaview.  I also considered the GSO Superview after watching a YouTube video, but more folk had the Panaview in their signatures, or have used one. I`m very happy with it so far.

Trying can be achieved through astro clubs or local friends or even SGL members. 

In all honesty, I don't think I need another eyepiece, or any other brand, at present? I`m almost certain that I've succeeded in my aim of getting a sensibly priced capable telescope and eyepieces to match. I will consider an Apochromatic Reflector at some time in the future(possibly) for Astrophotography.

[ianpwilliams]

I can't find the 32mm PanaView at online retailers, but there is one on eBay (expensive though at £89):

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm?itemId=151195141848

Is that the one? I also note that it is 2".

[ianpwilliams]

Sorry, just saw it for £79 on FLO.

[ianpwilliams]

Just saw another guide on eyepieces. Don't know if it's outdated or not, but some of it looks quite useful I think:

http://old.observers.org/beginner/eyepieces.freeman.html

[bingevader]

You might also want to take a look at the Maxvision 28mm.

Oh, and yes, the Panaview is a 2" eyepiece (very good for the money too.   ) as is the Maxvision.

[ianpwilliams]

Think I'll go for the 32mm PanaView. And I'm thinking an 8mm BST Starguider 1.25" 8mm.