Upgrading my 8" Dob

[harryfe]

Hi guys,

I have an Orion Classic XT8 Dobsonian, no electronics or motors. I love the thing, and I've used it quite a bit over the years. Now, I'm thinking about starting to upgrade it with a few additions. My plan so far is this:

1. New focuser -- the one that came with the scope is single-speed greasy plastic. I'm thinking this: http://scopestuff.com/ss_fnc2.htm or this: http://scopestuff.com/ss_frl2.htm.

2. New azimuth bearing -- the scope is currently kind of hard to move. I found this one: http://scopestuff.com/ss_ldxx.htm. Not sure what to do about altitude.

3. New eyepieces -- I've been using the Orion Sirius Plossls that came with the scope, and I'd like to upgrade to a nice set of 2" eyepieces to realize the full potential of the scope.

So here are my questions: would 2 eyepieces and a barlow be enough for casual deep-sky observing? What brands/models/sizes of eyepieces do you guys recommend? Am I missing anything or making any mistakes?

I'd like to keep my final cost under about 500$, though I could stand to go a little over if it was a huge jump in quality.

Thanks!

[daiwelly]

Hi Harrfe welcome to SGL

I use one of these for altitude they are very accurate:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/291147031994?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

[rwilkey]

Hi Harryfe, welcome to SGL; I can only advise on the eyepieces, don't be in a hurry to upgrade your eyepieces to 2".  You need 2" for low power wide views of the sky, but you also need 1.25" ep's for most other stuff, and besides you cannot get 2" ep's in the higher mags, so to summarise, you will need both 2" and 1.25" in your armoury.  2" widefields usually start around the 16mm mark (I have an 18mm), I would suggest a 30mm 2" widefield for starters.  Most people only ever use the one 2" ep, I certainly do though I have more than one, but you only need one for viewing, any more and they get heavy to carry around.  My one 30mm ep is a monster and weighs in at 1.2 kilos, rediculous but it's great on wide sky! Good luck and best wishes in your quest!

[Grotemobile]

http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/Revelation_30mm_Widefield_Eyepiece_2_.html

This is the 2" EP I have got.You don't

need to spend loads of dosh to get

a good one.It will work well with

your Dob.Depends on what you want

to spend.

Steve

[swamp thing]

Hi Harry 

First off welcome to the stargazers lounge

Don't  believe I've tried one of those focusers so can't comment on them.

The ebony star laminate is what I have on the alt bearings of my larger Dob and I will say its a very smooth material indeed. I can't see any reason it would be any different on your scope, so I reckon it be a good upgrade.

Hopefully someone that has actually tried it on your scope will comment.

Lastly we come to the minefield of eyepiece choice.

I always find it a bit tough to recommend low budget wide fields myself. It always seems to me what one finds okay, another finds decidedly not okay.

Number of eyepieces is also a personal thing. I don't use a large set of eyepieces as I find with quality wide fields one simply doesn't need them.

You could start with a 24mm panoptic and a 2x TV barlow. This would give you a nice starter set for deep sky. 

The 24mm pan will give you the same field as a 32mm 50deg 1.25 plossl, which is ample wide enough for most targets. The barlow would give you a lovely 12mm wide field panoptic too.

When budget allows you could add a either a really big wide field (if you feel you need one) or something around 8-10mm, which would barlow up to 4-5mm.

Thats just my kinda eyepiece set others may see things very differently.