Bst eyepiece, and next choice?!

[craigfoot]

Hi..

Sorry I'm reposting this question from an older thread as I'm not sure of the other would have been missed/lost so apologies for the duplication.

Just received the bst starguider 15mm as a birthday present following advice on the forum, not used it yet but can certainly feel the quality in it. Looking forward to some observing with this which will give me 60x magnification.

Now, ive got about 25-30 quid to spend, I've been looking at the Antares 7.5mm which would give me a 120 magnification, the gso 9mm or celestron omni plossl which would give 100x

In terms of magnification obviously the 7.5mm is best, but wondering if one day getting a Barlow will give me this with the 15mm piece so would a 9mm be better? Or should I just avoid the Barlow and get a good range of focal length EPs.

I have a skywatcher explorer 130 eq2, 130mm aperture and 900mm focal length.I also have the basic set of skywatcher EPs at 3.6, 10 and 25mm.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

[Ally8446]

Personally I'd wait and save another £20 and get another BST.

[stevend]

The 8mm BST is worth saving for. Also the BSTs are parfocal which means that there is only a little focus adjust required when you swap EPs.

[ronin]

Agree with the others get the 8mm BST.

You will get little eye relief with the Antares - about 5mm, the actual FoV obtained will be less then the with the 8mm BST and as pointed out you gain with the BST's being reasonably parfocal.

Will say I have never seen the idea behind getting different individual eyepieces especially in the mid range ones, as in a BST, a plossl, an Ortho, an X-Cel mix. 4 BST's look really nice in a case. Makes people think you have some idea what you are doing. :grin:   The whole 6 look even nicer. :rolleyes:

[craigfoot]

OK . . good points. . what about the 27mm Antares kellner eye piece with crosshair? Would this be useful for initial alignment? Never thought about an EPs with cross hair before.

[stevend]

OK . . good points. . what about the 27mm Antares kellner eye piece with crosshair? Would this be useful for initial alignment? Never thought about an EPs with cross hair before.

You know what is coming..... ;) .... 25mm BST. I am not sure I see the value in a cross hair, but I am less experienced that most on here.

[craigfoot]

Well. . though so, but seriously at 50 quid a go??

Is it really not worth touching anything else? Are the lower cost EPs really so inferior?

[stevend]

All I can say is, I am very happy with my BSTs. Compared to my stock EPs they offer a wider view and much better contrast, you have one, so you know how good they are. I did not buy all or of them together, mine are new & used, just one at a time. Keep an eye on the classifieds in case one comes up.

And, if you ever decide to sell, they hold their value well and sell fast.

[craigfoot]

Yeah well ive not used it yet, only got it yesterday so perhaps I'll hold off on anymore till I've tried it. . .just got some birthday cash off my niece and nephew I was gonna try spend on something I wanted/needed rather than just put it in my wallet and let it go on everyday stuff..

Thanks for the advice

[triton1]

I also use the bst 8mm you will not be disappointed.

[wookie1965]

You won't be disappointed I've got them all apart from the 25mm which I will be getting I've had some great views with all of them ice caps on Mars with the 5mm, great views of Jupiter it's moons and bands with 12/15mm, Saturn and rings with the 8mm and Andromada with the 18mm.

[ronl]

I have collected all the Starguiders, and I am very happy with all of them, once you

get an opportunity to use your 15mm and get used to using it, you will know what to

go for next, the 8mm and the 12mm are very good, but as I say you will know what

you need, If you don't wear glasses then screw the eyecup up to where it suits you,

this makes it very comfortable to use, and being parfocal you don't need to adjust

focus that much.

Hope you enjoy the 15mm, I am sure you will.   

[craigfoot]

Thanks, I did wonder what the screw up part was for!

[Charic]

ED - Extra  low Dispersion  glass, better colour  and low chromatic aberration, 60° AFOV, uniformly flat field to the edges, Fully MC , cheap as chips, great build quality, even greater value, need I go on, before someone accuses me of advertising.

Get another BST.

NO, Buy Several?  Compare them, send them back if their no good for you. At least you had tried them. 

[craigfoot]

Seems bst is very well thought of here. . looking forward to trying mine out and then possibly saving for more!

[Steve-G]

I've recently joined the BST fanclub too. I bought the 12mm a while back & liked it so much I sold my other eyepieces to buy the 25mm, 18mm & 8mm.

Lovely crisp views through all of them &, for me at least, the most comfortable to use eyepieces I've experienced.

Keep an eye on the Astro Buy & Sell site as they quite often show up for around the £30-£35 mark. There were some for sale recently & might still be available.

[craigfoot]

I did email someone on astro buy and sell but not heard back from them. . will keep an eye out. Thanks

[Dave In Vermont]

BST is a brand we don't see here in the US. Antares, though is Canadian and makes some decent, affordable EP's, but nothing special - aside from those crazy Speer-Waler's! A later edition seems to be available now. Regards a cross-hair reticle EP, save your money. Unless your involved with astrophotography and have a guide-scope or flip-mirror setup, I doubt it would be used much. If at all.

Clear Skies,

Dave

[rwilkey]

BST is a brand we don't see here in the US. Antares, though is Canadian and makes some decent, affordable EP's, but nothing special - aside from those crazy Speer-Waler's! A later edition seems to be available now. Regards a cross-hair reticle EP, save your money. Unless your involved with astrophotography and have a guide-scope or flip-mirror setup, I doubt it would be used much. If at all.

Clear Skies,

Dave

Hi Dave, they are known as Astro-Tech (AT) Paradigms in the US, and were available in the States much earlier than over here.

[Dark Knight Gazer]

+1 for the BSTs. The 18mm was great on M45 last night

[Charic]

As  rwilkey points out, there are others to name a few like  Starguider, Explorer, Olivon, Astrotech Paradigm, Orion Epic, NED & Photon all producing  eyepieces of  the same calibre,  just the prices and colour coding between focal lengths differing?

You may have for example a Green 8mm EP from Brand 'A' and a Green 18mm from Brand 'B'. This could cause same colour coding chaos for some folk? 

[craigfoot]

Mine is 15mm and blue I think. . didnt realise the colour had meaning

[Charic]

.......on the BST's, each EP is colour coded. Why I don't know, because I can't make out the colours in the dark, but yes it looks nice. I think to keep things slightly different between the brands, the green may be an 8mm and on another brand it could be 18mm. 

[Dave In Vermont]

Hi Dave, they are known as Astro-Tech (AT) Paradigms in the US, and were available in the States much earlier than over here.

Thank you! These look very nice indeed. I may just buy one to give it a whirl.

In the US, I found them here:

https://www.astronomics.com/astro-tech-paradigm-dual-ed-eyepieces_c52.aspx

Thanks again!

Dave

[Charic]

Dave.........this site (  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-25-8mm-BST-Explorer-Dual-ED-eyepiece-Branded-Starguider-/380962675706?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item58b3251bfa#shpCntId  )  only charges £3 GBP for delivery?  If you did not like the eyepiece and sent it back for a full refund, I would assume it would cost about as much again.  That site allows you to buy more than one at a time. You can compare them, and if you like them, you keep them, If not you return for a full refund. A fabulous way to trial as it were before you decide to keep?