What accessories should i buy, help me spend money!

[Richyboy24]

Hi everyone,

having recently purchased a Skyliner 250px Dob i am in the process of drawing up a list of accessories to get for my impending 25th Birthday

have about £150-£200 to spend...

I currently have a 4mm Omni, 15mm plossl, 25mm plossl. but how many eyepieces do you really need, especially if you buy a barlow.

How does this sound for my 'list'

Celestron Omni x2 Barlow - £38

Omni 32mm Eyepice - £38

Meade 4000 Super Plossl 6.4mm (1.25") - £42

Meade Series 4000 Moon Filter - £15.49

Baader 30mm Sky Surfer III Red Dot Finder - £15

any thoughts?

Cheers!

[themos]

Don't spend it all in one go! You will probably need a collimation aid ( the laser one is good for Dobs because you don't have to be glued to the focuser end) and some way of attaching a camera and maybe a Wixey digital inclinometer so that you can find stuff.

[nitram100]

I had the same celestron omni barlow, but i sold it and spent a little more to get the celestron ultima 2x barlow, which was far better, so if you can stretch your funds to get the ultima barlow i would highly recommend it as a good barlow is worthwhile investment. First light optics sell them i think and you might get a small SGL discount. Also, make sure to check out www.astrobuysell.com/uk everyday as there are some great deals on there from time to time.

[The Warthog]

You really need no more than four eps and a decent Barlow. I suggest an ep as long in mm as the f-number of your scope, about 5 in your case. Then an ep about 1.5 times that or 7.5 - 8, and one about 5 times the f-number, or 24-25mm. With a Barlow, this gives you six nicely spaced lengths. The Barlow and the shortest of these lengths neatly maximizes your scope's performance.

The next step would be 32 - 36, but you are usually talking about a 2" ep at that size, so you may want to get a 16 - 18mm ep if you really need to fill the gap between 12 and 24. I haven't done so, so far, although I do have a good 32mm plossl that I hardly ever use. With your particular scope, you may want to consider even longer lengths, as high as 40 or 50, for really widefield views and ease of viewing.