New to stargazing, need a little advice on eyepieces

[gasellers]

Hi everyone,

I am a total nube to stargazing and astronomy in general, but I recently purchased an Orion XT8 based on recommendations I found on the web for beginners. It came with a Sirius Plossl 25mm eyepiece and so far I am absolutely in love with this new hobby of mine (I found Jupiter by accident my first night out and have been hooked since. :-) ). I am interested in getting some more eyepieces and wondered if some of the more experienced people could tell me if they think this kit filled with other Orion Plossl eyepieces and filters would be a good purchase (http://www.telescope.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=8890&utm_source=google&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_campaign=US-googlemerchant&gclid=CNDCxe-CsMQCFY9hfgod9GYAcg).

It seems pretty inexpensive, but I worry about the quality of the eyepieces. Any direction would be appreciated. 

[knobby]

Hi, personally I'd go for a decent set of eyepieces built up one at a time . if you enjoyed Jupiter then maybe look at a decent 8 or 10 mm , with a kit you'll end up with lots of eyepieces you don't need ... BST Starguiders are reasonable at about £50 a pop (believe they're called astrotec paradigm your side of the pond)

Good luck choosing and enjoy the views

[knobby]

Quick google sesh, https://www.astronomics.com/astro-tech-8mm-1-25-inch-paradigm-dual-ed-eyepiece_p16945.aspx

[gasellers]

Thanks, Knobby. I've heard a lot of good things about Tele Vue eyepieces also. Some, like the Naglers, are way out of my budget, but others like the Plossls are within range. They are about $100 compared to the $60 price range of the eyepieces you recommended. Do you (or anybody else) know what the difference in quality and experience would be between these two?

[knobby]

Televues are lovely, a bit more expensive but kind of , well, perfect !

[Roy Challen]

Get your Televues second hand - people always look after them so they are generally in excellent condition and usually a bit cheaper than buying new. That's how I'm building my set of plossls. 11mm is the best of the bunch so far IMO, but all of them really good too. Echo the comment about buying sets - you'll probably only use the filters once. If you have a barlow, try to avoid buying eyepieces that result in a magnification being reproduced - ie if you have a  2x barlow and a 20mm eyepiece there's no point in buying a 10mm eyepiece.

Hope that helps

Roy

[gasellers]

Thanks for the tips, Roy. Any recommendations on a good place to buy used Televues in the U.S.? 

[Roy Challen]

Not sure of the US sites to be honest - anyone else know?

[John]

Thanks for the tips, Roy. Any recommendations on a good place to buy used Televues in the U.S.? 

Astromart (there is a charge to join though):

http://www.astromart.com/

Cloudynights Classifieds:

http://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds/

There is also the Canadian Astro Buy & Sell site:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/

[gasellers]

Thanks, John!

[gasellers]

I've decided to go for quality rather than quantity, so the first new eyepiece I thought I'd get it a TeleVue PowerMate 2.5x. Then, I want to save up for a few TeleVue Ethos eyepieces. They look like they will be amazing. My wife is going to rue the day when she told me she wanted to get me a telescope. lol

[John]

The Powermate 2.5x will work with the 13mm and shorter focal length Ethos eyepieces but a 2" 2x Powermate is a more secure solution I feel.

[gasellers]

Interesting. I just looked up the specs of my scope and it looks like it's got a 2" Crayford focuser that accepts both 2" and 1.25" eyepieces, so if you guys think the 2" Powermate is a better solution, I'll go with that. Thanks for the advice. 

[russ.will]

Crikey! From nought to Ethos in less time than it takes for some people to digest and pass a meal! My friend, you may want to hold you hard for a minute and have thinky poos about this.

In my humble experience, yes you will see a difference between most levels of EP in an 8" scope. Indeed, that 8" aperture (if you're under Jet Stream infested UK skies) is a bit of a sweet spot as a do-it-all work horse that will bang +200x into a planet and do 50x widefield viewing. Ethos will deliver a noticeable difference, no doubt. 

However, if we're talking Ethos money, I'd have a long hard look at a 12"+ version of the scope you have. Ethos (and we may as well throw Explore Scientific ES100s into the mix) might be the pinnacle of EP design, but they absolutely cannot defeat physics and reproduce the light grab and resolution of a larger scope. Before you drop kilos of greenbacks on EPs, get thee unto an astro club/society and have a look through a larger scope.

It's the difference between seeing the Orion Nebula and seeing the Orion Nebula with twice the expanse, detail AND colour. It's the difference between seeing the Pleiades and the Pleiades with nebulousity. Okay, the 8" might actually show Jupiter better on most nights, but on a couple of clear and stable nights per year, the bigger scope will show you swirls at the edge of the cloud bands that look like the imagers deliver and that is not a view you will easily forget.

I'm not saying don't buy Ethos. I'm saying there is a foundation upon which they will deliver their best and at this stage, you need to see what scopes can deliver, even with comparatively vanilla EPs.

Russell

[gasellers]

That's good advice, Russ. Thanks. I will look into joining an astro club around here and check out some of the other scopes before dropping a wad of cash on an Ethos. It does makes sense that you'd want a better scope before investing in the better eyepieces.

[SpaceWalker]

Interesting. I just looked up the specs of my scope and it looks like it's got a 2" Crayford focuser that accepts both 2" and 1.25" eyepieces, so if you guys think the 2" Powermate is a better solution, I'll go with that. Thanks for the advice. 

I personally wouldn't recommend a 2" Barlow for 8" Dob. The TV Powermate weighs 1.2 lb. Imagine what will happen with your OTA if you combine the Powermate with the 21mm Ethos weighing 2.2lb  . You'll get serious balance problem. I'd better save money for the 13mm Ethos and the 8mm and 6mm Delos. If you get a 12"+ scope it'll be a different story. So, Russell gave you a good advise on joining  any astroclub and trying both larger scopes and various eyepieces before you buy. Yoy may also want to try the 2" Barlow first before making purchasing decision. You might be unpleasantly surprised with its ergonomics.

[gasellers]

Thanks, SpaceWalker. I'll definitely get to some club meetings and try out a bunch of different things first.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

hold onto purchasing any barlows or eye pieces for time being.If you are a complete new starter,get used to the scope first with eye pieces you have for a couple of sessions.Go to some star parties where you can actually meet other folks and try different eye pieces,hear they opinions before you actually splash out your hard earned cash on some exotic glass.It is easy to spend someone else cash or recommend something expensive

Ethos might be the top of the range (price wise it is),but there are many other alternatives for less money but same performance.

In USA astro community is quite large and well developed,you will get plenty of advise there.