Eyepiece Upgrade.

[Indibush]

Here's the first one. Can't wait to try it.

Thank you everyone for your help.

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[Charic]

Iv got a Sky Watcher Skiliner PX250, and want to upgrade the eyepieces. At the moment I have a 15mm, a 20mm and a 28mm. Non of which are very good quality. Im thinking about a couple of Baarder Hyperions, maybe a 5mm and a 10mm. These seem to be about £90 each.

My question is, for that price, could I get anything better? Could I get something the same quality cheaper? Also, as these are modular, if I just get a 5mm and take a ring off, that would be a 10mm as well yes?. Thanks in advance for any help given.

Hi Indibush..........Always a difficult question, when it comes to eyepieces, and one we all ask when starting out, and  those already started, offering advice, from their findings. 

You can spend a fortune or very little on eyepieces. To me the best known brand is TeleVue. See any in my signature? You will find what's right by testing alone, there is no other way!

I wanted my 1st set to be the Meade 4000 series, but were unavailable to me back then.  ( I have one now!   more to come?  but its not  the original 5 element EP, but Japanese built no less?)  the selection in  my signature is good for a middle of the road f/6 scope, but may suffer artefacts and aberrations on scopes faster than f/6. I favour a Revelation 9mm  Plossl over the 8mm Tele Vue Plossl. Its just a personal thing, but its also about what's best for me, Having the brand name, or having something that satisfies my needs. This Plossl has  the same image quality as perceived  through my eyes, the build quality is as good imho, and just feels more comfortable to my  eye (relief) than the 8mm Tele Vue. Not only that the Plossl was  less than £15. can that be legal.......does that make it a pauper or just rubbish, not to my eyes. Other-side of the coin, I could have invested first off with Tele Vue, and quoted all their benefits, advantages for ever and a day, but I would not  have known, if there was anything cheaper , that could/would have been just as good.

Reading the  comments from others, Pentax, Vixen, Baader all provide decent EPs. you just got to find what you like and stick with them. Who knows, you may buy the rest of the Vixens!

I`m actually seeing more Tele vue EPs changing hands recently, not sure if the deLites are the issue, but since their introduction, TV's are shifting hands, I I still think their very expensive, and you could still buy 3 or 4  quality EPs  in another brand for the same price,  but if you like that, then go for it.

[Indibush]

Thanks for that Charic. With work, and going away at the weekend, it might be a couple of week before I try the vixen. It does look nice quality, I hope it performs well. My next eyepiece will be one for DSO's. I would like to stick to 1.25, and have been sent a link to a Explorer Scientific 24mm, with a nice 68 degree field. I'm not in a great rush, so I'll read all the info I get from here before I make my choice.

Tony.

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[John]

When I tested the 6mm, 12mm and 20mm Vixen SLV's out a while back I found them really excellent eyepieces.  Here is the report I made back then:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/217971-vixen-slv-eyepiece-report-6mm-12mm-and-20mm/

Having compared them to some very auspicious opposition I'd say that, in terms of optical quality and viewing comfort, you would stuggle to find anything better, at any price. If you want a wider field of view there are other options of course but to get that wide field AND the optical performance of the SLV's I think you would need to spend £hundreds per eyepiece.

If my scopes were on driven equatorial mounts rather than the undriven alt-azimuth type that I use, I'd be very happy to live with a set of Vixen SLV's for the vast majority of my viewing

[Charic]

As you say, no rush.

Sticking with the 1,25" format will limit your maximum focal length and field of view.

The 1.25" format  will have an upper limit of about 32mm. Longer than this and its like looking through a tube?

Going with a 2" EP overcomes the focal length, and will allow wider fields of view, but more expensive, and weightier on the scope ( balance issues for some folk )

My basic ED Starguiders give me 60°afov, that's what I prefer, my Plossl's  about 52° maybe even less,  Ideal for the Moon, and I needed something bigger for viewing M31, enter my 70° Panaview.

The ES with its 68° would be nice, but you can go bigger. wider.

I have a few eyepiece gurus that I personally PM from time to time with  certain issues and advice, here on sgl, some don't like that title or want  the  title,  and tell me to " speak with John - He's the Guru?"  and John, no doubt will recommend someone else who he feels may know  different?   You will find a few characters on here who know  their subject well, give their experience and detailed reviews, that bode well, for many,  but you still gotta try it yourself. Like I said, my gut feeling is that Tele Vue is the market leader, their quality might be as good as it gets ( un-tested by me) and their prices stink, but that comes with branding and quality, but do we need them........

Just study everything and anything. Enjoy  your astronomy journey, and your trip away!

[Indibush]

I might be showing my ignorance, but do I need to see that much sky? With a 20mm EP, I can see both M81 and M82. It's Skywatcher 250PX f4.7 btw. I'm lead to believe these don't have the same magnification as slower scopes. So I'm I right in thinking, you would need say a 40mm with f8, but I'll be ok with a 24mm? I can't see me needing much more fov than M81 and M82.

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[John]

I might be showing my ignorance, but do I need to see that much sky? With a 20mm EP, I can see both M81 and M82. It's Skywatcher 250PX f4.7 btw. I'm lead to believe these don't have the same magnification as slower scopes. So I'm I right in thinking, you would need say a 40mm with f8, but I'll be ok with a 24mm? I can't see me needing much more fov than M81 and M82.

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Most deep sky objects will fit into a 1 degree true field of view. The 24mm 68 degree eyepiece gives you 1.36 degree true field with your scope so you are well set for the majority of deep sky objects. There are a few objects that a quite a bit larger than this so you can see portions of those rather than the whole thing. If you want to see all of such large objects generally binoculars or short refractors show you those vast swathes of sky better than a 10" dobsonian can.

[Bazz]

Can anyone recommend some EP's that would come in very useful for a Skywatcher Skyliner 150p that I have preorderd  from Jessops ( they hope to have one for me for nest week).

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/products/skywatcher/skyliner-150p-telescope-mount-kit-89958/show.html

I am a total newbie who can not get his head round the maths of determining how to work out what might be best  (if anyone can help me understand this)   . I am on a very limited budget so any good advice would be very much appreciated, as I would like to have a few ready for my scope arriving next week.

[ronin]

Bazz going to be a lot easier asking the question in a trhead that is sort of yours, means peoples answers are relevant to you.

Scope purchase wise, I see it is £24 more but you may be advided to get the scope from an Astro retailer, FLO, Rother Valley, Sherwoods and others.

Simply if there is a problem you will get more support.

With Jessops I suspect you will be on your own.

The 150 you ahve picked is a nice scope, will do things pretty well.

Scope is f/7.8, and 1200mm focal length.

Much depends on the budget per eyepiece. Normal recommendtions are the BST Starguiders (£49) at Skies the Limit, and on yours they will be good. If you go for them try the 8mm first, that will give 150x.

If you want to spend abit more then the Celestron X-Cels (£63) are the same performance and there are a bit better selection at the lower focal lengths, means they might suit planetary observing a bit better.

Another are the Vixen NPL plossl's (£35-40).

Another plossl is the TV plossl, very good but around £70-90 each.

As the scope is f/8 (ish) then the GSO/Revelation plossls should also perform well, think they are around the £30 mark.

After that it goes up.

Still suggest you rethink Jessops simply for the support aspect.

[John]

Can anyone recommend some EP's that would come in very useful for a Skywatcher Skyliner 150p that I have preorderd  from Jessops ( they hope to have one for me for nest week).

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/products/skywatcher/skyliner-150p-telescope-mount-kit-89958/show.html

I am a total newbie who can not get his head round the maths of determining how to work out what might be best  (if anyone can help me understand this)   . I am on a very limited budget so any good advice would be very much appreciated, as I would like to have a few ready for my scope arriving next week.

Hi Bazz,

As ronin suggests - with your scope spec being rather different from the one discussed in this thread I think you might get more useful feedback if you start a thread of your own. I'm sure you will get lots of advice from folks who own the same scope that you do

[Bazz]

Thanks Ronin, will set one up.

[Charic]

Bazz going to be a lot easier asking the question in a trhead that is sort of yours, means peoples answers are relevant to you.

As the scope is f/8 (ish) then the GSO/Revelation plossls should also perform well, think they are around the £30 mark.

Still suggest you rethink Jessops simply for the support aspect.

....check out Astroboot? They have the 9mm and 12mm. Very tidy EP's and £15.oo each.  Great value. and will work well on the 150P.

( A Mod could move the thread, but the questions have already started, losing continuity?)

[Moonshane]

I use the attached spreadsheet I created a while back when considering what eyepieces I might get etc. you can put in the details in the yellow boxes and it creates the various specs for the stated eyepieces. the eyepieces reflect my current set-up for e.g. my 120mm f7.5 refractor.

eyepieces and scopes.xls

[Indibush]

Bazz, I don't mind you asking your question here, but it could get a bit confusing haha. Good luck with finding your EP's.

Thanks John for that last bit of information, and to everyone else for their help. I think I'm gonna go for the 24mm. I can always get a larger 2" later if I think I need it, but I think that will be the best for now.

Tony.