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Buying my first scope today

Conork87

By Conork87
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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Conork87

Conork87

Posted
Posted

Hey everyone, so basically I'm buying my first scope today, it's a dobsonian 8 inch and its comes with two standard eye peieces, 10mm and 25mm. I'm sure these will do just fine but can anyone recommend any other eye peieces so I can go ahead and order them while I'm buying the scope. I want to be able to view as much as I can, deep sky and planets.

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Paul73

Paul73

Posted
Posted

Welcome to SGL.

And congratulations on your, soon to arrive, new scope. Good choice.

Re. The eyepieces. I would have a play with the stock ones for a few weeks then invest once you have got the hang of these two reference points. Available budget will play a part as well. Don't be tempted to go for mega magnification. About X200 is about the most that you can use on all but the best nights (less on some).

Paul

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John

John

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Welcome to SGL :smiley:

You have picked a great scope - I'm sure you will enjoy it !

I'd echo the advice given above. Have a few sessions with the stock eyepieces and see how you get on. That experience will inform you on making further eyepiece purchases. It's quite a personal business and what suits one person (and their wallet !) might not suit another.

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Floater

Floater

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Posted

Welcome.

I recommend you take the advice from everyone above - and then you extend the fun you will have while pondering over this and that and the next thing!

All I would add is that the 10mm EP is almost universally accepted as being the inferior of the two supplied with your scope. It was in my experience.

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rockystar

rockystar

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In my experience (2 months owning an 8" Newtonian on an EQ), you will spend 3 times as long and read 3 times as much material deciding on eyepieces than you did on deciding which scope to buy, and still not be any nearer on making a decision...

The stock eyepieces have done me well so far, the 25mm is fairly forgiving and I've seen a seen a couple of galaxies and clusters with it fairly cleanly.

I don't find the 10mm very easy to focus and get a get a clean, crisp view - mainly the moon, Saturn & double stars that I've used this on.

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ronin

ronin

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Posted

First thing is to get used to simply moving it around to locate things, make a list of obvious items, M57, M13, Mizar, Albireo, M45.

At first little use in getting say 3 eyepieces if the scope cannot be pointed at the assortment of objects. It just takes some getting used to.

Then go buy a few eyepieces and a collimator of some variety.

When you get the scope take the 1.25" eyepiece adaptor out of the 2" eyepiece adaptor, then take 2" eyepiece adaptor out of the focuser, then put the 1.25" eyepiece adaptor back in all on it's own.

Otherwise you will be saying you cannot get the scope to focus and you can see a shadow of the secondary.

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belfieldi

belfieldi

Posted
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It's well worth trying out the EPs which come with the 200p dob, certainly the 25mm isn't bad. The 10mm is a different story, but try it 1st. The best upgrade you can make to the 200p is a right angle finder scope (unless you have a neck which is as flexible as a giraffes neck and your head can swivel 360 degrees like an owl :grin: ).

Clear Skies

Ian

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dweller25

dweller25

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OK - I am here to spend  your money  :evil:

1. Buy a cheshire collimating tool to ensure your scopes mirrors are aligned to each other correctly.

2. Buy some wide angle eyepieces - this will reduce the amount of nudging you have to do, a good option would be a 13mm giving x92 which is good for deep sky objects and with a barlow would give x184 which is good for the planets. I have found the motto "buy cheap buy twice" to be very true with astro gear....

You have made a very good choice but do make sure you cool the scope down well before use for best results, good luck

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John

John

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And no one will give the answer, just opinions.

I think thats why getting some experience yourself with the stock eyepieces is quite important. You might then stand a chance of converting opinions into choices that suit you :smiley:

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rockystar

rockystar

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I think thats why getting some experience yourself with the stock eyepieces is quite important. You might then stand a chance of converting opinions into choices that suit you :smiley:

Indeed. I think I've managed to narrow it down to about half a dozen options, could just do with trying some of them out now.

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jetstream

jetstream

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Posted

OK - I am here to spend  your money  :evil:

1. Buy a cheshire collimating tool to ensure your scopes mirrors are aligned to each other correctly.

2. Buy some wide angle eyepieces - this will reduce the amount of nudging you have to do, a good option would be a 13mm giving x92 which is good for deep sky objects and with a barlow would give x184 which is good for the planets. I have found the motto "buy cheap buy twice" to be very true with astro gear....

You have made a very good choice but do make sure you cool the scope down well before use for best results, good luck

I'm in dwellers camp too :grin: A nice 2" 23mm-24mm (ES 24mm82?) and the 12-14mm widefield/barlow would be a great addition. Oh, and an OIII filter for the Veil is a must...

An alternative to the 24mm ES could be the much maligned 23mm Luminos ( mine works well) or its predecessor the 23mm Axiom. An EP such as these will make life much simpler for finding objects...... and will be great for nebula work with the OIII.

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Piero

Piero

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As a few members said already, I would also wait and see how you get on with the stock eyepieces. 

True, this will add some additional shipping cost (5-10 pounds??), but you can also buy eyepieces in the second-hand market (e.g. search on google "astro buy and sell uk"). If so, you would save quite a lot of money anyway. 

The fact that you want to see as much as you can is great and the telescope you are going to buy will show you plenty of targets for many years. However, my (and many others by judging the posts above) suggestion is not to feel in a hurry. 

Rather than running and buying eyepieces now, consider buying a good book on how to find targets and what to expect to see. Turn left at Orion is an excellent book which will keep you busy for a while. It is a pleasure to read and will teach you so many things about targets, telescopes, how to find and see objects and so on. :)

After getting some practice at aligning your finder and star hopping, I would suggest you the Sky and Telescope Pocket star atlas. This can seriously keep you busy for many years! :)

You have plenty of time to build your eyepiece set depending on how your experience and interest grow. 

Right now, what matters is that you focus on growing your interest and experience because these two things are essentially what make this hobby go on and evolve. In one word: passion!  :rolleyes:

There are plenty of people here who owns (or owned) your type of telescope. You will certainly receive a lot of help on eyepieces when you need!  :rolleyes:

Piero

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Charic

Charic

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Posted

Conork87.......Hi and welcome to SGL.

You don't mention your  brand of  8", but the Sky-watcher eyepieces on the 8" Skyliner work well enough to get you going, and as with most new telescopes, the EPs work, but have no frills?  and as soon as you  have tried/viewed another eyepiece with a better field of view, and comfort level, you will then start looking for alternatives? If your looking at the cheaper end of the spectrum, nothing in my EP collection will let the Skyliner down, but don't let cheapness distract you, these are fine EPs. The Plossls I have have a narrower field of view compared to my  preferred Starguider collection, and the Plossls are just for testing at present?  If your wanting the best in premium eyepieces, my advice is look at TeleVue, but to be honest, TeleVue eyepieces are not essential on an f/6 telescope, nice but not essential. If you have any local clubs, membership is not essential on a first visit, but ask some questions, look through some scopes, and see what the guys/gals are using?

You have also opened a can-o-worms. Only you can decide on what's best for your eyes alone by trial and error! Our advice has to be, just advice, as we all share differing views, some heated if you care to look around the site?

Enjoy your new scope.

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