Any advice on a new finder scope and eye pieces please

[To_infinity_and_beyond]

Hi all, after finally purchasing my first telescope I immediately noticed I'm in need of a finder scope and new eye pieces.

I got hold of a Meade 114/900 eq1-b for the right price, came with the standard 25mm eyepiece and a cheap 2 x Barlow. I've had a few glances of the moon through it but it was way off.

I collimated it and got the finder scope setup almost perfect, only problem now is I'm limited to what I can view. The finder scope is in a neck breaking position, can anyone point me in the direction to get a decent 90 degree finder scope? Don't want to pay too much as this scope is just to get me by.

The other issue are these eyepieces, can tell they're old now as there are imperfections when looking through them. I've find a decent Barlow for £15. I want to start viewing planets to some extent, would a 9mm be ok for this? Got a budget of 15-25 per eyepiece, done a quick search but don't understand the brand's to go for. Eventually will replace the 25mm and get a few others.

one last thing, are cheap auction site filters any good or is it worth investing in quality?

Thanks in advance for your time

[John]

Hello,

For the barlow and eyepieces, within your budget, the Astroboot website might have something to offer:

http://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot

Your scope has a focal length of 900mm and it's aperture is 114mm so I'd stick to around 150x as a maximum magnification which means something like a 6mm eyepiece or a 12mm and a 2x barlow lens. Try and get plossl eyepieces (thats the optical design rather than a brand) but at £15 - £25 per eyepiece you might not have much choice on brands. The Revelation plossls are pretty good.

You might find a better finder on the above site as well but it's not going to be the right angled type I'm afraid. Those start at around £30 for a 30mm one and £50-£60 for a 50mm. Maybe consider replacing the current finder with the red dot type finder ?

e.bay might have something to offer but I'm not sure I'd bother with filters at the current time. If you are looking on e.bay look out for plossls by Meade, Celestron, Skywatcher and Vixen which you might be able to get for somewhere near your budget. The "deluxe" Skywatcher barlow lens is actually quite good quality and can be picked up for low prices on the used market and on the Astroboot web site above.

Hope that helps a bit.