Newbie eyepiece request for advice

[Raymie440]

Hi all, any help will be most appreciated.

I have just about set my mind on the Skymax 127 Mak Goto telescope. Now that decision is finished I wish to turn my attention to eyepieces. I know the Skymax comes with a 10mm and 25mm and also a 2x barlow. I am considering another two eyepieces and two filters at the moment and would love some advice. The parts I am looking at are:

Skywatcher UWA Planetary Eyepiece in 7mm focal length

Skywatcher SP Plossl eyepiece in 32mm

Also the Skywatcher variable polarising moon filter and the Skywatcher light polution filter

 

Does this sound like a good range of eyepieces or are there others I should be looking at? Also what is the shortest focal length of eyepiece you would reccommend?

 

Kind regards

Raymond

[Stargazer33]

The maximum useful magnification for the 127 is about x250; so with a focal length of f11.81, a 7mm eyepiece will give you about x212 although seeing conditions in this country are rarely good enough to go to max magnification. The x2 barlow would push this to x424 which is way over the max useful magnification.

I have not used the eyepieces that you mention in your OP but I started off with a Skymax 102 and it was a great little tube. I do miss it sometimes as it was so easy to set up.

Anyway, I am sure someone will be along soon to comment on the eps you mention.

[Raymie440]

Thanks Bryan

[Ricochet]

Generally, if you're buying your first scope and it comes with eyepieces then it is best to leave any additional eyepieces until after you've used the scope a few times and have a better idea of what you need. However, with a Mak opening up the field of view is a good idea and as a 32mm Plossl gives the widest view a 1.25" eyepiece can give it would be reasonable to get one at the same time as the scope. 

 I would also leave the filters for now. You may find that a moon filter isn't really needed and a sky glow filter will only filter out the old sodium lamps and won't help with any new led lighting.  

The other thing that you haven't mentioned is a dew shield. With a lens at the front dew can build up quite quickly so a shield and/or heater would be a good accessory to get. 

[laudropb]

Good advice given in the previous post. Just to add it depends where you live in Glasgow. If you still have the orange sodium street lights then  a light pollution filter does help. We have just had ours changed to LEDs and the filter now does not make much difference.

[Raymie440]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I had been thinking about the zoom eyepieces as well as they cover a really broad spectrum of focal lengths. Dew shield is pretty much a must then. Food for thought, I will maybe just order the 32mm plossl at the same time as the telescope and leave the 7mm for a later day.

 

It is the old orange street lights that are present around my area so think I may benefit from the LPR filter, but now I am confused having read about the UHC filter? Would the UHC be more beneficial?

[Alan64]

I didn't care for the 1.25" 32mm oculars available, so I went with this Vixen 1.25" 50° 30mm instead...

...and it's a wonder as to how I was able to observe so long without one...

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

Of course, with a Maksutov, every little extra mm counts for an even lower magnification, no matter how slight, but no more than 32mm.

[Dave In Vermont]

Alan -

Check your PM box. I sent you an offer for a 32mm 2" with 70° FOV for cheap close to home for you. Any others in the Western Hemisphere - welcome to PM me for info!

Dave (who just ordered one for my use in a Maksutov)

[Linda]

I have the same scope, just without the Goto. I bought a 15mm eyepiece GSO superview 70 degrees witch I just very often. It gives a 100x magnification. For the most magnification, I have considered buying the 6mm, which is the theoretical max of the scope, but I found out that others with the same scope having it don't use it that often. I purchased a 8mm TMB Planetary clone instead, that gives 180x magn. I often use that eyepiece to watch Jupiter if the seeing/transparency are good. It is about the maximum that I can use, because when using it, the image shakes a bit and I can see small pieces off protein flying around inside my eyeball. So far I haven't had the need to increase magnification further. Maybe that requires a more solid mount.

For the most widefield, I was told that I could choose between a 32mm with 50 degree angle or a 24mm 68 degree angle. I bought the latter, a Maxvision 24mm 68 degrees. That is an enormous eyepiece with a very wide opening for my eye. I do notice in this eyepiece that bright stars and planets get a flare when they are just outside of view. Otherwise the eyepiece gives a very sharp image.

The Maksutov is a slow scope (high F ratio of 11,8). I have been told that that means you can get away with relatively cheap eyepieces. You don't need to invest in the most expensive eyepieces, as the will mostly benifit faster scopes.