Buying eyepieces

[REG78]

What's a good price for plossl

[Joe12345]

They range from £5 to £150, they aren't all the same. Be a bit more specific.

[AWR]

Depends on the plossl.  The Vixen NPLs are great, a real step up from a "supplied with" eyepiece.  They are £39-£49 new.  TV Plossls are supposed to be excellent but they are upwards of £80 new.

I would only value a "supplied with" plossl at about £10.

Andrew

[ronin]

Need to have an idea of which make/brand, and if new or used.

Also what is the scope, if "fast" then maybe a plossl may not be a good idea.

As Joe says there is a big range.

Would have said £10 to £120. I have given away several plossl's, so in that case free.

TV plossl's are £70-£120

Vixen come in around £35-£70 (maybe not that high).

GSO's are sort of £30-£50 area.

They tend to be more cost as the focal length goes up.

 

 

 

[REG78]

Just got a skywatcher 130 and was checking out what eyepieces to upgrade onto next any ideas

[Putaendo Patrick]

You probably have 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, and maybe a x2 Barlow. This gives you a good range of magnifications: x36, x72, x90, x180. In general the 25mm EP will be better than the 10mm, and the Barlow may or may not be reasonable. For the moment I would get the maximum use out of what you have. This will allow you to discover the type of viewing that most interests you. If you are drawn to planetary or lunar observation, you might want a better EP in the 6-8mm range, but if you are attracted by DSOs you might consider a lower power wide-view EP. Personally I would not upgrade just for the sake of it, but instead wait until you are reasonably sure of what you need. The Plossl design is a good EP but not necessarily the best for some types of observation.

[Alan64]

If this is the one you have... http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130.html

...then it will have a focal-length of 900mm(f/7).  A 30mm ocular will give a magnification of...

900mm ÷ 30mm = 30x

If you have this one instead... http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p.html

650mm(f/5) ÷ 30mm = 22x

In either case, the ocular would make for a low-power spotter to aid the telescope's finderscope or red-dot finder in the finding of objects; within the star-fields of the Milky Way this upcoming summer...

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

I have the same eyepiece, and for my 150mm f/5 Newtonian...

I couldn't be more pleased with it.

This 15mm is a wide-field(70°), and would complement either telescope...

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p4839_GSO-SuperView-15mm---1-25--WA-eyepiece---70--FoV.html

[REG78]

Cheers Alan much app tht advice are th vixen EPs costly

[Alan64]

The nice thing about eyepieces is that they're not just for one telescope, the one at present.  They can be used with other telescopes that might be acquired in future.  One day, you might want to get a larger telescope, and you'll still have the eyepieces that were used for the smaller one.  Eyepieces, if chosen well, are for life. 

In light of that, no, the Vixen Plossls are not costly.  This one, however, might be considered so...

http://www.telescopehouse.com/televue-32mm-plossl-eyepiece-1-25.html

...£49 versus £115.

For the higher magnifications, with eyepieces ranging from 20mm to 5mm, a smaller part of the sky is seen along with the object of interest being larger.  Therefore, wide-field oculars are generally preferred...

http://www.365astronomy.com/TS-Ultra-Wide-Angle-Eyepiece-9mm-1.25-66o-with-Improved-Coating.html

[Linda]

I also have the GSO 15mm superview and it is my second most used eyepiece, after my Maxvision 24mm.

[REG78]

Cheers Linda have to check thm out what's your fav EP

[REG78]

Is it a 60 or 80 degree version you have

[REG78]

What scope are you using thm in linda

[Alan64]

Reg78,

Is your telescope kit this one...

...or this one...

 

If neither, does it have a label on the optical tube listing its specifications?

[REG78]

Yea it's a 130mm 900mmf

[REG78]

Think it's th 2nd scope only my 1 has RDF on it

[REG78]

I'm getn gr8 views with it with EPs tht came with it I'm just lookn to upgrade soon & not knowing what to get nxt.........is plossls much more clearer thm these EPs I'm using

[Alan64]

This one then...

Many prefer a red-dot finder over a finderscope; good show.  At 900mm, or f/7, the 130mm Newtonian will not require highly-corrected and therefore costly eyepieces, and for quality views with same. 

The eyepieces provided with most telescopes are intended to be replaced eventually.  They're included just to get one started observing with the telescope.  The 25mm is probably okay.  I don't see the need to replace it anytime soon, but replacing the 10mm would probably be worthwhile.

The 9mm 66° ocular that I had linked to earlier would be a good wide-field replacement for the 10mm.  You can read the user-reviews about it here.  It's the same eyepiece...

http://agenaastro.com/agena-9mm-enhanced-wide-angle-ewa-eyepiece.html

The 9mm would give a magnification of 100x. 

There are also the TMB Planetary II oculars from which to choose... http://www.365astronomy.com/Planetary-Eyepieces/

A 9mm(100x), a 6mm(150x), and even a 4.5mm(200x) would make for quite a versatile range for lunar and planetary observations.

[REG78]

Cheers will give thm a check

[Alan64]

14 minutes ago, REG78 said:

I'm getn gr8 views with it with EPs tht came with it I'm just lookn to upgrade soon & not knowing what to get nxt.........is plossls much more clearer thm these EPs I'm using

Plossls are fine for the lower magnifications: 15mm(60x), 20mm(45x), 25mm(36x) and 32mm(28x).  The eye-relief, however, tends to shorten as one goes higher and higher in power, and with Plossls ranging from 13mm to 4mm.

Have you thought about motorising the mount, and for hands-free automatic tracking?  You could then consider orthoscopics for the higher magnifications.

 

[Mak the Night]

The Celestron Omni Plossls are pretty good, I still use my 12mm and 15mm on my grab'n'go scope. They are comparatively light and well made. I have all the 1.25" TeleVue Plossls and use two of the 15mm's with my bino. But the Omnis still get some use and I actually prefer the eye relief to the TeleVue 15's.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html

[REG78]

Actually got motor with it just havnt got rnd to fitn it to my mount

[Alan64]

Then there's the option of a 2x barlow which would double the magnification of any eyepiece...

http://www.365astronomy.com/GSO-2x-Barlow-2-Element-Achromatic-Barlow.html

I believe that the barlowing element at the bottom of the GSO can be unscrewed and removed, then screwed onto the bottom of most any eyepiece for a 1.5x magnification.  For instance, take a 12mm ocular...

900mm ÷ 12mm = 75x, 1.5x(simulated 8mm = 113x), 2x(simulated 6mm = 150x)

Barlows are an economical way to multiply the magnifications without buying additional, dedicated eyepieces.  They are also used to retain the comfortable eye-relief of eyepieces of longer focal-lengths.  For example...

This is a 4mm orthoscopic, and with a tiny, uncomfortable eye-lens with which to look through...

But if a 12mm is combined with a 3x barlow, a simulated 4mm is realised, but with the overall eye-comfort of the 12mm...

[Mak the Night]

36 minutes ago, REG78 said:

Actually got motor with it just havnt got rnd to fitn it to my mount

I've got the same scope, it's just as easy to track with the slo mo controls without the drive.

These are some of my older Celestron Plossls plus a 9mm William Optics SWAN (with threaded Barlow element) and an 18mm Astro Hutech orthoscopic.  To the right of the WO SWAN are Celestron 12, 13 & 15mm Plossls. The 12 & 15mm are Omni Plossls although the 13mm and the 17mm and 32mm Celestron Plossls on the bottom row are not really any different to the Omni series. I think they range from around £21 to £34 each depending on focal length size. The 15mm eyepiece on the end of the top row is a wide angle Celestron Kellner, they are about £20-25 to buy I believe. The AH ortho was around £70. At the end of the bottom row is an Omni 2x Barlow.

I use these in my grab'n'go Mak set-up as they are relatively light compared to my other eyepieces. I've used all of the Celestron Plossls and the Kellner in my Explorer 130mm (900mm f/l). I think the Celestron Plossls are excellent value for the money and very usable.

The 32mm gives around 28x magnification in my Explorer (like yours) and is an excellent low power eyepiece for the money. The AH ortho’ has a 43° FOV which is slightly less than a Plossl but it isn’t a problem on an unmotorised scope to use them.

[REG78]

Was actually thinkn about getn GSO Barlow cus th Barlow I got free isn't too good not really tht clear a view