First new eyepiece for SW Heritage 130p

[cleverHexagon]

Hi all,

I'm a proud owner of the Heritage 130p Dobsonian which comes with the SW Super 20 and SW Super 10 EPs.
I'm quite happy with the 20mm ep but the 10mm one is crappy and I'm looking for new eyepiece(s) to upgrade. 

My budget is around 60EUR (70USD).

The target is to be able to zoom a bit on Jupite and Saturn and hopefully get a little bit better few for some of the fainter Messier objects.

So far I have sifted through almost all comments here and I'm considering the following options:
1) SW UWA 6mm 66deg Gold line which I found quite cheaply (25EUR) and the MEADE #126 2X SHORT-FOCUS BARLOW LENS (40EUR)
2) The MEADE Super Plossl 4000 6.4mm (40EUR)
3) The TS HR planetary 6mm (65EUR).

I'm definitely a fan of the SW UWA 6mm because of the large FOV and the price which would enable me to buy the Barlow.

Are these EPs suitable for the Heritage 130p? And do you think getting this particular Barlow would be OK (I know most of you don't recommend getting a cheaper one, but I definetly won't spend 200$ for a lens for a 150$ telescope )?

Note: I've used this, hopefully handy, application for comparing the end result : http://www.12dstring.me.uk/foveyepiece.php?aperture=130&flength=650&barlow=2&efl=20&afov=52&day=9&month=3&year=2016

Thank you in advance and clear skies to all!

[Pondus]

The least I can do is to bump this post up a bit...

 

My first scope is the same as Yours and I really like it alot.

If I were to have only one extra eyepiece, in addition to the supplied ones, meant for planetary and lunar view and EUR60  Budget (and no secondhand marked),

I would have been torn between these 2 : (round £46 each)

8mm BST Explorer  : Would give you 81x, good enough to pick up details on Jupiter and Saturn. You would also frame the Whole moon With this 60 degree fov eyepiece.

This eyepiece would give you at least 2 mins observingtime before having to nudge the Scope (Close to 3 minutes edge to edge I think)

5mm BST Explorer : Would give you 130x : There will be Nights when this is a bit to much for Jupiter (poor seeing), but where I live 130x Works fine except for the most rubbish Nights. The moon will be quite spectacular at 'only' 130x. This eyepiece would give you maybe 90 secs observingtime before the lil nudge.

The reason I would have gone for either of these 2 is purely based on recommendations and reviews here at SGL and pretty much elsewere too.

I have never tested any of these eyepieces myself. If I were to choose one of them, I would have taken a slight risk and go for the 5mm....

Finally : Most faint dso`s are observed With low Powers, this eyepiece would be for planetary/lunar observations.

[happy-kat]

With my exact same scope my most used eyepiece is 16mm. I have a quality 6mm but it is often too much for the seeing conditions though it is usually alright on the Moon, it's Jupiter where I revert to my 16mm.

[Pondus]

16 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

With my exact same scope my most used eyepiece is 16mm. I have a quality 6mm but it is often too much for the seeing conditions though it is usually alright on the Moon, it's Jupiter where I revert to my 16mm.

Youre right, maybe 5mm is a bit to risky if only one eyepiece were to be chosen. But I honestly cant recall having to go lower than 8mm, 81x on Jupiter due to poor seing.

Edit : unless Jupiter wont play ball no matter Powers that is...

[happy-kat]

I have never tried an 8mm, just 16mm to 6mm is often too much I find.

For really close viewing on the Moon I find my cheap webcam comes up trumps.

[Pondus]

Might aswell throw in the Seben 8-24mm zoom into consideration too.

Decent reviews compared to the price (ebay). Dont know the fov.

So Cleverhexagon :

couple of  suggestions for you  (no idea of how the seeing generally is at Your Place)

- BST Explorer 5, 8 or even 12mm at £46,- each, or maybe a Seben 8-24mm zoom bought from ebay...

[John]

The Seben 8-24 zoom (and the Skywatcher and Celestron versions too) seemed to have an apparent field of view varying between 38 degrees at 24mm to around 55 degrees at 8mm judging by the one that I recently owned. It was a decent performer for it's price but I think the fixed focal length BST Explorer / Starguiders are better.

 

[cleverHexagon]

 

On 3/10/2016 at 18:37, Pondus said:

couple of  suggestions for you  (no idea of how the seeing generally is at Your Place)

- BST Explorer 5, 8 or even 12mm at £46,- each, or maybe a Seben 8-24mm zoom bought from ebay...

Thanks, for the suggestions. The BST Explorers all look nice. And after a bit of consideration I'll probably go with a 12mm or 15mm BST.

On 3/10/2016 at 17:25, happy-kat said:

With my exact same scope my most used eyepiece is 16mm. I have a quality 6mm but it is often too much for the seeing conditions though it is usually alright on the Moon, it's Jupiter where I revert to my 16mm.

What 16mm EP are you using?

[happy-kat]

It is a maxvision 16mm 68 degrees of view, probably only available second hand now.

I like the amount of magnification, enough but not too much so great to home in a bit but not swallow the field of view.

[Pondus]

3 hours ago, cleverHexagon said:

 

Thanks, for the suggestions. The BST Explorers all look nice. And after a bit of consideration I'll probably go with a 12mm or 15mm BST.

 

Ok, but for a planetary/lunar eyepiece I would recommend at least 60x or 80x (In Your case 8-10mm)  to really start picking up details on Jupiter. Just remember jupiter will still be pretty small.

Good Luck With Your Choice.

[cleverHexagon]

8 hours ago, Pondus said:

Just remember jupiter will still be pretty small.

That's why I decided not dive too much into planetary and get something that will bring me the DSOs a little bit closer, but with a larger FOV.
I'm looking at the Celestron X-CEL LX EPs, but they seem to heavy for the plastic mount of the Heritage. Have any one of you tried EPs of 400+gr on the Heritage ?

[happy-kat]

I have used something weighing 500 grams my dslr, not ideal but an eyepiece of around 300 I would think are ok, I personally would not choose eyepieces as heavy as you mention.

I'll weigh my eye pieces later and report back.

[Pondus]

I always use baader zoom (plus a barlow). Combined they are maybe 400 gram. The Heritage (and me) handles it well.

Only thing I have to do, is to keep the tube ~1cm from fully flexed (to achieve focus).

 

Edit : I think I would recommend you not to buy anything yet. Enjoy the Scope With the provided eyepieces.

The low Power eyepiece should not be that bad. Given time you will find out what you want

[cleverHexagon]

1 hour ago, Pondus said:

Edit : I think I would recommend you not to buy anything yet. Enjoy the Scope With the provided eyepieces.

Yes, I'm not in a hurry of buying anything just yet. My process of buying anything is a long and tedious one. I like to research all my possibilities which takes time.

Thank you all for the advice. It's safe to say that you have helped me with my future choice of EPs at least for the frist few ones.

Thanks to all and to all a good night!

[Alan64]

7 hours ago, cleverHexagon said:

Yes, I'm not in a hurry of buying anything just yet. My process of buying anything is a long and tedious one. I like to research all my possibilities which takes time.

Thank you all for the advice. It's safe to say that you have helped me with my future choice of EPs at least for the frist few ones.

Thanks to all and to all a good night!

The 8mm and 12mm are reportedly the best of the BST "Explorer" line.  The line is also branded by Teleskop Service in Germany, and Agena Astro and Astronomics in the U.S.  I would avoid the 5mm.

This one is worthwhile, but avoid the 6mm... http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p616_TS-Ultra-Wide-Angle-9-mm---1-25--Okular---66----bessere-Verguetung.html

This is a fine barlow for the price... http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p53_TS-Optics-TSB21-1-5x-and-2x-achromatic-Barlow-Lens---1-25-inch---fully-multicoated.html

These are examples of better-quality barlows without having to resort to those of Tele Vue...

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p5503_Baader-1-25--Q-Turret-Barlow-Lens---1-3x-and-2-25x---HT-multicoated.html

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3002_Antares-Barlow-2x---1-25----with-twist-lock.html