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3.2 mm BST


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I've just been asked what I want for Christmas, I put this eyepiece in my wishlist and shared it. 

I found some feedback on the eyepiece on SGL, from 2015, and it left me wondering if I chose wisely. 

I do not have any high power eyepieces, I usually just Barlow with baader to get higher magnifications on my 200pds (most often I just enjoy clarity and lack of turbulence with lower magnifications), but I always wanted one piece of glass to take scope to the edge of performance. 

I do not want to have a paperweight too, I'd rather have a tie (,I was told to tell which eypiece I want or I'll get a tie :D).

So, was my choice wise, or should I have asked for other item? Price is of importance here, as it's a gift from someone to me. 

 

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I bought the 3.2mm BST earlier this year to use with my ST102. To be honest... I've only really used it a couple of times. It gives me around 150x which is maybe a bit much for the short frac. In hindsight, I probably could have done without it. Especially now that I have a 127 mak that I use for higher magnification. 

Maybe have a wee play about here: http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/ and see if you think it would be useable on objects you tend yo observe. 

I'm happy with the quality of it, it's my first BST and I would buy more. Just feel that, for me personally, a different focal length would maybe have got more use.

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I get x375 on the Moon, but thats all I've used it for, so far.

For high power, especially on my scope, It's rare these days to use a focal ratio that is smaller than the focal ratio of the scope, so there sits my practical  limit, but having the 5mm and 3.2mm available, allows for a little stretch in the scopes capability, weather and conditions being the final consideration / limitation. 

More than anything, the 3.2mm completes the Starguider set, yet I will try every Starguider eyepiece  during a session.
 

Erla, your f/5 scope would work well with a 5mm eyepiece. 2.5mm would push your scope to its theoretical limit, the 3.2mm not quite there, so no bad deal, just try it out, and if its not to your taste, return the 3.2 and get a 5mm or the 8 which was my first and favourite, as it danced all over the supplied SW 10mm, yet my 12mm gets the most use, the images are better with my 12mm but smaller.

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I use my 3.5mm Pentax XW very rarely.  The exit pupil is so small it shows all of the floaters in my eye quite clearly.  I'm still working out what it's best for.  By comparison, I use my 5.2mm Pentax XL all the time on the moon, Saturn, doubles, and globular clusters.

If you don't have something around 5mm, I'd get that first.

1 hour ago, Erla said:

I do not want to have a paperweight too, I'd rather have a tie (,I was told to tell which eyepiece I want or I'll get a tie :D).

BSTs are about $20 cheaper than ties here in the states.  Go figure. :icon_scratch:

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If you want quality than stick with either Televue or LV... those are my clearest high power eye pieces that I have... Mind you tho, the Celestron X-Cel 5mm eyepiece has give some amazing and detailed and sharp views of The moon, Jupiter and Saturn during the clearest nights... Explore Scientific has a very good reputation too according to reviews.

 

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11 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

If you want quality than stick with either Televue or LV... those are my clearest high power eye pieces that I have

Pentax XW are as good as the equivalent Delos from 10mm on down, and their XOs are on par with ZAOs.

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I bought a Celestron Omni 4mm Plossl a few yrs ago. Mechanics of the EP and scopes i used it in aside............

I have used it exactly once. That was on a night of absolute perfect conditions and i only observed the Moon with it. The eye relief and exit pupil were nigh on impossible to get to grips with.

 

Celestron_93316_Omni_4mm_Eyepiece_1_25_285653.jpg

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11 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

If you want quality than stick with either Televue or............

That was also my inclination, and to this day, TeleVue are probably somewhere in the top four if there was a  leaderboard!
However, having tried Delos 6,8 &10 on my scope, they were no better than my Starguiders, except for the field of view and eye-relief, but I'm only using an f/6 scope here. Eyepiece selection can be critical on reflector scopes having a lower numbered ratio than my f/6. Even the TeleVue plössl's in my mind, are no better than my present plössl's, again, very subjective, but that's my choice and freedom of speech.

I believe that the end user should try a brand, any brand, and if it proves successful, stick with it. If that involves testing all and everything until you reach Pentax, TeleVue  or whatever you desire, then so be it, but jumping straight in with premium optics is not the most economical decision, and this buy once buy a TeleVue does not hold for me, as there are other eyepieces out there that work just as well.

As always, any suggestion of this  EP over that EP when it comes to eyepieces will always be subjective, and can lead to tears? No 'one' eyepiece is 'the best' for every situation, scope, individual. You just need to play about, find whats right, take it from there.

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2 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

I bought a Celestron Omni 4mm Plossl a few yrs ago. Mechanics of the EP and scopes i used it in aside............

I have used it exactly once. That was on a night of absolute perfect conditions and i only observed the Moon with it. The eye relief and exit pupil were nigh on impossible to get to grips with.

 

Celestron_93316_Omni_4mm_Eyepiece_1_25_285653.jpg

You're not giving it a good review...

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6 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

You're not giving it a good review...

Thats because i cant. It wasnt my cup of tea. Maybe others would love it. 

I will say this about it though.................

It was far better than the 4mm Celestron Plossl that came in the Celestron Eye Opener kit i bought back in 2008.

I did pay way over the odds for it also. 

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Regarding a 3.2mm BST - I think a lot of it depends on what sort of seeing you get in your location and what you are putting it into.  I've got an 8" Dobsonian 200P F6 1200mm and view in the UK - I've had high mag. EP's that I've tried in it, but if I'm honest it had to be a really exceptional conditions before I got any use out of more than 4mm in my telescope - any more than 1200/4 = 300X magnification and I am struggling - the image quality deteriorates.  If you want an alternative suggestion why not the 8mm BST and a x2 Skywatcher Barlow?

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18 minutes ago, JOC said:

Regarding a 3.2mm BST - I think a lot of it depends on what sort of seeing you get in your location and what you are putting it into.  I've got an 8" Dobsonian 200P F6 1200mm and view in the UK - I've had high mag. EP's that I've tried in it, but if I'm honest it had to be a really exceptional conditions before I got any use out of more than 4mm in my telescope - any more than 1200/4 = 300X magnification and I am struggling - the image quality deteriorates.  If you want an alternative suggestion why not the 8mm BST and a x2 Skywatcher Barlow?

I like this. 

There are many different types/size of scopes and many different types/size of EP. The possible combinations are limitless. What works well in one setup will not work in another. The only way to get the best out of both is to fully understand the mechanics/workings/compatability of each when combined.

Then on top of this, add into the equation the local weather conditions.

Astronomy is a mine field of combinations and external conditions. The easiest part is picking the scope. 

As a rule of thumb, here in this part of the world................

Whatever the diameter of your scope is, multiply that by about 1.5x to get the maximum useful magnification. So, a 200mm (8") scope will happily deliver views of about 250-300X.

 

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18 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

As a rule of thumb, here in this part of the world................

Whatever the diameter of your scope is, multiply that by about 1.5x to get the maximum useful magnification. So, a 200mm (8") scope will happily deliver views of about 250-300X.

Or just stick with the data plate..... 200mm (200x) f/6 ( 6mm EP ) there's your high powered eyepiece.
Why have a data plate if its not referenced? the focal ratio of the scope is not there just for the benefit of photographers, my scopes data plate translates into something like  "stick a 6mm eyepiece in me and Ill give you 200x magnification".

The data plate is a reference, there for a reason, you can't change the details ( well I can if I only use the 2" aperture hole in the dust cap giving me 1200/50=f/24) but  guidelines can be broken or exceeded to some extent, but normally not without some issue(s).
I broke the guide by having the 5mm and 3.2mm, even though they still work, under certain conditions but with limits to the image detail to certain conditions.

Folk won't know until they try for themselves, but an eyepiece that matches the focal ratio of the scope will provide a magnification/power equalling that of the aperture. 

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