eyepiece for st80

[mark81]

Hi all,

I have a skywatcher startravel 80mm with a 26 and 12.5mm plossl. I really like both of these eyepieces - I have around £50 to spend on something else, maybe a little more and would like some ideas. I have used a 6.3 mm plossl on this scope and realise its pushing it a little too far. Any advice would be great whether its eyepieces or something else... THANKS

[Ricochet]

What sort of objects do you enjoy looking at with the scope? 

[Stu]

Much depends on your skies or how often you get to a dark site.

The ST80 is a nice widefield scope, not reallybgreat at high power stuff, so I would possibly be tempted by a decent low power eyepiece, perhaps an 18mm BST? Would give x22 with 2.7 degree field of view.

The BSTs are nice eyepieces within budget with 60 degree afov so worth considering.

[mark81]

I have dark skies and just want to get the best out of the scope. Will EPs of same size differ between brands?

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, mark81 said:

I have dark skies and just want to get the best out of the scope. Will EPs of same size differ between brands?

As Ricochet asked, are there particular objects you enjoy viewing?

I think I would stick with my original suggestion, or perhaps a slightly higher power such as 15mm or 12mm to give nice views of open clusters and larger nebulae.

Yes, different brands vary a lot in basic spec and quality. The specs to look for are eye relief and apparent field of view. Longer eye relief makes viewing more comfortable (generally, unless it gets too long). If you use glasses the 15mm in probably minimum, 20mm comfortable.

Apparent field of view varies from say 40 degrees to over 100 degrees, and determines how much sky you will see at a given magnification. Given your budget, the BSTs show a nice 60 degree afov and are nice sharp eyepieces but all accounts (I personally have not used one but I’ve read enough good reviews to know people rate them)

[mark81]

thanks for suggestions so far, I enjoy looking at star clusters with this scope so maybe the 18mm bst would be best...

[andrew63]

I have used the ST80 quite often, mainly in the 15x to 50x range. The BST is a reasonable choice, I have used them but not in fast short tube refractors.  There is one for sale here in the classifieds, 18mm as suggested,  it might be a good option to try and see how you like them.

andrew

[Dazzyt66]

I use BSTs with my ST80 and they are great eps for the price. Good luck!

[Ricochet]

3 hours ago, andrew63 said:

I have used the ST80 quite often, mainly in the 15x to 50x range. The BST is a reasonable choice, I have used them but not in fast short tube refractors.  There is one for sale here in the classifieds, 18mm as suggested,  it might be a good option to try and see how you like them.

andrew

The 24mm Maxvision for sale in the linked thread is an absolute steal. If I was looking for an eyepiece to maximise the field of view in a 1.25" only telescope I'd snap it up in an instant.