What works well with what?

[bunchy91]

Hi Everyone,

I am very new to this and have just purchased a Skyliner 200p DOB (200 x 1200) to see if a longtime interest could become a serious hobby. I currently live on the outskirts of a large city (london) and will be moving into it soon, but am happy to drive around a bit and find good dark spots.

With this in mind, I have been looking into forums and such, and can immediately tell that there are better eyepieces out there than what I have as stock (10mm and 25mm). However I have seen lots of content reviewing eyepieces and mentioning that they work better with some scopes than others. Could someone either explain why this is (with as few abbreviations as possible) and how to choose an appropriate eyepiece, or point me in the direction of a good article? 

I would also really appreciate some eyepiece suggestions, mainly for looking at planets to begin with I think

Thanks for the help!

[Arran townsend]

This helped me alot,

 

[Ricochet]

38 minutes ago, bunchy91 said:

Could someone either explain why this is (with as few abbreviations as possible) and how to choose an appropriate eyepiece

The main issue will be to do with the focal ratio of the telescope. As the focal ratio gets shorter, the angle of the light cone entering the eyepiece gets larger. which requires more complex designs or more expensive glass to correct. Typically an eyepiece will be designed with a minimum focal ratio in mind. When used with a telescope with a focal ratio below this design limit, the aberrations in the eyepiece will exceed what the designer considers acceptable, with the worst aberrations at the edge of the field of view. This means that cheap/simple designs with a wide field of view will be the worst performers. 

As for knowing which eyepieces are appropriate, the best option is to read reviews by those who have used them and to ask for advice as you are doing now. If you tell us your budget for eyepieces we can give better recommendations. With no idea of a budget I would recommend BST Starguiders at 12mm and shorter, and Explore Scientific 68° eyepieces at longer focal lengths.

[bunchy91]

1 hour ago, Arran townsend said:

This helped me alot,

 

Thanks! very helpful. Watched all 6!

[bunchy91]

23 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

As for knowing which eyepieces are appropriate, the best option is to read reviews by those who have used them and to ask for advice as you are doing now. If you tell us your budget for eyepieces we can give better recommendations. With no idea of a budget I would recommend BST Starguiders at 12mm and shorter, and Explore Scientific 68° eyepieces at longer focal lengths.

 

Great, thanks for the response. So with a focal ratio of 6, I should be ok with midrange options?

Also, I had been looking at the BST's with a budget of under 100 to begin with. thanks for the recommendation. I also noticed you may be close to me in Herts (I'm near St Albans), do you ever use the longer focal lengths in this area, or is the light pollution too bad? I think you have a similar size scope from your display picture. 

Finally, do you have any Barlow recommendations? I have been looking at the Orion Shorty, but it almost seems too cheap if I were to eventually pair it with nicer eyepieces? 

Thanks for all your help!

[Charic]

The BST Starguiders on an f/6 Skyliner work  very well, and is a good upgrade from the stock eyepieces.
There are 'better' eyepieces out there, but until you have tried them, you wont ever know, that said, I have tried a few, and prefer the BST Starguiders.
My most used eyepieces are always the Starguiders, and as it turns out,  the 8mm and the 12mm, get the most use, so maybe try  those for starters.

Check out the Baker Street observers that meet at Regents park, in London. If they can observe, so can you, but away from any  of the manmade bright lights is always best. Its as if I own two scopes, such is the difference when viewing from home or viewing from a darker site.

Enjoy your foray into astronomy and welcome to the SGL.

[Ricochet]

18 hours ago, bunchy91 said:

Great, thanks for the response. So with a focal ratio of 6, I should be ok with midrange options?

Also, I had been looking at the BST's with a budget of under 100 to begin with. thanks for the recommendation. I also noticed you may be close to me in Herts (I'm near St Albans), do you ever use the longer focal lengths in this area, or is the light pollution too bad? I think you have a similar size scope from your display picture. 

Finally, do you have any Barlow recommendations? I have been looking at the Orion Shorty, but it almost seems too cheap if I were to eventually pair it with nicer eyepieces? 

Thanks for all your help!

Yes, I am am quite close by and I use a scope of the same size. The light pollution will vary depending on how built up the area you are in is but assuming that your light levels are similar to mine then I've found that the limit is around the 30mm mark. An 82° eyepiece at this focal length will give you the maximum from a 2" focuser. I use a 28mm Nirvana (= William Optics UWAN), but other recommended options are the 30mm Explore Scientific 82° and the 31mm TeleVue Nagler. Obviously, these will be outside of your budget but making the jump to 2" eyepieces increases the cost as they need larger lenses. If you don't want to go to 2" then a 68° 24mm eyepiece will max out the 1.25" field of view and will have roughly the same background brightness as the 25mm MA you got with the scope. I had a 24mm ES68 which I replaced with a 24mm Meade SWA as I prefer twist up eyecups (they are the same eyepiece internally).

Barlow wise I like the ES focal extenders. The only upgrade from that point is to something like a TV Powermate where you are paying a large premium for marginal gains. The Orion shorty is probably alright but the UK price is similar to what FLO are now calling the "Astro Essentials" barlow, which can be found on ebay direct from China for under £10.