EP's and filters for dob viewing

[Brushman]

Hi everyone, total beginner here... I've purchased a 'Sky-Watcher Skyliner 250PX FlexTube GOTO' which I'll be collecting very soon (excited!) and I'd love to get some input on what EP's/filters to prioritise.
The scope is coming with (1.25"): SP10 & 25mm EPs and as an extra, a maxvision 16mm (thanks to my seller being a top bloke!)

I'm planning on investing in a filter (probably UHC over Oiii - only going for one of the two initially* due to budgetary reasons and UHC seems to be a better all-rounder). I'm in a fairly light-polluted area. 

It was recommended to me to get an 8 or 5mm EP for moon/planetary - is there any reason I should get one of these over a barlow (and using it with my 10mm), which seems to be a more efficient buy? 

For DSO's, is my 25mm sufficient or should I be looking at something closer to 32/34mm?
If the answer to that is 'yes, go get a 32/34mm EP' - is there any reason for choosing a 2" EP over a 1.25"? - I'm purely thinking about budget and only having to buy the UHC filter in the one (potentially 1.25") size.

 

I've done my best to sound like I know what I'm talking about here, but apologies if any of those questions turn out to be daft! 
All advice on this welcome.

[John]

Hi and welcome to the forum !

Great scope choice and I'm sure there will be loads of advice forthcoming.

My tip would be not to be in a massive hurry to buy additional eyepieces, filters etc until perhaps you have tried the scope a few times. There are so many choices of things to enhance the experience that it's easy to jump into some decisions that may well need to be changed later, once your own experiences can have an influence. This can mean some abortive cost

If you go for the "full set" of favouite stuff up front you will need to invest as much as the scope has cost again !

Hope you enjoy the scope !

 

[Size9Hex]

Welcome to the forum. ?

Good advice from John. It’s easy to buy stuff that you don’t end up using.

A 10, 16 and 25mm is a pretty decent starting point in my experience and I’d suggest getting used to what these can do before buying more. I started with a 10 and 25mm in my 250PX. The next gaps I filled were 14 and 6.7mm. From experience, I could picture your 25mm being used a lot for star hopping and for big DSOs, your 16mm being great for DSOs generally (my 14mm lives in my scope almost permanently for this) and your 10mm for when you need a bit more power. These have you well covered, although there is a bit of a gap in your line up for something a bit more powerful.

With a light polluted area, I wouldn’t rush into a very low power like 34mm.

With some eyes-on experience with your kit under the night sky though, you’ll make better decisions about new kit that will suit you and your observing style - a lot of it is personal preference rather than right/wrong.

Hope this helps. Enjoy the new toy!

[Brushman]

Thanks for the welcome and the great advice guys. 

I think I probably am getting carried away and the sensible thing would be to hold out and get some experience under my belt first. Just excited I guess!

I'm still unclear on one of my questions though, if I decided I wanted more power, would there be a difference in quality between my 10mm EP + Barlow Vs a 5mm EP? 

 

[Floater]

Welcome. As above, I strongly suggest you buy nothing more until you’ve had a good few sessions with the kit you have.

But whatever you do, make sure you’re having fun doing it ... ?

EDIT: posts crossed. The 10mm is likely to be the weaker of your two EPs, as far as performance goes and a Barlow will not change that. Honest, best to hang on a bit.

[pregulla]

I would get Celestron 8-24mm zoom or similar and a 2x barlow. That's what I did. It will give your reasonable performance and cover the entire medium to high power range.  Use it for a while, see what settings on the zoom get most use, then you can decide if you are happy enough with it, or you want to replace it with fixed FL eyepieces, or you like the zoom and want to replace it with something better like Baader zoom.

For wide field 2" EPs offer wider maximum field of view than 1.25", other than that there is no advantage to 2". The widest eyepiece in 1.25" will be something like ES 24mm 68 degree or 32mm 52 degree plossl. If you want something wider than you need 2", for example 38mm 70 degree eyepiece will give you the widest views possible in your telescope. 

I woudn't bother with filter at the beginning. They won't give you huge improvement under city skies.

And get yourself observing chair, this will improve your experience better than any eyepiece

 

[SIDO]

Some really good advice so far so I'll be swift and agree with pregulla in that if you must (can't help yourself because its your new scope and scope candy is everywhere) buy something get the zoom, it will fill the gaps as you build your eyepiece collection and open up otherwise unavailable magnification to you. A good Barlow would double that capability ?

        

                  Best of Luck ?

                            Freddie...

 

                            

 

[Astro Imp]

2 hours ago, pregulla said:

And get yourself observing chair, this will improve your experience better than any eyepiece

Exactly, you wouldn't believe what a difference being relaxed and comfortable at the eyepiece makes to your enjoyment.

[Brushman]

Thanks for the advice everyone - some new suggestions here that I hadn't even considered yet. 
I'll hold out on buying anything until I've had a couple of outings with what I have. 

I'll be sensible ...for now! 

[niallk]

Great scope!  I got the manual solid tube 250px as my 1st scope.  It is brilliant: best money I've spent in astronomy.

Great advice given already.  The best accessory for me was a Telrad, but that was on a manual scope.  After a while one recommendation would be the Lacerta dual speed focusser upgrade for SW: remarkably well engineered for €79.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p2625_1-10-micro-transmission-for-retrofitment-of-Crayford-focusers.html

PS I never got on with the 10mm that came with the scope!  I got an 82° afov 13mm EP and loved it, plus a quality barlow.  A few years in I got an O-III, and personally use it more than my UHC filter.