EP guidance

[c4llum83]

Got a SkyWatcher Heritage 130p flextube dobsonian recently as my first more serious beginner scope and after some nice early shots of the recent moon as expected it's been cloudy in the UK since so I've been doing more reading up and of course splashing out the rest of my birthday money on some upgraded glass using lots of advice on here and other forums to guide me. So far it's all mostly been 2nd hand ebay finds and I'm reasonably proud of my collection and cant wait to get out and play more...

5mm TS Planetary HR
6mm Skywatcher Ultra Wide 66°
8mm BST Starguider
10mm Celestron stock
12mm Celestron Omni Plossl
15mm Vixen NPL
20mm Vixen NPL
25mm Orion Sirius Plossl
32mm Meade 4000 Super Plossl
Celestron Ultima SV 2x Barlow
Celestron Variable Polarising Filter & Moon Filter

I am however considering saving up or asking Santa for Baader Classic Orthos for the 10mm & 18mm gaps based on recommendations that they're superb. Or maybe the BCO 10mm and the 18mm BST Starguider.

Thoughts on the EPs so far and what will serve me best in future? Bear in mind i'm more interested at the moment in Lunar and planetary than DSO. Thanks all.

Edited April 18, 2020 by c4llum83

[Louis D]

I have no experience with Orthos below 25mm due to their limited eye relief for eyeglass users having strong astigmatism.  However, the 18mm BST Starguider is rather weak toward the edges.  I suppose it's fine in the center, yielding as much sharp area as a good plossl, but it is not as well corrected across the field as the 8mm BST, so it's best to temper your expectations.  It is better corrected at f/6 than a traditional Konig design as you can see below.

[John]

I'm not sure that you actually have any gaps. Moving from 12mm to 8mm is quite a natural progression as is 20mm to 15mm.

I think you have all the eyepieces you need to make the most of your scope

If you can start to put some £'s aside towards ultimately moving to, say, a 200mm aperture scope, that will make far more difference than investing in more eyepieces I reckon.

 

[BLUEThumb]

Yes i agree with john, think you have a nice selection of eyepices to be getting on with there.

I have a SkyWatcher Heritage 130p  with the standard 2 eyepieces 25m & 10mm, so i just bought a variable moon filter and a 2x barlow.I will be getting a better telescope later down the line,probably a 200mm or 250mm dob ,but after a bit more learning ,although i am considering getting either a 8mm or 5mm starguider in the near future.

Edited April 19, 2020 by BLUEThumb
Spelling mistake

[c4llum83]

Thanks for the advice all, I thinned the herd a little and sold some of the cheaper eyepieces, swapping the 12mm Celestron Omni plossl for a bargain 12mm BST Explorer and then couldn't resist and decided to get the 18mm Baader Classic Ortho as I saw a quick deal on amazon and had a gift voucher so only paid £28 delivered which I think is pretty good considering the rave reviews it gets, especially for sharp lunar views so cant wait to try it. 

Unfortunately as much as I'd love to consider a larger aperture dob or refactor in the future, with limited storage space and a 7yr old running around, the SkyWatcher is the best value and most compact option available to me and I'm unlikely to replace it anytime soon. With that in mind and with limited budget I wanted to have a good range of mid-quality eyepiece power and styles to experiment with over the next few years. 

So the "final" set (for now) is... 

5mm TS Planetary HR
6mm Skywatcher UltraWide 66° "Gold Line"
8mm BST Starguider
12mm BST Explorer
15mm Vixen NPL 
18mm Baader Classic Ortho
20mm Vixen NPL 
25mm Orion Sirius Plossl
32mm Meade 4000 Super Plossl

Also recently completed my custom case to keep them all safe... 😊👍🏻

 

Edited April 24, 2020 by c4llum83