Eyepiece advice for a newbie

[Denys]

Hello my friends, I am trying to get started in this wonderful hobby, and have decided to buy the OTA Skywatcher Explorer 150/750 PDS to use with a mount that I already have. As this would be my very first telescope, I am wondering what eyepieces would be good to use with it. I was thinking of buying two eyepieces and a 2x Barlow lens.

I have asked this question to people from Teleskop Service (TS) and received as recommendation: a low magnification eyepiece of 20 mm (TS 20 mm 70º wide angle) and 6 mm eyepiece for medium magnification and close to maximum magnification when combined to with the Barlow (TS 6 mm Planetary HR and as Barlow the TSShorty 2x Apo Barlow ).

So I would like to hear your thoughts on this set of eyepieces both in terms of range for observation and in quality of the products from TS. I am trying to keep this on a budget, and these are indeed in price range I am looking for, but would you recommend something different?

[Mr Flibble]

Hello Denys. Hope you enjoy getting into astro it can be very rewarding and fun.

In terms of magnification I think a 20mm with 70 degrees will work well as a finder eyepiece to locate objects. That gives you a field of view almost identical to what I use to locate objects.

For a second higher power eyepiece it will depend on what your preferences are for viewing and how your own interests develop. I mostly hunt down faint fuzzies and I mostly use a magnification of x90 and x125 for viewing galaxies, star clusters and nebulae. A 6mm eyepiece would give you this.

To view planets this generally requires more magnification again. Plus how stable the atmosphere is will play a large part when viewing planets, the more 'still' the atmosphere the more magnification you can use. The general guidelines is up to about x200 as a ball park figure. I think the 6mm with a barlow will be too much magnification unless you live in a location with great viewing conditions. If you don't, I'd be tempted to go with a 4mm eyepiece instead of the barlow which will give you a mag of x188.

A 20mm, 6mm and 4mm will give you a nice range. Hope this is of some help. Enjoy the hobby and clear skies!!

[Ruud]

Hi Denys. The €49 TS 20 mm 70º is an Erfle. Erfles work better on slow telescopes. Your telescope is f/5, that's  pretty fast. The 20 mm 70° will give you a true field of around 1.85° but the edge is likely to be noticeably less sharp than the centre. 

It's a pity that the 16 mm 82° Nirvana costs €105 at TS. It works well at f/5 and would give you a 1.75° true field with better edge performance. If you're in the UK you can get the Nirvana for less (£69=€76.60 at FLO).

Have you checked what's available on the used market?

 

 

 

 

[Denys]

7 hours ago, Mr Flibble said:

A 20mm, 6mm and 4mm will give you a nice range. Hope this is of some help. Enjoy the hobby and clear skies!!

Yes, it is helpful! I am still trying to learn about all the aspects of OTAs and eyepieces, but the more I read, the more confused I am  , so it is nice to have some direct guidance from someone more experienced! Thanks a lot!

[Denys]

7 hours ago, Ruud said:

Have you checked what's available on the used market?

Hi there. No, I have not, but I sure will.

Regarding the FLO, I am in Belgium, so I wonder if I would have to pay importation fees if I buy something from them. Do you know how this works? I noticed you are in the Netherlands, so I would suspect the process should be similar. (I am actually from South America, so I have no clue how this things work here in Europe)

Thanks!

[Ruud]

Sorry, I haven't yet bought anything from FLO's. That's because I live in the neighbourhood of Robtics.nl. Contact FLO, I'm sure they'll answer any question you might have.