Eyepiece choice for 16 inch dobsonian

[paul acreman]

Hi,

I am a novice but highly interested observer and finally a telescope owner looking for some good advice from your community.

I try to do my home work and after reading your excellent forums for weeks I made a decision and bought my GSO 16inch truss Dobsonian.Apperature 406,focal length 1829 and a/f4.5.

I have a budget of around £100.00 each to buy two or three eyepieces that will enable me to search the sky with as much potential as possible with the eyepieces I can afford at the moment.Purely observation not astrophotography.

I know this is subjective and down to so many variables but the eyepieces I seem to read that are good value for their abilities are Nirvana,ES & Baader?

I would like to view wide angle but i have read the problems associated with going too wide on the field of vision I have with this scope.

I am just out to learn anything to help and relying on your experience and advice on this to help me in my new hobby.

thank you so much in advance.

  

[bingevader]

Wow! That's a very large 'scope.

It's also quite fast at f4.5.

I think you would need to spend a bit if you want decent results with wide field EPs.

The 68° and 82° ES EPs are definitely over £100 each.

The Baader Morpheus (you wouldn't want the Hyperions in your 'scope) too.

I have two of the Nirvanas which I think are great, but I don't know how they'd fare at f4.5.

For (just over) your £100, there are the Vixen SLV EPs which get very decent reviews and seem to do well in faster 'scopes.

Failing that, you can pick up decent plossls that would work very well, but with a narrower field of view.

[John]

If you go for ultra (82 degrees) or hyper (100 degrees) wide eyepieces you may well need a coma corrector to get the most out of them with an F/4.5 scope.

The Baader Morpheus won't be perfect right to the edge but might be a good compromise choice.

Other accessories that you might find useful would include a Telrad or Rigel illuminated reticule finder to compliment the optical finder and a light shrouds to keep stray light (and dust) out of the optical path.

Collimation tools are going to be important as well.

 

 

[Jonk]

21 minutes ago, bingevader said:

you wouldn't want the Hyperions in your 'scope

Why do you say that? I have a couple of hyperions and they are good in my 16” dob?

[John]

Hyperions show quite a lot of astigmatism in scopes faster than around F/7.

 

[bingevader]

21 minutes ago, Jonk said:

Why do you say that? I have a couple of hyperions and they are good in my 16” dob?

What John said.

But if they work for you, then of course that's great!

Edited June 23, 2020 by bingevader

[paul acreman]

I knew you wouldn't let me down.The last thing I wanted to do was make an expensive mistake on the wrong ep's.

Thank you everyone.

[John]

Is this your first scope ?

 

[Timebandit]

1 hour ago, paul acreman said:

Hi,

I am a novice but highly interested observer and finally a telescope owner looking for some good advice from your community.

I try to do my home work and after reading your excellent forums for weeks I made a decision and bought my GSO 16inch truss Dobsonian.Apperature 406,focal length 1829 and a/f4.5.

I have a budget of around £100.00 each to buy two or three eyepieces 

  

 

 

If this is your first scope, then you have not just dipped your toe in have you, and gone large 😀

For fainter DSO then aperture is where it is at , together with Dark Sky's.

I would up my budget a bit, and look out for some second hand Pentax XW in the 3.5XW to the 10XW range. And some second hand Televue( possibly Naglers) , to which I understand are test down to around F/4 so fine for faster scopes .A good set of eyepiece's will last you a life time and are transferable from scope to scope ,so well Worth the sensible investment

 

 

 

[paul acreman]

Yes it is my first and my lifetime scope.That’s why I am asking your much appreciated and valuable advice.I am more than happy to save and buy the correct eyepieces to match the f4.5.Money is a big issue but more so when you make a mistake in buying the wrong parts.I am an engineer so I understand a few topics about The mechanics of our hobby.I have collimated my scope with a borrowed laser which itself needs collimating! 
I have ordered the British manufactured anodised Cheshire collamater from FLO and I look forward to using it.I have only had the scope for a few days and pointing at Polaris out my conservatory doors with the eyepieces that came with the scope.A 30mm wide angle and a 9mm super plossl.I will keep looking on the for sale now I have your inputs about what eyepieces to consider.As it looks like I am going to go over my initial budget to get the right ep’s can you suggest 3 suitable sizes for now and fill in any gaps as and when I have the funds

thanks again

 

[mdstuart]

The skies are not getting properly dark at the moment but it will not be long before the dark autumnal skies return.

Just wait until you see the Orion nebula in the winter!

I would get a few good eyepieces. You will get good advice from John. He has looked through so many over the years!

Mark

[John]

I can list the focal lengths that I find the most useful with my 12 inch F/5.3 dob - focal length 1600mm:

- 21mm

- 13mm

- 8mm

- 6mm

- 5mm

With the longer focal length of your scope you could probably do without the 5mm.

Just have to decide what the best ones that you can afford are now

[paul acreman]

Thanks Everyone,

looking like the Pentax Xw first choice or Baader Morpheus .I guess you have to be lucky to find them second hand as most are keepers.Any suggestions where to look apart from here or Astrobuyandsell ?

[John]

SGL and UK Astro Buy & Sell are the two best places to look for used astro equipment I think.

The Tele Vue Delos are excellent as well but do cost a fair bit more than the Pentax XW's or Baader Morpheus.

The main thing when they do come up for sale is to be quick off the mark. They tend to get snapped up quickly if the price is reasonable.

 

[paul acreman]

Thank you John and all the replies.Really helpful and I am going to spend wisely and hopefully over time build a quality eyepiece set.

[bomberbaz]

Wow a 16" truss for your first scope, nothing like starting at the top.

I would agree with John that if this is your forever scope then buying the right glass now is the way to go.

FWIW I use a relatively low costing coma corrector from revelation with my eyepieces which are well corrected in the first place to be fair. Anyway, coma is not something I ever have to contend with. 

Steve

[Guest]

On 23/06/2020 at 21:29, John said:

SGL and UK Astro Buy & Sell are the two best places to look for used astro equipment I think.

The Tele Vue Delos are excellent as well but do cost a fair bit more than the Pentax XW's or Baader Morpheus.

The main thing when they do come up for sale is to be quick off the mark. They tend to get snapped up quickly if the price is reasonable.

 

Would some of the shorter focal length BST StarGuider EP's work with this set-up? 🤔

[paul acreman]

Thanks Steve,

Yes  the advice and help from everyone has been marvellous and I am taking onboard everything.

Two local astronomers have taken me under their wings and I have had one of several, I hope ,viewing nights with them already.

I have definitely decided I am going to use Televue Delos’s

I have put wanted adds out on here and astrobuyandsell hoping for replies and if I can’t find two or three good second hand ones I guess I will have to buy new as and when I can afford it.

I am going to try them without a coma corrector.If it becomes a problem on viewing the edges(I doubt I will notice,I am such a novice)a member on here has a good paracorr for sale.

So any Delos guys out there?Want to donate a 6,10 and 14/17.3 I am waiting😊A nice 27-35 panoptic would be nice at a later date as I have a couple of eyepieces to get me started which came with the new scope.

regards Paul

[Captain Scarlet]

I have a bagful of Delos’ and I have to say up front I’m KEEPING them 😉. They work really well for me. The reason I’m posting is to suggest you might also consider TV DeLites, I also have a couple of those, see my sig, and I think the DeLite 18.2 is my favourite eyepiece in my whole collection. Certainly when tested against the Delos 17.3 they always end up level. Both ranges have 20mm eye relief.

Can I also ask, where are you based? How are your skies?
 

Cheers, Magnus

[paul acreman]

Hi Magnus,

I will read up on the Delites.

I live in Leigh on sea in Essex.

Because I am new to the hobby,I have been over to a place close by,Great Wakering with a couple of experienced astronomers who have taken me under their wings.

It has fairly low light pollution out there,surrounded by a high bank.

They might as well be talking in quantum physics for all I know,but trying to pick up the basics.But we have to all start somewhere,I believe if you don't know ask.

One of the guys has a similar 16inch dobsonian so his choice on eyepieces is helping me.

I am hoping to take mine over there next time which will be a relief to my wife.

She could not believe it when it was assembled in the conservatory,and thought I was bringing home one the size of Captain Birdseye!

cheers

Paul

 

 

[Jiggy 67]

As a stopgap whilst you save up, you could consider a second hand Baader 8-24 zoom, Mark 111 or 1V (there is no difference in optics, only weight). They are based on the Hyperion but I use one in my f5 and have not noticed any abberations. You can cover a large number of focal lengths for little outlay

[HollyHound]

11 hours ago, Captain Magenta said:

The reason I’m posting is to suggest you might also consider TV DeLites, I also have a couple of those, see my sig, and I think the DeLite 18.2 is my favourite eyepiece in my whole collection.

I recently picked up the 18.2 and 13 DeLite from the SGL for sale section, and agree that they are superb eyepieces. I’m not using them in anything close to that size/type of scope, but when I did som research before buying, I did see the DeLites being compared to Delos, but smaller/lighter and with 10 degrees less FoV.

I am looking now to extend my set of DeLite eyepieces, as I like then so much.

For your Dob though perhaps Delos are indeed the sweet spot 🤔

[HollyHound]

2 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

As a stopgap whilst you save up, you could consider a second hand Baader 8-24 zoom, Mark 111 or 1V (there is no difference in optics, only weight). They are based on the Hyperion but I use one in my f5 and have not noticed any abberations. You can cover a large number of focal lengths for little outlay

+1 for this. Very useful zoom eyepiece, which I keep in my grab and go C5. Not very wide view at 24mm, but I found it a great way to learn about different magnifications on varying objects. Fits both 2” and 1.25” and is just so very convenient 👍

[paul acreman]

You are all so helpful and full of great tips

thank you

[JOC]

That's one bold choice as a first scope - hope it's everything you hope it will be. 

FWIW:

On 23/06/2020 at 21:20, paul acreman said:

looking like the Pentax Xw first choice or Baader Morpheus .I guess you have to be lucky to find them second hand as most are keepers.Any suggestions where to look apart from here or Astrobuyandsell ?

The Pentax come up from time to time second-hand - that's where I got my one and only, but the Baader Morpheus I can tell you that I kept an eye on SGL classifieds and in about 18mths or so I had amassed the complete collection of these in nearly new condition, so it depends what time you have to spend on things.  Maybe get a decent long and shorter length EP now and then bide your time and see what comes up second-hand?

Edited June 29, 2020 by JOC