Advice

[Dick Foot]

Hi everyone, 

My name is Richard and I have recently started purchasing some astro equipment.  I have a 250PD f4.7 Skywatcher and an NEQ6 mount so far. I am hoping someone can point me in right direction as to what eyepieces to get, I have a 13mm hyperion with 2 rings and have just ordered a 2" 2x powermate, will I need a Paracorr ?. Any help would be greatly appreciated . I am a complete novice at this and have not used it yet having had it a couple of months now. 

Thanks 

Richard 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Dick Foot
Forgot to mention something

[Peter Drew]

The best advice would seem to be to spend a while using the telescope "as is" after which you'll have a better idea of what you may need.   🙂

Edited November 17, 2020 by Peter Drew
typo

[Pixies]

There's a very useful sticky thread that will help:

 

[Pixies]

How is the hyperion in your fast scope? A friend has an f5 and says the Baaders suffer from a lot of distortion.

[John]

2 minutes ago, Pixies said:

How is the hyperion in your fast scope? A friend has an f5 and says the Baaders suffer from a lot of distortion.

The OP says that he has not used it or the scope yet.

I found that Hyperions (not the zoom) do show quite a bit of outer field astigmatism in faster scopes. 

Some find this more bothersome than others.

 

 

[Dick Foot]

I haven't used it yet, I have been trying to find out what the best eyepieces to get so that I can see a bit of everything (messiers, planets, moon etc), and learning how to polar align etc. From what I am reading TV Naglers seem a good option due to the wide afov needed with an f4.7 scope. Not sure whether I should slowly buy some Naglers as and when I see one secondhand as I am not in a rush, or get something cheaper which I will probably change to Naglers later. 

[John]

There are a number of good ranges of eyepieces around today that will do well in your scope. The Tele Vue ranges are designed to work well in fast scopes but there are less expensive alternatives from brands such as Explore Scientific, APM and others that are also very good.

I would not rush into this. You will quickly spend more than the scope has cost you if you are not careful !

A decent eyepiece range at a more modest cost are these called BST Starguiders:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

While not quite as good as Naglers or with a field of view quite as wide, for their cost they perform well in most scopes

You can get 6 of them for the cost of one Nagler as well !

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by John

[jonathan]

I agree with others, I understand the temptation to buy all of the kit first but really you need to be getting out and using the equipment, then you will find where there are gaps or room for improvement.  Fortunately astronomy kit tends to hold a decent value (especially when there's a shortage, and assuming it's properly looked after) so if you change your mind then you'll be able to recoup some of the cost, but it certainly sounds like you should have enough to get going and enjoy some cracking sights.

Learn to read into your local weather reports (the weather at your precise location might have localised peculiarities) and take opportunities to get out when they arise.  Give the kit eyepiece(s) a go, a Skywatcher 20/25mm is usually worth using as a starter eyepiece for locating targets regardless of what you may buy later.

Edited November 18, 2020 by jonathan