Skywatcher Heritage 150p widefield low power eyepiece recommendation?

[nitram100]

Hi everyone, just recently picked up a great deal for a 150p heritage dob complete for £70.

The super 25 eyepiece that came with it is ok but I'm hoping to get a low power eyepiece in the 25mm -32mm range with a fgield of view of 68 degrees or above.

Is there anything around the £60 mark ?

Thanks,

Mart

[Stu]

1 hour ago, nitram100 said:

Hi everyone, just recently picked up a great deal for a 150p heritage dob complete for £70.

The super 25 eyepiece that came with it is ok but I'm hoping to get a low power eyepiece in the 25mm -32mm range with a fgield of view of 68 degrees or above.

Is there anything around the £60 mark ?

Thanks,

Mart

Hi Mart,

Due to the field stop limitations of a 1.25” barrel, the afov for a 32mm eyepiece is limited to around 50 or 52 degrees so these designs are largely plossls. At 24mm you can get up to 68 degrees which will give a similar true field of view to the 32mm Plossl but with smaller exit pupil , higher mag and will feel less confined due to the wider afov.

There is a Vixen 30mm NPL Plossl on FLO for £58 which have a good reputation.

I think the 24mm 68 degree eyepieces are significantly above your budget but perhaps someone knows of a better value one, or you could try the used market.

See what else others suggest too.

 

[Mr Spock]

There's the BST Starguider 25mm at £55, which has 60°. That's your only choice at that sort of price unfortunately, though they do have a very good reputation.

Stepping up to 65° comes at a price - the 24mm StellaLyra UFF is £139... But it is excellent quality.

[Zermelo]

There is also this one. The range itself is quite new ( @John did you manage to review these yet?) but the design itself is mature. There's even a reduced one on sale, if you are able to see those.

[Zermelo]

I would further add my support for the NPL 30mm mentioned above.  It is very sharp, and has excellent transparency and colour rendition. I always take it out with me and it gets used a lot. Some people don't like the twist-up eyecups, but they don't bother me.
I've not owned the BST 25mm, but others in that range were my first upgrades and they are very good for the money.
Neither of these gets up to the 68 degrees that you mention, but that expanded edge will cost you £, and if you want it to be sharp in a fast scope, it will be ££ (the Stellalyra UFF mentioned above is excellent).

You might care to look at Louis D's "ruler pictures" here, which give you an idea of edge performance. Scroll down to the 23-28mm section, which includes the BST 25mm, the 24mm UFF, and ohers. Ignore the ones with 2" barrels.

[nitram100]

Great advice guys thank you so much, will have a good think today!

[Stu]

Some good info here in a review from John covering the Baader Classic 32mm vs Vixen 30mm npl.

 

[bosun21]

The 32mm Celestron Omni is a decent lower priced optic. It's also got decent feedback on CN. I use both it and the 40mm doing outreach at a local school. The 32mm is nice and sharp providing 50°.  No additional FOV is gained using the 40mm.

Edited August 7 by bosun21

[Don Pensack]

Note that the Baader 32mm Classic Plössl has a 45° field and has a 24.1mm field stop.

The Vixen 30mm NPL has a 50° field, though its field stop is unknown (should be around 26mm, though).

The 25mm Premium Flat Field (Ursa Major) has a 65° field and a 25.9mm field stop

The 24mm Ultra Flat Field has a 65° field and a 27.6mm field stop, so has a true field 14.5% wider than the 32mm Baader Plössl.

[Louis D]

For a start, I would just pick up one of FLO's 32mm Astro Essentials Plossls.  I had a GSO Super Plossl 32mm (Astro Essentials equivalent) in my ST80 for the April solar eclipse, and everyone at our daytime star party thought the views through it were absolutely fine.  I think I paid $30 new for mine a decade ago.  They're $35 now here in the US.

The more difficult choice is what to get in the 9mm to 12mm range for most of your observing.  There is such a wide range of offerings in that range to choose from.

Edited August 7 by Louis D

[Tiny Clanger]

I had a 25mm BST starguider as a low magnification upgrade (or so I thought ...) for a skywatcher 32mm plossl in my heritage 150, but did not get on with it at all, I found the view through the plossl sharper if you looked anywhere but the centre of the view. The heritage is an f5 'scope, and quite hard on low magnification eyepieces. I replaced it with an Explore Scientific 24mm 68 degree which works well for me in that 'scope (and every other one I've bought since !) Unfortunately it costs 3x what you want to spend

So I'd suggest getting a decent quality 32mm plossl or 30mm Vixen NPL and giving the 25mm BST a miss. Every other focal length of BST is fine in the Heritage 150, I've used them all, the 8mm 12mm and 15mm are the ones I found best, and have kept.

[bosun21]

2 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I had a 25mm BST starguider as a low magnification upgrade (or so I thought ...) for a skywatcher 32mm plossl in my heritage 150, but did not get on with it at all, I found the view through the plossl sharper if you looked anywhere but the centre of the view. The heritage is an f5 'scope, and quite hard on low magnification eyepieces. I replaced it with an Explore Scientific 24mm 68 degree which works well for me in that 'scope (and every other one I've bought since !) Unfortunately it costs 3x what you want to spend

So I'd suggest getting a decent quality 32mm plossl or 30mm Vixen NPL and giving the 25mm BST a miss. Every other focal length of BST is fine in the Heritage 150, I've used them all, the 8mm 12mm and 15mm are the ones I found best, and have kept.

Yes I agree. I have a set of BST Starguiders apart from the 15mm (need to get one) that I use for outreach. The 25mm is the poorest in the bunch and I always just select my 32mm plossl.

[John]

11 hours ago, Zermelo said:

There is also this one. The range itself is quite new ( @John did you manage to review these yet?) 

Unfortunately I've not had enough experience with them under clear skies to draw firm conclusions yet. They seem well made but I guess for the cost we have to be realistic about their correction across the field of view in an F/5 newtonian.

I found the 25mm BST Starguider a bit compromised in faster scopes as well. 

For the OP's budget the Vixen 30mm NPL might be the best bet. You can get them for quite low prices on the used market.

 

[dobbyisbest]

1 hour ago, John said:

For the OP's budget the Vixen 30mm NPL might be the best bet. You can get them for quite low prices on the used market.

Fully agree on the Vixen being the best option given the constraint that was communicated.

I would just add that if OP is considering the used market (and they really should), and although not particularly common, there is always a small chance that they bump into another very good deal… it is not unheard of for a 24mm UFF, Baader Hyperion 24mm or a Tele Vue 32mm Plossl to go for around £60-£80.

In fact, OP, I jist checked whilst typing and there is a Hyperion 24mm listed on Facebook Marketplace at the moment in Tamworth for £100. The maximum I would pay for a used Hyperion is £80, and some sellers are more motivated than others - always worth a shot.

[Pixies]

8 hours ago, dobbyisbest said:

Fully agree on the Vixen being the best option given the constraint that was communicated.

I would just add that if OP is considering the used market (and they really should), and although not particularly common, there is always a small chance that they bump into another very good deal… it is not unheard of for a 24mm UFF, Baader Hyperion 24mm or a Tele Vue 32mm Plossl to go for around £60-£80.

In fact, OP, I jist checked whilst typing and there is a Hyperion 24mm listed on Facebook Marketplace at the moment in Tamworth for £100. The maximum I would pay for a used Hyperion is £80, and some sellers are more motivated than others - always worth a shot.

My understanding is that the Hyperions aren't great in fast scopes, like the F5 Heritage 150p.

I will say that I've never tried one, but that was certainly the advice that was being given a few years back.

Edited August 8 by Pixies

[dobbyisbest]

3 hours ago, Pixies said:

My understanding is that the Hyperions aren't great in fast scopes, like the F5 Heritage 150p.

I will say that I've never tried one, but that was certainly the advice that was being given a few years back.

That’s definitely true. It certainly wouldn’t be my first choice out of the potential options, but if I was hard pressed to just expand by FOV in that short FL scope and limited options, I would consider it. Personally, I like the 24mm UFF much more, and am also lucky enough to own a Panoptic to have been able to compare them, and it is quite a close call. Second choice would be a TV Plossl 32mm. 

At this stage in my observing journey, I can afford to and am experienced enough to make more sophisticated eyepiece choices, but I wouldn’t have complained if I managed to get a Hyperion as my first widefield upgrade for 50%-60% of retail price when I started out with and with a low budget.

In all cases, only if the price is right. I would never again buy a new eyepiece, and that goes for the Vixen as well. The drop in value is just not worth it, and more so when one will be experimenting and switching out eyepieces over a period of time. My jaw dropped last night when I saw what the Celestron 32mm Omniplossl goes for brand new (£80) - not good value for money. But at £30-£40 used, I could definitely have lived with it in my small/cheap scope days.

If the TV 32mm Plossl that ENS Optical currently has wasn’t so scratched on the lens, I would have recommended that.

 

 

 

Edited August 8 by dobbyisbest

[Tiny Clanger]

17 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Yes I agree. I have a set of BST Starguiders apart from the 15mm (need to get one) that I use for outreach. The 25mm is the poorest in the bunch and I always just select my 32mm plossl.

The 15mm BST is very nice indeed, being suitably small and light mine sits in my grab & go 72ED ready for instant deployment in the unlikely event of a cloud gap. I found the 15mm superior to the 18mm BST too, and close enough in focal length that I just didn't use the 18mm much in the 'scopes I use the BSTs with, so I let it go.

Yes, you need to get a 15mm 

[Louis D]

10 hours ago, dobbyisbest said:

My jaw dropped last night when I saw what the Celestron 32mm Omniplossl goes for brand new (£80) - not good value for money.

Certainly not at that price.  They're just another rebranding of a very common Chinese made Plossl.  They are $26 via ebay shipped direct from China and $50 at most US retailers.  I can't imagine they differ very much from the Astro Essentials Plossls to justify their price difference.

[Second Time Around]

A little over your budget but there's a highly regarded Explore Scientific 24mm 68 degree eyepiece just gone up in the For Sale section at only £90 including postage.  At that price I doubt it'll last long.....,.

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Second Time Around said:

A little over your budget but there's a highly regarded Explore Scientific 24mm 68 degree eyepiece just gone up in the For Sale section at only £90 including postage.  At that price I doubt it'll last long.....,.

That, and they have had long lead times to buy new in the recent past.

[Don Pensack]

7 hours ago, Louis D said:

Certainly not at that price.  They're just another rebranding of a very common Chinese made Plossl.  They are $26 via ebay shipped direct from China and $50 at most US retailers.  I can't imagine they differ very much from the Astro Essentials Plossls to justify their price difference.

Celestron Omni Plossls were made by GSO in Taiwan.  Have they gone to China?

[CraigT82]

Another vote for the Vixen NPL 30mm, I use one as a low power EP in my heritage 130p. It’s optically good and importantly (for the heritage scopes) it’s lightweight and the eyecup is circular so doesn’t matter if it turns with the helical focuser, unlike winged eyecups. 

[Tiny Clanger]

This just popped up - more than you want to pay, but ...

 

 

[Louis D]

10 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Celestron Omni Plossls were made by GSO in Taiwan.  Have they gone to China?

Well, Taiwan's official name is "the Republic of China".

I'd swear I've seen China stamped on some of their barrels.  I've definitely seen them with CHINA on the box as in this ebay advert.

You even said in this 2016 CN post that all Celestron eyepieces were made in China.  Much like the Germany mark on APM (or is it Baader?) eyepieces, having the Taiwan mark may not mean much these days.  Does Tele Vue source 0% from mainland China in their eyepieces?

The older Celestron NEXSTAR Plossls definitely appear to have been from Taiwan:

[Don Pensack]

The Celestron in the picture is an earlier Plössl from Taiwan.

The Omni Plössls had a light grey polished finish with white lettering, like this:

https://shorturl.at/oEPKE

They were made by GSO in Taiwan.

They probably have gone to the mainland China (PRC), since the 2X Barlow did several years ago.

If they are labeled China, that is definitely the mainland.  Taiwanese products are never labeled "China", always "Taiwan".

There is a grey area, as GSO has had products manufactured for them on the mainland for years, even though they are a Taiwanese company.

Here is evidence that Omni Plössls are now from the mainland:

https://shorturl.at/TlI2K

Generally, there are no Taiwanese products on AliExpress, and they certainly wouldn't be at that price.

 

APM's eyepieces are from KUO on the mainland.

 

Tele Vue eyepieces come from 1 Japanese company and 1 Taiwan company.  If the Taiwan company sources the rubber eyecups from the mainland, it is a trade secret.

The glass is from Japan in both cases.

 

 

Edited August 9 by Don Pensack