Eyepieces - the very least you need.

[Spiral]

OOps, my reply has gone down a wormhole & ended up on another thread !

[Quillz]

Wow! What a useful and informative piece. Thanks, Warthog!

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[hskygazer]

Thanks for your useful advice.

[Davide Simonetti]

Thank you for that post, I'm going to save it for future reference

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[roverspeed]

Just got my dob end of last week, so this is an excellent guide.

Mine is a 6 inch with 1200mm focal, so f/8.

So I'm looking a 5mm, around 10-12 and 25mm?

Should I get a Barlow?

Many thanks,

Warren

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[Maystar]

Great place for a Newby like me to understand the ins and outs of eyepieces... reading it, I have a good selection already with my scope 

[bomberbaz]

Just got my dob end of last week this is an excellent guide.Mine is a 6 inch with 1200mm focal, so f/8.So I'm looking a 5mm, around 10-12 and 25mm?Should I get a Barlow?Many thanks,WarrenSent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

hello roverspeed. Thimk about what a barlowed ep will give you 2x. I think a 6mm giving 200 mag is where you should draw the line but if u choose your eyepieces carefully then 3 ep, s plus a barlow will give you 6 options. How about a 30, 18 and 12, givig you barlowed 15, 9 and 6.

ld cover everything in 99% of occasions. This isnt an exact science but you can see how this would work for u and your scope.

hth

Steve

[roverspeed]

Thanks baz, sounds like a plan.

I wish there was a local shop on could and get these, I'm so impatient lol.

I'll get the Barlow first and see how it performs with my 10 kit eyepiece.

Thanks again,

Warren.

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[bomberbaz]

Depends what the stock eyepieces are lije warren. Some can be ok, usualy in the 20mm plus sizes, often the smaller ones can leave you wanting.

again it depends on the individual but take a little time getting used to the scope and the stock eyepieces before rushing out and spending money. Ask plenty of questions too, the only daft questions are the ones you dont ask.

[N22]

Great post.

I got a second hand WO 102 doublet f7 came with a prism and one eyepiece a 15mm plossl. I'm on a budget and have been searching for info. on what would be the best eyepieces for me too get.

Your post has made things clearer at what ep's I should be looking.

Thank you

Alan

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[The Warthog]

Great post.

I got a second hand WO 102 doublet f7 came with a prism and one eyepiece a 15mm plossl. I'm on a budget and have been searching for info. on what would be the best eyepieces for me too get.

Your post has made things clearer at what ep's I should be looking.

Thank you

Alan

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Off the top of my head (which is only 70" up) I would say a 5mm, a8 or 9mm, and a 25mm, and keep the 15 as it fills the gap neatly.Get the best quality you can afford, and remember you don't have to buy them all the same day.

[bomberbaz]

Great post. I got a second hand WO 102 doublet f7 came with a prism and one eyepiece a 15mm plossl. I'm on a budget and have been searching for info. on what would be the best eyepieces for me too get.Your post has made things clearer at what ep's I should be looking. Thank you AlanSent from my LT30p using Tapatalk

alternatively get a fairly cheap 20mm and a cheap 2x barlow and see how yhings go. This will give you a reasonable range to start with until you find your feet and decide how u want to go in this hobby without busting the bank.

[bingevader]

alternatively get a fairly cheap 20mm and a cheap 2x barlow and see how yhings go. This will give you a reasonable range to start with until you find your feet and decide how u want to go in this hobby without busting the bank.

Good idea. The focal length is 703mm isn't it? That'd give you 35x, 47x, 70x and 94x (ish) magnification. For the cost of one EP and a barlow. Would be a good starting point and give you an idea of which focal lengths you wanted to explore further. The Vixen plossls get good reviews on here and wouldn't blow the bank.

Cheers

[Staraddict]

Many spotting scope objectives (unless you have very expensive ones) are not that well corrected for extreme magnifications, opting for portability (hence the fast F-ratio) and wide, flat field of view. If you have a barlow handy or can borrow one on a star party, give it a shot.

I bought a cheap 3x Barlow lens for my Skywatcher Heritage 5" - mostly to give it a shot (the 2x Barlow I bought is much more expensive and of better quality). I can't see anything at all if I point at the stars, but I expected this... I tried Jupiter and I saw a strange image! I don't know what it was.... First I had to collapse the tube because the magnification was huge.... And once collapsed that's what I saw (below). I don't know what it is.    It can't be a poor image of Jupiter because it doesn't look like Jupiter and besides the magnification was huge, much higher than it would have been for Jupiter with the eyepiece I was using, that's why I had to collapse the tube. I was using a 25mm eyepiece, so through the 3x Barlow lens it should have been like a 8mm eyepiece (approximately). With a 2x Barlow Jupiter was still relatively small, but I could see it clearly, and with the tube fully extended.

Sorry for the horrible quality. I just kept it out of curiousity, so it has not been edited or anything. Is it maybe just some sort of reflection of the light emanated by Jupiter on the mirror? This only happened while pointing at Jupiter. I also tried on another day and it was the same (but I didn't take any photo). I am just curious for an explanation, thanks!

[bodtwo]

Very informative, thank you.

[Naemeth]

I bought a cheap 3x Barlow lens for my Skywatcher Heritage 5" - mostly to give it a shot (the 2x Barlow I bought is much more expensive and of better quality). I can't see anything at all if I point at the stars, but I expected this... I tried Jupiter and I saw a strange image! I don't know what it was.... First I had to collapse the tube because the magnification was huge.... And once collapsed that's what I saw (below). I don't know what it is.    It can't be a poor image of Jupiter because it doesn't look like Jupiter and besides the magnification was huge, much higher than it would have been for Jupiter with the eyepiece I was using, that's why I had to collapse the tube. I was using a 25mm eyepiece, so through the 3x Barlow lens it should have been like a 8mm eyepiece (approximately). With a 2x Barlow Jupiter was still relatively small, but I could see it clearly, and with the tube fully extended.

Sorry for the horrible quality. I just kept it out of curiousity, so it has not been edited or anything. Is it maybe just some sort of reflection of the light emanated by Jupiter on the mirror? This only happened while pointing at Jupiter. I also tried on another day and it was the same (but I didn't take any photo). I am just curious for an explanation, thanks!

It's way out of focus. By collapsing the flextube you don't have any hope of reaching focus, you need it fully extended when in use at all times .

[bodtwo]

Originally thinking just need good mount and OTA and then i started looking into Eye pieces, i guess you just keep learning.

[bomberbaz]

Staraddict. As already mentioned, fully extend the scope otherwise you wontvget focus. Next ude the largest eyepiece you have, should be either a 25 or 20mm. Now get used to using that and getting a good focus before trying to ramp up the mag, results will follow

[Knockoffnige]

You get what you pay for with eyepieces but, for your scope, the TAL, Skywatcher, Meade or Celestron plossls will work pretty well.

First Light Optics have a good deal on Skywatcher Plossl's at the moment:

Skywatcher - Skywatcher SP Plossl eyepieces

John

Would these be a good option for a skywatcher skyhawk 114 with 1000mm focal length??

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[John]

Would these be a good option for a skywatcher skyhawk 114 with 1000mm focal length??

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Since I posted that the Vixen NPL's have come out which I think are better plossls than the Skywatcher SP's. They are a little more expensive though but nice eyepieces:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

[Knockoffnige]

Since I posted that the Vixen NPL's have come out which I think are better plossls than the Skywatcher SP's. They are a little more expensive though but nice eyepieces:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

Thanks john they look good quality I've got the stock 10mm and 25mm with x2 Barlow, which would be best to add to collection for planetary viewing??

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[lethbridgeryan]

Some great advise on this post guy's. Thanks.

[John]

Thanks john they look good quality I've got the stock 10mm and 25mm with x2 Barlow, which would be best to add to collection for planetary viewing??

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The 6mm and 8mm would be good with your scope.

[PlanetGazer]

Great post The Warthog! It's helping me choosing my first EP purchase. 

[amosmiles]

What a great piece of information. I've been reading for 45 minutes now.  I have a Vixen R130SF (f/5) with two EP's (PL 20 and PL 6) plus a not-good-quality 2x Barlow.

So far I've enjoyed them but now I feel like I need something better, and this guide is what I needed. Thank you very much.