Eyepieces - the very least you need.

[Nigele2]

Would you swap one brilliant night in a year for ten average ones?  Would you be very frustrated on that special night if in your bag you didn't have the ultimate weapon?

Different for us all I guess but the idea of pushing the barriers I can see can be very attractive     

[YKSE]

Would you swap one brilliant night in a year for ten average ones?  Would you be very frustrated on that special night if in your bag you didn't have the ultimate weapon?

Different for us all I guess but the idea of pushing the barriers I can see can be very attractive     

That ultimate weapon can be a £50 ortho, or some EPs cost many times more for a large FOV with VERY little noticeable optical improvement.

[David55]

Would you swap one brilliant night in a year for ten average ones?  Would you be very frustrated on that special night if in your bag you didn't have the ultimate weapon?

Different for us all I guess but the idea of pushing the barriers I can see can be very attractive 

Good thinking. Now I've got a good reason to buy another eyepiece! So what is the ultimate EP under £100?

[Elm0]

I've a 10 mm that come with the scope. I hear notoriously, this particular ep isn't great. However I have used it with a 2x barlow on jupiter with good results. This is essentially 240x magnification. Just a little tricky to keep it on target.

I bought the dob as im interested in dso so they don't require the big mags. Good to have some decent ones for lunar and planets though.

David. Have you upgraded the mount at all. This is my next big investment. Maybe something with goto capability

[David55]

My ETX 80 refractor is a goto scope, but to be honest I've not used that capability for 6 months, it's just too much messing around and I know my way around the sky pretty well without it.

It's true though that even in my wide-ish field 6mm Williams Optics lens on my 200p, Jupiter takes only about 30 seconds to cross the field of view,. I should think that much more magnification would make careful study of the planet pretty difficult, even if the seeing is ok.

Now, perhaps mounting the base of the Dob on a 52 degree wedge and a motorised azimuth would work...

[Nigele2]

I've noticed we seem to be seeing more quality EPs hitting the 2nd hand market.  Is it that time of year?  Perhaps families expecting holidays booked are forcing a few EPs onto the market 

I see a Delos and a Nagler6 offered and I can see me getting tempted sooner or later.  Problem is I know I shouldn't and I'm not sure out of all the Tele Vue which would be good for me??  Let alone all the others like Vixens, Meades 5000, etc.

This year I want to view lots of DSOs with my f5 (127/635) refractor but the more I read the more confused I get.  But I can see me persuading myself that that one is too much of a bargain and there is a corner in the EP case and .....................  As for below £100 I should but it is easy to be convinced I could sell a more expensive one so it is an investment  - never will sell any of them of course    

I bought a secondhand 9mm Meade here for well under £100 a few weeks ago and was very pleased but my best ever was my new Tele Vue 32mm for £107.  Proves you don't have to spend a fortune but .......................

[jpython]

Being new to this site, its like walking into the Library of Congress- WOW, thanks for all the sharing everyone does. A big help to the community!

Phil

[Andy78]

Hi everyone. Im new to telescopesso abit unsure of everything at the moment. Ive got a Skywatcher Skyhawk 114/1000 with the 2 basic EPs that came with it. A 10mm plossl and 25 mm wide angle plossl. Both are good but I would like to upgrade. I think (if ive done the maths right?) That my max EP should be 6MM because my scope works out to be a f/8.77.... Could any help!?!

[Andy78]

Hi everyone. Im new to telescopesso abit unsure of everything at the moment. Ive got a Skywatcher Skyhawk 114/1000 with the 2 basic EPs that came with it. A 10mm plossl and 25 mm wide angle plossl. Both are good but I would like to upgrade. I think (if ive done the maths right?) That my max EP should be 6MM because my scope works out to be a f/8.77.... Could any help!?!

[bomberbaz]

Andy. Hello and welcome to SGL

Lots of things can affect ur ep choice. ( on tablet so xcuz abrviatns) Do u wear glsses? This can be an issue but usually not. What r u intendin viewin? Planets, dso, nebulas, gslaxies?

If its alsorts, I think 4 ep, s will cover the bases. (I know I have more as do most others but for a starter 4 will do the job)

yes I think a 6mm woulf b fine as ur highest ep. The sw uw 6mm at £30 might be a reasonable option on your F8.3 scope, i have not got ond bug for cost it would b a great starter. The 25 that comes with it wil be perfect and imo are half decent as a starter. Then another higher mag ep at 8mm for when the 6mm isnt doing the job with a mid range one at 12 to 14.

x40 for the 25. 83 to 71 for the 12 or 14 and 8/125 or 6/166

hope this makes sense

Seriously you can soon waste a fortune on bits though, so take your time and adk a load more and deliborate b4 you buy,

steve

[Andy78]

Bomberbaz... thanks for the advice and for confirming the 6mm as my high power. I shall now look forward tobuying my first up grade

[Charic]

Bomberbaz... thanks for the advice and for confirming the 6mm as my high power. I shall now look forward tobuying my first up grade

Andy78........Hi, I would prefer to use the f/ratio to decide on your highest eyepiece. You have a short tube Newtonian telescope with a focal length of 1000mm. If you measure the length of the telescope itself, its probably less than 1000mm? Therefore a corrector lens is fitted to the base of the focuser tube, to effectively convert what ever size the actual telescope is to an equivalent 1000mm. They do this trick to make cheaper telescopes and supposedly make them more manoeuvrable. Also if you take your Aperture in mm, that also (rule of thumb?) can equate to a respectful maximum practical magnification. We normally double the aperture to get the theoretical maximum, but weather conditions and the atmosphere in general ruins your chances of ever getting that limit, unless you get into space! These two factors would suggest to me an eyepiece of between 8-10mm. I`m sure that skywatcher does not supply plossl eyepieces either. Their normally modified Kelner eyepieces, which is why people change them? The eye relief on Plossl's diminish as the focal length is reduced, so maybe not comfortable  to use. 

What your needing IMHO is an 8mm 60° AFOV (affective field of view) as your highest magnification. BST Starguiders at £49 fit that description.

Edit. My Celestron 127EQ is of similar design and construction to your telescope. They even supply a 4mm EP with mine. A Total waste od space,  and practically un-usable. The 10mm is not much better (Mod/Kelner) but the scope is marginally better using my 8mm. Sadly, that scope only got used for about 10 days, But also good news for me, I saw the light, through a better telescope?

Edited February 23, 2014 by Charic

[Andy78]

Thanks for the advice. I shall measure my tube and have a think. Ive been looking at the BST range on ebay and theres an EP at 6mm ultra wid angle multi coated that offers a 66 degree FOV. At the moment its alot to take in as im already looking for my next scope but I want to buy good EPs now so I dont have to change them again later. Its all good fun though

[Charic]

All good fun yes, but can be expensive? I've  bought stuff over the last  four Months and have already moved them on via ebay. But I`m very happy with what I've got at present. Everything is a personal choice, only suited to you. We can advise all day long on our own experiences, but maybe their not right for you. Eventually, you'll get to a point of knowing what's right and what's not.

[Andy78]

Ive just measurd my tube and its 450mm long and their is a lense in the bottom of the focuser aswell. Theres alot to learn and like you say... trail and error seems to be the way forward

[Andy78]

Ive just measurd my tube and its 450mm long and their is a lense in the bottom of the focuser aswell. Theres alot to learn and like you say... trail and error seems to be the way forward

[Charic]

Ok.......like I said, their made for the masses. They still work though. One of the biggest problems is folk want to buy a laser to set these things up...........DON'T........ as the laser beam is diffused too much through the corrector lens, so its not practicable to use a laser to configure the secondary mirror, but is good for aligning the  the main mirror during the latter part of collimating a telescope (aligning the mirrors) But a Laser is not needed. I also noted how small Jupiter was the first time I looked. That's all to do with the aperture, it controls your sharpness and brightness. Always get as big an aperture that you can afford, especially if your just wanting to observe. 

Buying good lenses now is worthwhile, as they can be used in other telescopes of the future, however, don't always expect them to drastically improve what you have already. Everything has its limits, and often, everything needs an upgrade to improve.

The BST Starguiders are great. Speak with Alan at Sky's the limit. You can get a couple of lenses( paid for at £49 each)  You can trial them. so for example of you bought the 5mm and 8mm BST and thought, the 5mm is over powering my telescope, you can return the 5mm for a full refund. 

[Andy78]

I will check out skys the limit and will probably put my lazer collimator back on ebay lol. Ive been looking at the BST range and on here that alot of people prefer them to TMB. I will figure it out eventually

[bomberbaz]

Yeah sorry andy I was generalising when I threw in my own thoughts. I am not familiar with your model tbh so appologies, should have read your question better.

However it might be worth trying out someone elses ep's from a astronomy club or maybe you know someone who lives local. That way you can make a better and more informed choice.

Steve

[Si Rollett]

Yes it was thank you all sorry its taken a while to say so

[Doyley]

Thanks Warthog, very helpfulI. I have just been given a Nexstar 127 for my birthday (lucky boy) and was looking at potentially upgrading the eyepieces, once i had got my head around using it. .

[MalcolmC]

Very useful. I've been pondering about getting new eyepieces so will take your advice on board. Too true about trying to this on a budget.

[dbee]

This is why I signed up, brilliant post and very helpful.  Thank's warthog.

[johnd]

Yes, very interesting and as a newbie I can concur as other newbies have that I follow things and then get lost in some of the details.

Question I have a 25mm and a 12mm and then a 2.25 Barlow so my max mag on my 1500 FL is 287x i.e. 1500 / (12mm / 2.25 = 5.33mm). So I've comfortably used this to view the moon (WOW looking into craters) with the only problem being that it does move fast(ish) and I have to correct my Dob a lot but still ok to view. But what would people say is the max I could get down to as others must have viewed with more Mag?  e.g.  8mm with the 2.25 barlow  or ....?

[mrjaffa]

Hey guys, great post. But I haven't been through all the pages.

I have the Skywatcher 200p (just bought), and didn't even think about the EPs that would come with it and whether I'd need to upgrade. I have a 10mm, 25mm and x2 Barlow. In the first post, Warthog says about the branding on the EP and to determine who made them. Well I don't see any marks on mine. Should I assume they need upgrading?

Can I also ask here what peoples thoughts are on diagonals to correct the image? Would like to get one but they range from £30 to well over £150.

Thanks.