Eyepieces - the very least you need.

[Stardaze]

On 11/02/2019 at 17:10, Ricochet said:

I bought the 8" and soon added 8 and 12mm Starguiders. The 12mm was a nice DSO eyepiece, and probably my most used eyepiece while I had it. Unfortunately, they immediately showed up the supplied the supplied eyepiece and so that was also replaced quite quickly.

Out of interest, what’s your current EP setup for your bresser dob?

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, Stardaze said:

Out of interest, what’s your current EP setup for your bresser dob?

28mm Nirvana, 14mm and 10mm XWs and a 2x TeleXtender for DSOs. For Lunar/Planetary binoviewers are the way to go and simpler, smaller eyepieces are easier to use. 

[Stardaze]

17 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

28mm Nirvana, 14mm and 10mm XWs and a 2x TeleXtender for DSOs. For Lunar/Planetary binoviewers are the way to go and simpler, smaller eyepieces are easier to use. 

A couple of ortho’s in a Binoviewer? Assume you Barlow the 10 and 14 though? I’m on the fence with a better Barlow. Thinking I probably won’t need one. Have a cheapy Celestron though.

[Ricochet]

55 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

A couple of ortho’s in a Binoviewer? Assume you Barlow the 10 and 14 though? I’m on the fence with a better Barlow. Thinking I probably won’t need one. Have a cheapy Celestron though.

Yes, the TeleXtender does the same job as a regular barlow. If the cheap barlow is the same as the one FLO sells under their astro essentials brand then it is actually pretty good optically. 

Orthos are good choices with a binoviewer. 

[Stardaze]

9 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

Yes, the TeleXtender does the same job as a regular barlow. If the cheap barlow is the same as the one FLO sells under their astro essentials brand then it is actually pretty good optically. 

Orthos are good choices with a binoviewer. 

I bought this Barlow to use the thread to attach my camera to my old scope so it’s nothing special. https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/celestron-universal-t-adaptor-barlow-1.25.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_ez2BRCyARIsAJfg-kt9kmvzHKVnn6mk3_tGB9NJMbb8nbGT-JNil20MdCQ-5Y-YhfGPapYaAuBwEALw_wcB

[Ricochet]

5 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

I bought this Barlow to use the thread to attach my camera to my old scope so it’s nothing special. https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/celestron-universal-t-adaptor-barlow-1.25.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_ez2BRCyARIsAJfg-kt9kmvzHKVnn6mk3_tGB9NJMbb8nbGT-JNil20MdCQ-5Y-YhfGPapYaAuBwEALw_wcB

Yeah, that's the barlow I was talking about. Optically it is good. The only real downside of it is that it only has a simple screw to hold the eyepiece in place. 

[Stardaze]

1 minute ago, Ricochet said:

Yeah, that's the barlow I was talking about. Optically it is good. The only real downside of it is that it only has a simple screw to hold the eyepiece in place. 

I think if I were going to get a better one, I’d probably get the ES 2x extender, but not sure I really need it. It’s way down the list atm 🤔

[russ]

9 hours ago, Stardaze said:

I think if I were going to get a better one, I’d probably get the ES 2x extender, but not sure I really need it. It’s way down the list atm 🤔

I definitely recommend the ES as an upgrade over the Skywatcher. I only recently got the ES myself and so far dead impressed. Maintains the image quality of the original eyepiece, needs less adjustment on the focuser and the build is excellent. 

[Stardaze]

2 hours ago, russ said:

I definitely recommend the ES as an upgrade over the Skywatcher. I only recently got the ES myself and so far dead impressed. Maintains the image quality of the original eyepiece, needs less adjustment on the focuser and the build is excellent. 

I’ll probably end up with one as the 1.25” one isn’t too costly. Might be worth a punt over a 4mm EP? 

 

[russ]

1 hour ago, Stardaze said:

I’ll probably end up with one as the 1.25” one isn’t too costly. Might be worth a punt over a 4mm EP? 

 

I prefer to Barlow my 12mm rather than use the 6mm Plossl. Keep the viewing comfort of the 12mm BST. 

[Stardaze]

14 minutes ago, russ said:

I prefer to Barlow my 12mm rather than use the 6mm Plossl. Keep the viewing comfort of the 12mm BST. 

I have a 6.8 which gives me 187x but the 8.8 barlowed would give me 288x and the 11 230x which might be worthwhile for planetary giving me a fair bit of variation.

[JMarkJ]

hi, interesting read. thanks for the Sticky. For my Sky-Watcher StarQuest-102R f/4.9 which after doing the calculation suggest it might hard as its a fast scope and "Looking through a Plossl at this length is a miserable experience". If this is the case the suggestion is to buy an eyepiece with a length equal to 1½ times your focal ratio, and buy a 2x Barlow lens.

 

Am i right in thinking then that it would be good to get a 2x Barlow, 8, 18, and 25mm. would that be correct? i was looking at the BST starGuider range. 

 

thanks

[Ricochet]

On 15/06/2020 at 10:35, JMarkJ said:

Am i right in thinking then that it would be good to get a 2x Barlow, 8, 18, and 25mm. would that be correct? i was looking at the BST starGuider range. 

You have chosen the correct focal lengths as suggested by the original post. However, if you are looking at Starguiders instead of Plossls you don't need the barlow to avoid low eye relief. 5/8/12 Starguiders would all work well. You can add the 25mm for your widest field but it will be astigmatic at the edges in an f5 scope. However, I don't know that there is a better alternative at the same price point. 

[JMarkJ]

On 16/06/2020 at 22:03, Ricochet said:

You have chosen the correct focal lengths as suggested by the original post. However, if you are looking at Starguiders instead of Plossls you don't need the barlow to avoid low eye relief. 5/8/12 Starguiders would all work well. You can add the 25mm for your widest field but it will be astigmatic at the edges in an f5 scope. However, I don't know that there is a better alternative at the same price point. 

thanks, i got my first glimpse of saturn with the new scope early this morning, was great but very tiny. hopefully the new EPs will draw it in  little bit better.

[Andrew TS]

Thank you for this post The Warthog.

It helped me decide which eyepieces to buy; I went for the Baader Hyperion 8, 13, 17 and 24mm for my 200mm F5 Skywatcher Reflector scope.

So far the views have been great, except I found the secondary was loose,  but that's a different post in a different forum   

[The Warthog]

HI. I just dropped in to this topic as I may need my own advice after nearly 10 years away from the hobby.  My health and energy levels have not been stellar,  especially after the MI in 20112 that left me with a quad bypass and combined with 54 years of T1 diabetes, arthritis an circulatory problems, as well as being old. I'm 71 now and temporarily unable to drive. Bummer! Anyway, I've hunted up my collection of eyepieces and find the ones I have still fit the bill. I tried to  look up Jupiter and Saturn a couple of nights ago, but was successful only with my 32mm ep, and with a focal length of 1000mm didn't give me much of a view. My higher mag eps wouldn't focus, but in the daylight I corrcted a sim[le problem and am ready to try again.  Saturn and Jupiter have not been this close together for about 20 years, so it's a great opportunity, and in summer too, so I don't have to freeze my, er, toes off seeing them.  Clear skies, everyone!

[Pixies]

On 20/08/2020 at 21:01, The Warthog said:

HI. I just dropped in to this topic as I may need my own advice after nearly 10 years away from the hobby.  My health and energy levels have not been stellar,  especially after the MI in 20112 that left me with a quad bypass and combined with 54 years of T1 diabetes, arthritis an circulatory problems, as well as being old. I'm 71 now and temporarily unable to drive. Bummer! Anyway, I've hunted up my collection of eyepieces and find the ones I have still fit the bill. I tried to  look up Jupiter and Saturn a couple of nights ago, but was successful only with my 32mm ep, and with a focal length of 1000mm didn't give me much of a view. My higher mag eps wouldn't focus, but in the daylight I corrcted a sim[le problem and am ready to try again.  Saturn and Jupiter have not been this close together for about 20 years, so it's a great opportunity, and in summer too, so I don't have to freeze my, er, toes off seeing them.  Clear skies, everyone!

Hi,

Just like to say that this thread from the original post has been an absolute mine of information for me and I've shared it far and wide to beginners (as I was/am) looking for info on EPs.

Thanks for that. Sorry to hear about your health, but glad you're OK.

[HarryGill]

Great article - thank you. Its 11.5 years after you wrote and still delivering huge value! 

[StuartT]

wow! thanks so much for this super helpful post! (Hope you're still on the forum, as I see it's from 12 years ago!).

So I have a couple of f/10 telescopes (a 10cm refractor and a 20 cm reflector). Currently I have;

• Meade Super Plössl 26mm
• Meade series 4000 Super Plössl 9.7mm
• Meade series 3000 Plössl 6.7mm
• 2x Barlow lens

So from this article, it sounds like I should invest at least in a 12.5mm in addition? (can anyone recommend a good make?)

Why does the OP say you shouldn't use a Barlow with a f/10 telescope?

 

[Pixies]

9 minutes ago, StuartT said:

Why does the OP say you shouldn't use a Barlow with a f/10 telescope?

I think he means you don't need one. With 'slow' scopes you can get a lot of magnification without very low focal-length eyepieces. And in the case of slow scopes, these high-powered Plossl-type EPs have very little eye-relief. A barlow is suggested to magnify the image using EPs with longer eye-relief.

The point of the original post was the minimum range of EPs required. A good barlow will always be of some use, although many prefer not to use one, as any additional glass in the optical train can reduce quality. However, there are plenty of good quality barlows and tele-extenders that won't. As you gain experience, you'll learn what you prefer, usually with some EPs cast by the wayside (well, sold off, anyway)

 

16 minutes ago, StuartT said:

can anyone recommend a good make?

As for your other question, I'd suggest another post in the main part of the Beginners equipment section. Some of these sticky posts don't get much traffic.

[galaxy-gazer]

Great article! congratulations!!!

I have a f/6.5 (660mm FL) 102mm refractor, dono consider it as fast scope calculations or not?

[Pixies]

1 hour ago, galaxy-gazer said:

Great article! congratulations!!!

I have a f/6.5 (660mm FL) 102mm refractor, dono consider it as fast scope calculations or not?

The article is concerned with Plossl EPs. For you f/6.5, that suggests a high powered EP of (3/4 x 6.5) = 4.88mm. A 5mm plossl will have very tight eye-relief. That's why the article suggests using a  Barlow for fast scopes, if you are using Plossl eyepieces.

But that was 2009. Now in 2021, you can get a pretty decent 5mm eyepiece that has reasonable eye-relief without having to break the bank. Such as the 5mm BST Starguider, with 16mm eye-relief.

[mareman48]

Another great post,  although old, it’s very very informative,

many thank for this .

[StarWomble]

On 25/07/2021 at 13:56, Pixies said:

The article is concerned with Plossl EPs. For you f/6.5, that suggests a high powered EP of (3/4 x 6.5) = 4.88mm. A 5mm plossl will have very tight eye-relief. That's why the article suggests using a  Barlow for fast scopes, if you are using Plossl eyepieces.

But that was 2009. Now in 2021, you can get a pretty decent 5mm eyepiece that has reasonable eye-relief without having to break the bank. Such as the 5mm BST Starguider, with 16mm eye-relief.

I have some of the BST EP's and they give great bang for buck IMO - very impressed with the quality

[StephenRh]

A great original post and lots more useful advice. Thanks to all.