What would you put on my christmas list ?

[hoobz]

Hi guys, I need help with my chrimbo list, Not too sure what to get as I'm still pretty much learning. this is what i got a couple of months ago...

Skywatcher Explorer 150PL On A EQ3-2 Mount.

Super 10mm, Super 25 wide angle LER & the 2x barlow eyepieces.

Dual Axis Motors.

thought i might aswell use chrimbo to add to my Astromoy gear, basically I'm either lookin to add better eyepieces or filters etc i guess!! not sure what £100 will get me but seeing as i have ps3 games to go on the same list thats all i think i can manage out of my hard earned cash that my WIFES gonna spend on ME! selfish huh lol

any help or ideas would be awesome!!

[Astro_Baby]

Depensing what you want to look at I'd suggest either a decent 13mm or 32mm Plossl EP or maybe something slightly more whizzy like a Baader Hyperion in 13mm.

The long focal lenth of the PL scope will be happy with not so exotic eyepieces and its the single best thing you could buy to really get some WoW factor from the scope.

[hoobz]

soz, forgot i posted this lol, astro baby u would go for the one Baader Hyperion in 13mm(£80) or get an eyepiece set for about £100 ??

thanks for your reply btw.

[Astro_Baby]

Ummmm well EP sets always cause some contention.

I'll try and summarise my experiences and hope theres something in there for you.

I came back to this hobby after a loooooonnnngggggg absence and most of what I once knew I had forgotten.

I bought in to a small scope as a tester and a taster really and bought myself an EP kit from Celestron. Personally speaking I found the EP kit rather good and although one of the EPs was unusable for me I thought the mix of filters and EPs was useful to reorientate me.

The Celestron EPs were all Plossls and although not of the finest quality were still an improvement on the EPs that came with the scope.

I quite quickly upgraded based on my experience with the Celestron kit to a 38mm Sky-Watcher panaview and a 13mm Baader Hyperion. These were themselves a kind of tester/taster to see which I liked.

Knowing what I know now I could have simply save the cash and bought an Ethos in 13mm but thats the crucial difference. I got to knowing what I know now by using other stuff.

If from the off I had bought what I THOUGHT I needed I would have wasted cash on an EP that would have been of little use to me - probably something like a Zeiss Orthoscopic in 6mm !!!!!

EPs are hard to advise on really. I think you have to set a budget and then buy the best in that range based on other peoples experiences unless you can visit other people and see the view through their kit sucg as at a star party.

If I were buying again based on experience now in the £100 range I'd buy the Baader Hyperion in 13mm because for me its the EP I use most.

An EP kit would give you a range of EPs to play with so it really comes down to do you buy a selection of average EPs or one good one. Its a tough call.

With the PL scope the long focal length will give a good view through almost any EP so thats an advantage. Much depends on what you like looking at. For DSOs I'd suggest something in the 13-15mm range and something in the 30-32mm range would probably get the most use. For planets something around the 5-8mm. I dont do planets much (in fact with the weather we are getting I dont do anything ).

I am not personally keen on high power EPs as I find the view uncomortable. a 5mm Plossl is like looking through the eye of a needle - even the Hyperion in 5mm is not much better I find. You get more glass but the EP is every bit as tough to use for me.

I think a lot depends on your budget limits. My take was to buy the eyepiece set to bring the overall set up to a better standard and then start replacing those with better quality as budgets allow.

Lots of people quite like the Hyperion 13mm at the price and in your scope it should perform quite well. Alternately you could probably pick up some Meade 5000s for the same price which turn up regularly and are well rated by people. I have had a look through a couple of these but not in my own scope - they looked good to me.

[hoobz]

wow! wot an awesome reply! thanks for your help astro!!, i guess i might go for a ep set with filters an stuff etc. still not really sure lol, altho, its me berfday in january! yer never know the wifey might be extra happy in the new year

thanks again.

gonna hav to read this post 2 or 3 times i think.

[skye at night]

Luxury Garden Telescope for Landscape Design

[hoobz]

Luxury Garden Telescope for Landscape Design

Hmm lol, maybe next year.