skywatcher explorer 200p

[tyke]

Hi

Can anyone give advice for my first EP purchase for the 200p?

From what ive seen and read ,f6 scopes and lower seem to bring out the bad of poor eyepieces .(or have i got it the wrong way round?)

So what brand..type do you all swear by?

What would be a first good allrounder ,if theres such a thing in an EP?

And please...my pockets aint deep! 50 to 80 quid max

[Bizibilder]

What do you want the eyepiece for? Moon/Planets or DSO's? This will define the eyepiece focal length(s) you will be best advised to get.

[tyke]

This is what im confused really ...where does planetery ,deep space in terms of eyepieces start and finish .10mm for planets and lower?,does that meen anything above is regarded as for deep space?

[Breakintheclouds]

Tyke,

Although it's a generalization, yes, what you say is more-or-less true.

But perhaps an even better way of putting it to talk about high versus low magnification. If you're looking at something that appears small from here on Earth (like most planets, or the details of the moon's surface) then you need high magnification - anything from 2.5 mm to about 10 mm with your scope. If you're looking at big clouds of gas or clusters of stars spread across the sky then you want low magnifications (12 mm and up, one might say).

Of course, there are plenty of things that don't quite fit. Some nebulae are tiny, and although they are deep-space objects you need lots of magnification, and so use "planetary" eyepieces.

I have the same scope as you and my main eyepieces range from 5mm to 38 mm. They each have a use. There are a couple of good threads here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/63184-primer-understanding-choosing-eyepieces.html

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/80772-eyepieces-very-least-you-need.html?highlight=eyepieces+minimum

Ian

[tyke]

Chears for the links buddy had a quick look through and this is why im a bit concerned about parting with my money with my scope.

......"With our example scope (f/5) you should pick carefully. Decent plössls and orthoscopics are good performers in fast scopes and are generally safe bets. However, if you want a large, well-corrected AFOV, you need to research into particular eyepieces and how they perform – there’s no certain way of telling

....."

[Breakintheclouds]

Tyke,

I'm pretty new to this field, and (a) have previously got myself very worried reading all the information that's out there and ( have bought a couple of eyepieces that weren't very good choices. The truth is, it is good to test some eyepieces before spending a lot, but there are also some safe bets. A decent plossl, especially second-hand, is rarely regretted. Later on you might experience flashier, widefield eyepieces, but for now one or two decent second-hand plossls will get you a long way.

[Bizibilder]

Tyke,

I was in the same position as yourself a few weeks ago. I assume that you have the 25mm and 10mm eyepieces that came with the scope as well as the 2x barlow? This gives mags of 40x and 100x plus (with the barlow) 80x and 200x. The weakest of the supplied eyepieces is the 10mm followed closely by the barlow itself. I ended up (after consulting the forum and a phone call to FLO - usual disclaimer) replacing the 10mm and the barlow (with a celestron x-cel 10mm and a TAL 2x barlow). As I was feeling rich at the time I also bought a 32mm SW panaview for low mag DSO work. This seems, now I have used it, a good compromise of quality and cost.

You say your pockets ain't deep? So maybe just replace the 10mm eyepiece or go for an 8mm celestron for £59 to give mags of x125 and x250 (for those nights where the moon and planets will take that little bit extra magnification) - my own next eyepiece will probably be the 8mm for that very reason.

The big widefield job can wait till funds permit.

Just my twopennyworth of course!!

[Bizibilder]

Tyke - I forgot! Read this thread for some good advice:

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/80772-eyepieces-very-least-you-need.html

[Chris H]

Two ep's would suffice plus a barlow something in the 30mm range and then something around the 10mm range and a x2 barlow to double the power of the 10mm. A little over your budget is the Televue 32mm plossl (£84) this would be a good low power/finder ep giving x31 mag, an exit pupil of 6.4mm (remember this should be kept below 7mm) and a true field of view of 1.5 degrees. As for the 10mm you could go for a number of ep's for example there is an 11mm Televue plossl available (£69). The Televue ep's are tested down to F4 so would be fine in your F5 scope. As for a barlow I have a Televue x2 and it's very good but cost £75 you can get good barlows for less than that check the forum.

As for an ep that is an allrounder you may be tempted by a zoom ep I have not heard good things about most of these the exception being the Baader Hyperion Zoom its range is from 8 to 24mm and it is £170 from FLO.

Of course there are other cheaper brands of ep's and barlows available many of which are recommended by users on the forum.

[TopHouse]

I have a 200p, possibly contrary to some other advice but here goes, and my reasons

Get a Skywatcher 32mm Panaview. What you see with that will blow you away many times over, and with that eyepiece you will have a LOT to look at with very good views. So far this is the eyepiece that has blown me away the most.

Second choice, planetary, baader hyperion 8mm AND buy the 14 and 28mm adjustment rings with it, that will give you 4 different magnifications in one eyepiece.

But with the 32, you will have sooo many more targets to go at than you will with a planetary, and with the 32 you still get to see the rings on saturn as well, and it's moons!

32mm Panaview comes in at £75 and i totally love mine.

[bish]

I currently use a 26mm, 15mm, 9.7mm, 8mm, 6mm and 5mm (and Celestron Ultima 2x barlow). The 8mm and 6mm rarely get used and I could get by without them. Most of them are Meade 4000. I think are about £50 each and are OK. If I had spare cash I may get some WO UWANs or Pentax etc, but for my budget and purposes I get by fine. I spent the first 6 months using the supplied eyepieces and the first extra one I bought was the 6mm for planets and moon. Everybody is different though (see TopHouse above)

It's difficult because it's best to experiment but difficult to find the opportunity without laying out cash. Try not to get too stressed about it.

[SlipperySquid]

Ello matey!

I have the same scope and tend to use my 10mm and 15mm a lot and a meade barlow.

But I find conditions have to be really good to get the best out of high power.

As to price range I bought all my lenses second hand from the range of £10 to £20 and the beauty is I can't compare them to the more expensive lenses as I've never seen them in action....so I don't have "glass envy".

It's personal choice at the end of the day what lenses you want to use.There is that many out there and budget really does come into it.

So I'd say 25mm 15mm 10mm and a 6mm or there abouts.