Newbie, Dobs and eyepieces

[Bender]

Hello forum, this is my first post so please be patient if i just repeat something that was asked before.

After finaly having a reasonable dark garden i am more than excited to put him to use and get my first scope. After doing a lot of reading here in the forum i settled for the skyliner 200p (unless something bigger comes up in the sales section ).

I am now wondering what would be a managable magnification for a dob on planets as i understand that the higher the magnification the harder it is to follow with a dob.

And which eyepieces (reasonable priced) would be good both for my wife (with glasses) and me (without).

I read here about eye relieve and that orthos and plossl both are not ideal for glasses.

It would be great if you could share your experience.

Thanks

[PaulB]

If you've not bought it all already, I'd seriously have a look at the Felxtube Auto 10" from Skywatcher. If you can afford it, you'll notice a big difference over light grasp, and it will also track in al/az which is a big help when viewing the planets at high magnification.

I'm going to buy one of these for causal DSO observing; but more importantly. I want to start observing the Moon and brighter planets, Jupiter/Saturn again. And I also want something to do when I am imaging.

[John]

If you've not bought it all already, I'd seriously have a look at the Felxtube Auto 10" from Skywatcher. If you can afford it, you'll notice a big difference over light grasp, and it will also track in al/az which is a big help when viewing the planets at high magnification.

Nice, but nearly 3x the price of the Skyliner 200P !.

I've used undriven dobs and alt-az scopes for a few years now (including a Skyliner 200P). I've found tracking, once you get the hang of it, not too difficult at up to 340x. Most of the time the atmospheric conditions restrict you to around 200x as a practical maximum which, for a Skyliner 200P means a 6mm eyepiece.

But if you have the budget for the Flextube auto 10" then by all means go for it - it's a great scope by all accounts

[Bender]

PaulB thanks for the suggestion but i think i better invest the price difference in a few nice eyepieces

[RichieP]

PaulB thanks for the suggestion but i think i better invest the price difference in a few nice eyepieces

Quality optics before electronics - a good choice IMHO! Don't forget that decent wide angle eyepieces will make tracking with a dob easier as the object will be in the field of view for longer.

Richard

[Mr Spock]

You'll need long eye relief for glasses, a wide field of view to help track and a reasonable magnification.

The closest I can suggest to get that is a Hyperion 5mm. 68deg field, x240 at around £94

[John]

The TS Planetary HR eyepieces sold in the UK by Modern Astronomy have 16mm of eye relief which may well be enough for a glasses wearer - they come in a range of focal lengths from 9mm down to 3.2mm I seem to recall. If this is your 1st scope you may find you don't actully need your glasses on to observe with it.

[Bender]

John, i was just about to reply to MrSpock with a question about the Ts EP's when i read your post. Part Timer in his EP review seems to suggest that the Baader might not be the best choice for a f6 scope?

I could only find positive remarks here for the TS Planetary HR so far. And for the price i hope i cant go wrong. Guess the 60 degree field is as much as you will realistically get in this range?

[wulfrunian]

You could try the Nirvana - a little more pricey at £135, but an 82 degree field. The eye relief is only 12mm, but I wear glasses and I find it okay for me.

[John]

... Guess the 60 degree field is as much as you will realistically get in this range?

You can get wider field eyepieces in this price bracket but the outer edges of the field won't be too well corrected in an F/6 scope. Also the ultra-wide angles eyepieces tend to have shorter eye relief as you need to get your eye closer to the eye lens to take in the full field of view which will be an issue if you do need to wear glasses when observing. So it's "swings and roundabouts" as the saying goes

[Mr Spock]

It all depends on what you are willing to spend what quality you get. My first choice is a Vixen LVW because they are so easy to use. 65 deg field, sharp to the edges, good eye relief, no blackouts, but... £200.

Whatever you settle on will be a compromise, no eyepiece is perfect.

[Bender]

Can someone comment on the Badder Hyperion zoom on f6 or faster?

I quit like the idea, but from what i read here in the forum the fixed focal length ep's with the same name seem to suffer on the fringes when used on a faster scope.