Which eyepiece next

[sound]

Having spent my monies on the best telescope I could afford, I have a few pounds left well about £40 and was thinking that perhaps I should invest this in an additional eyepiece or eyepieces to go with the standard ones I received with my skywatcher 150p ,which were the 25mm , 10 mm and 2 x Barlow.

I appreciate that the more expensive eyepieces are perhaps better quality and enhance the viewing experience far greater but whilst I learn the ropes and get more familiar with my scope I thought that perhaps initially the slightly cheaper priced Skywatcher SP Plossl eyepieces from FLO in particular the 6.3mm and the 7.5mm would they enhance my viewing experience greatly across planets, DSO’s etc.

I would appreciate member’s thoughts on these and whether they would be an appropriate size to allow me to view things in a slightly higher magnification than the current eyepieces I have ? – or should I look for an even lower sized eyepiece

Many thanks

Phil

[acey]

Use the 10mm with or without Barlow for high power viewing while you learn the ropes. You may actually find that the 10mm is as high as you need to go. With an 8" I never needed to go higher than an 8mm eyepiece. If you really lust for high-power viewing you could save up for a 6mm TMB Planetary, which costs about £55, but I suspect it might be too high for your scope.

With all my scopes I've found that most of my viewing is done with 2 eyepieces. Just a question of finding which pair for which scope. You've got a nice range with the 25mm and 10mm so don't be in too much of a hurry to expand.

[russ]

The 6mm TMB is a great eyepiece but i agree, the 6mm plus the barlow will probably be too much at 250x. And the 6mm by itself is too little at 125x, the 150P can handle plenty more than that and the planets will want more than that, as will you. A 4mm (187x) or 5mm (150x) TMB clone by themselves would give a perfect planetary magnification for the 150P. They cost approx the same as the Burgess TMB 6mm and are available from Modern Astronomy.

[pvaz]

I would recommend a few more session till you know what focal length will give you the view you need for your main interest.

Personally the magnifications I use more are:

around 40x for large DSOs

around 80x for smaller DSOs

120x for planets on most nights and some DSOs as globular clusters

240x for planets on good seeing conditions and splitting double stars

If you go out buying kit from the start chances are you'll be left with stuff you don't use.

[DemonicOmelette]

I'd personally go the other way, and get a 32mm Plossl. You've got plenty of magnification from the 10mm and barlow combination, but a good 32mm will give you amazing wide-angle views. The Pleiades, the moon, the milky way, all look best (in my opinion) through a nice wide view. And, as far as I understand, you get "more for your money" with a 'bigger' (i.e. 32 vs 10) EP, meaning for £40 you'd get a much better quality 32mm than 8mm.

I got the 32mm Skywatcher plossl from FLO for about 30 quid, I think, and it's my favorite EP. Especially with the inconsistent viewing here in the UK, you're lucky to find a night where you can use high magnification, but with a 32, the moon looks fab even with a bit of cloud!

[russ]

I think it all comes back to what Paulo said about trying the supplied eyepieces first seeing which way to go. The supplied 10mm with the barlow will give a respectable 150x for the planets. While the supplied 25mm gives a very nice 1.73deg true FOV, plenty large enough to take in widefield field vistas.

The supplied eyepieces are not great quality but may help to decide which way to go with new eyepieces.

[orionhunter]

ive got the SW 150p too. i find the two EP,s i use the most are my meade4000 40mm and my meade4000 15mm.

i still use the SW 10mm too, but i never use my cheap SR 4mm.

im still not too sure if the SW barlow is any good or not?

cannot make my mind up yet.

[jeffo50]

Hello Phil,

I might have the ideal eyepiece for you.

Cheers

Jeff

[david o]

Hi Phil,

Welcome to the forum.

Before you consider getting any more kit take some time to learn and get comfortable with the stuff you already have. Then, when you've spent some time using your 'scope, you'll have a better idea of what you're "missing".

And before buying from any supplier, have a read of the Supplier Reviews board.

Also check out The Warthog's Eyepieces - the very least you need, a real handy guide to choosing EPs.

Maybe you should think about upgrading the Barlow, as the S-W ones seem to have a bit of a hit or miss reputation.

HTH

[sound]

Good Evening everyone.

and many thanks for all your replies and comments , certainly a lot of different routes / options to consider.

Will need to give it some more thought and perhaps save a little bit more money up.

Once again thanks for all your help everyone

[pvaz]

Always consider 2nd hand market. You can find quality items here in the sales section quite often, sometimes at half price, and usually everyone takes good care of their gear. Mine is all in mint condition.

After a few months I decided astronomy is what I really like. During that time I used a few cheap EPs with decent quality, once I knew which ones I used more (just 2) I bought top quality ones, waited for them to come up 2nd hand, but in mint condition and I saved over 400£ on everything (when compared to the retail price of all of the items).

NOTE: There are excellent EPs at much cheaper price. You definitely don't need to spend much to have very good views. This kind of values only apply when you want top quality from edge to edge with the widest fields of view available on the market, then an EP can easily cost more then a scope. But that is the kind of decision you make when you're 100% sure astronomy will be a lifetime hobby and this items will be with you till you die. Scopes come and go but you keep the EPs.

[Moonshane]

Good Evening everyone.

and many thanks for all your replies and comments , certainly a lot of different routes / options to consider.

Will need to give it some more thought and perhaps save a little bit more money up.

Once again thanks for all your help everyone

I think you hit the head of your own nail there matey.

personally, I'd wait and enjoy the scope and wait before buying new eyepieces. while you are saving for eyepieces a moon filter will be a good buy - try looking at the moon for more than 10 seconds without one- nice and cheap too, and also maybe a rigel quikfinder / telrad. you could probably get a quikfinder and a moon filter for £40. the quickfinder/telrad has helped me more than anything else when initially placing the scope in the right sort of area.

I'd repeat what Paulo said about used equipment too. personally, I'd sooner have a fab but used top quality eyepiece than a reasonable new one for the same price.

mine, see below, have all pretty much been bought used off this forum and I've never looked back.

when you do go ahead, consider the Paradigm lenses (called Discovery now I think). there's a guy sells them on ebay for less than £40 delivered. you will not be disappointed in these for sure.