Eye Pieces

[pr0xibus]

Hi guys 2 months ago i bought SkyWatcher Explorer 150PL EQ3-2 150mm Newtonian Reflector Telescope

this came with

Eyepieces Supplied (1.25"): 10mm & 25mm

X2 Deluxe Barlow Lens 1.25"

now i have spent the past 2 months looking at local things. saturn, moon, mars albeit its far away lol. but i would like to look at nebulas etc etc.

are these eyepieces good for this or should i invest in more lenses.

TBH i would rather order from harrisons, so could some one suggest lenses i could get from SkyWatcher Eyepieces or should the lenses i have be ok

Cheers in advance

[John]

I think you could usefully expand your eyepiece "fleet" by getting i) a 32mm plossl and ii) a 6.3mm plossl. Combine these with your existing eyepieces and your barlow and you have quite a wide ranging set. Harrison's don't seem to list the Skywatcher Plossls but First Light Optics do them for around £20 each (a bit more for the 32mm).

[arcadian2002]

Hi pr0xibus,

this is a bridge we all have to cross at some point, when i was researchig the net for advice , time and time again i came across members praiseing Kelner ep's , thier volcan tops had the best review, so i decided to purchase three BNIB from a dealer this site in the uk U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

the down side is they offer very little eye reiieve , but the images are excellent .I have 18 20 25mm ep's and would easliy recommed them over any meade or celestron plosse and at aroud a hrd of the cost these kellners are in my opionon a must have for any amatures tool box.

regards

ian

[John]

Hi pr0xibus,

this is a bridge we all have to cross at some point, when i was researchig the net for advice , time and time again i came across members praiseing Kelner ep's , thier volcan tops had the best review, so i decided to purchase three BNIB from a dealer this site in the uk U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

the down side is they offer very little eye reiieve , but the images are excellent .I have 18 20 25mm ep's and would easliy recommed them over any meade or celestron plosse and at aroud a hrd of the cost these kellners are in my opionon a must have for any amatures tool box.

regards

ian

With respect Ian, do you really mean Kellners or is it Orthos (Othoscopics) ?. Both can be found with the "volcano top" design but I have to say that the Kellner is, in my opinion, not as good as an orthoscopic, or a decent plossl for that matter.

The eyepieces supplied with many scopes are basically a modified kellner design and, as most find out, benefit from replacement in due course.

[robhal9000]

Hi,

With your slowish 'scope (f/8) it will be forgiving of cheaper EPs. The paradigm range of EPs are available on Ebay and are considered excellent EPs.

60 Degree Explorer Dual ED Eyepiece

A Skywatcher extra flat at 27mm may be good for DSOs, but only has a FOV of 53 degrees.

SkyWatcher ExtraFlat 27mm Eyepiece 1.25"

If these are a bit expensive then FLO sell the standard SW plossl for about 20 to 30 quid each.

Skywatcher SP Plossl eyepieces

A UHC filter may also help to bring out the details on brighter DSOs.

SkyWatcher Ultra High Contrast Filter 1.25"

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

In an F/8 you can quite safely go to 40mm f/l EPs, even 60mm if you are below 35, but to really get some gains in field of view, you will need a 2" type. I think your scope actually has such a focuser, with an adapter for 1.25".

Regarding eye relief of kelners, orthos and plossls: it is proportional to the focal length, as you can probably tell from your two EPs. At 36-40mm they actually tend to have rather too much eye relief, and finding the exit pupil "hoevering" behind the telescope can be troublesome, in my experience with a Vixen 36mm.

I replaced the latter with a Burgess TMB Paragon 40mm which is great, but rather costly. Indeed a slightly cheaper EP would work well on a scope like yours.

[pr0xibus]

I think you could usefully expand your eyepiece "fleet" by getting i) a 32mm plossl and ii) a 6.3mm plossl. Combine these with your existing eyepieces and your barlow and you have quite a wide ranging set. Harrison's don't seem to list the Skywatcher Plossls but First Light Optics do them for around £20 each (a bit more for the 32mm).

Just ordered the 32mm plossl and 6.3mm.

50 quid for both so quite a good deal. they should arrive in a few days and hopefully at the weekend its a clear night lol

cheers for the replies guys

[Michael Rapley]

Now your ordered your equipment it'll rain, even if the rest of the country is sunny it'll rain where you are.

[pr0xibus]

Now your ordered your equipment it'll rain, even if the rest of the country is sunny it'll rain where you are.

spot on. its absolutly lashing down at the moment and apparently it has supposed to continue like this for a few days with overcast until monday.

well at least it doesnt stop me from watching my mates sky + across the road lol

[Michael Rapley]

On a side note don't rule out second hand, recently iv'e been picking up televue plossls for around £30-40 second hand. They are a fair step up in quality from some of the others that iv'e tried, they are also by and large very well cared for.