Choosing a good mid power eyepiece

[dreamliner]

Hello Guys!

I am in the process of trying to find a decent eyepiece in the 13-17mm range. I currently have a 6mm, 10mm and 25mm and now need to fill the gaps.

Since I have a very tight budget I have narrowed my selections down to the following 4 EP's:

William Optics - William Optics SWAN eyepiece - 15mm SWAN

Celestron Telescopes Eyepieces X-CEL Series FREE S&H 93386, 93387, 93388, 93389, 93390, 93391, 93393. Celestron X-Cel Telescope Accessories, Celestron Telescope Accessories. 12.5 or 18mm Celestron Xcel

Meade Series 5000 14mm Plossl 14mm MEADE

Sky-Watcher 15mm UltraWide Eyepiece (1.25 inch / 31.7mm Format) (617) - Warehouse Express Sky-watcher 15mm plössl

I would use the EP in my 8inch Skywatcher dob and want to observe galaxies and star clusters. Currently the 25mm does not offer enough magnification and the 10mm is just really poor quality.

I would really appreciate if someone could help me make the right choice. As for the budget then I cant go above 70GBP.

Thanks in advance.

John.

[russ]

If i was buying from those 4 i would choose the Meade 5000. I have the 20mm and it's a nice eyepiece to use. Should be better still in the f6 200P.

[dreamliner]

Thanks for the quick reply Russ! Do you by any chance know of any other good quality EP's in the same mm range? Oh, and a stupid question... will that Meade EP, fit my Skywatcher dobson...I think the 1.25 size is a standard, right?

Thanks!

[johninderby]

Also worth considering from the TMB planetary 58 degree FOV range is the 15mm at £36.00. Definately better than the SWAN or SkyWatcher Ultrawide.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380239858341&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:GB:1123

John

[russ]

Hi John,

You won't have any trouble using any 1.25" eyepiece with your 200P. And the Meade will work very well indeed and at 14mm is a perfect workhorse eyepiece. Should be a real gem in your scope.

I have a Swan too but it's not in the same league as the 5000.

If you wanted to save some money, you could buy one of the Paradigm (Explorer ED) eyepieces. They perform as well as the Meade and better than the other three you have shortlisted but for only £36. There is a 15mm and 18mm that would work well.

edit.....or as John suggests, the TMB Planetary 15mm also for £36.

[dreamliner]

Russ: Did you mean this one? 1.25" 15mm 60 Degree Explorer Dual ED Eyepiece on eBay (end time 02-Aug-10 09:00:00 BST)

[johninderby]

If the clouds ever go away I'll be testing a 15mm TMB on a 200P. On an f/6 refractor it works quite well so hopefully it will be OK on the 200P.

John

[dreamliner]

I have been doing some research and found that people prefer 12mm to the 15mm...and this is a bit confusing. Since I am a total noob at this can someone please tell me which EP would be best to look for star clusters like the M13 and galaxies like M51. Am I better off with a 12mm or a 15mm.

Any help is really appreciated! Oh and the telescope is an 8inch dob.

[John]

I have been doing some research and found that people prefer 12mm to the 15mm...and this is a bit confusing. Since I am a total noob at this can someone please tell me which EP would be best to look for star clusters like the M13 and galaxies like M51. Am I better off with a 12mm or a 15mm.

Any help is really appreciated! Oh and the telescope is an 8inch dob.

You don't say what focal lenght the scope is, which is what determines magnfication. With my 10" newtonian (focal length 1200mm) I find 13mm (92x) and 9mm (133x) the most useful eyepieces for globular clusters.

[dreamliner]

Sorry for not specifying this...the length is 1200 just like in your dob so basically a 12mm will be more useful than a 15mm

[Rossco72]

Scour the For Sale adds on here and the likes of UK Astro Buy and Sell.

Quite often see Televue 15mm Plossls for around the £30-£40 mark.

The thing to remember with simpler eyepiece designs is that the field lens gets pretty small as the focal length reduces and you can end up looking through tiny pieces of glass.

[russ]

Russ: Did you mean this one? 1.25" 15mm 60 Degree Explorer Dual ED Eyepiece on eBay (end time 02-Aug-10 09:00:00 BST)

yep that's the one. Ignore the low price, as they are excellent. As will the TMB for the same price. The Explorer ED gives a slightly wider apparent field of view at 60deg, and it's nicely corrected when used with an f6 scope like yours. The 15mm will give 80x and a true field of view of 0.75deg.

[dreamliner]

Russ: Sorry if I sound like I can't make up my mind, but from your personal experience, what do you think will give me the best views of star clusters and the M51 (which I desperately want to locate), the 15mm or the 12mm. My lack of experience is just horrible

Thanks!

John.

[russ]

Hmm i never had the 15mm, i bought the 18mm and 12mm. Could find most things with the 18mm and nicely frame objects like M42, Double Cluster, M81/M82. But then stepped upto the 12mm for a bit more detail or to find those tiny planetary nebs. The globs and planetary nebs like a bit magnification.

[dreamliner]

OK, then I'll go for the 12mm one Just a quick question, do you think that this barlow 1.25" 2x Barlow Lens Achromatic Eyepiece metal bodied on eBay (end time 14-Aug-10 12:52:39 BST) is a good choice and will it work with the 12mm EP?

[russ]

I would spend a tad more on the barlow and look at the Tal 2x from FLO.

The good news is the 12mm and 2x barlow produce a very nice 200X for planets/moon. Absolutely spot on when seeing allows.

[dreamliner]

Awesome! Thanks a lot Russ, you really helped me out!

[John]

Russ is dead right with the barlow - you are taking care to put the best quality componants you can in your optical train so it's a shame to blow it with a poor quality barlow.

The TAL is probably the best quality "budget" barlow.

On M51, I've found my 13mm very good for that as well although I tend to find the galaxy with a lower power eyepiece first. The 13mm is an Ethos though so it should be good !. Dark skies make a heck of a lot of difference in the amount of detail you can see in galaxies - under really dark skies it should be possible to make out the spiral structure with an 8" or 10" scope - I'm just shy of being able to do that (so far) with my 10" from my back garden. I viewed M51 with a 20" at the SGL Star Party - mind blowing

[dreamliner]

Nice one John! I am so eager to see this galaxy. I am simply amazed at how it looks in stellarium. So the plan for the near future is to get the 12mm EP and drive out of town for some dark skies. Hopefully I will be able to find it...the only other EP's I have are 25mm, 10mm and 6mm, so will have to try and locate it with the 25mm one...if that's even possible