Advice on an EP please

[gadget man]

I got my Nexstar 4Se today but as it only comes with a 25mm lens, so I was looking maybe buying an 8mm, a 10mm and 12.5 and or a 15mm then I got to thinking why not just get a Meade 4000 series 8mm to 24mm zoom for around a similar price of the indidual ones.

Would you advise against it or would this make sense for my uses (mainly moon and planets)

[Bizibilder]

Have you considered a Barlow lens? If you have a 25mm eyepiece a 2x Barlow will, in effect, make this into a 12.5mm (ie it "multiplies" the magnification by x2). If you bought, say, a 10 mm eyepiece the Barlow would make this effectivly a 5mm as well.

So for an outlay of two items you have "four" possible combinations and magnifications - 25mm, 12.5mm, 10mm and 5mm.

A reasonable Barlow for the price is the Tal - FLO sell them at £35.

Hope this helps.

Oops I forgot! You put the Barlow into the focussing mount and then the eyepiece into the Barlow ('tis obvious when you see one!)

[pbyrne]

I believe Bizibilder has hit the nail on the head, with the purchase of a barlow it will mean that each additional eyepiece you buy, you are effectively buying two.

[nicnac]

TAL barlows are a good investment.

zoom EPs are pretty much held in low regard by many.

did your telescope come today GM?

[gadget man]

TAL barlows are a good investment.

zoom EPs are pretty much held in low regard by many.

did your telescope come today GM?

Hi, thank for the info.

And yes it came, but the 25mm eyepiece isnt there, it has a blumming 4mm one, so can't see anything or get it to focus at all on anything!!

Also the spotter scope doesnt work, but there is no battery in so I guess thats why?

This was what I have bought on ebay CELESTRON NEX-STAR 4SE COMPUTERISED TELESCOPE on eBay (end time 19-Aug-10 23:48:04 BST)

I'm so annoyed with the seller, we are emailing back and forth at the moment. i have asked for a refund now.

[starstalker]

please tell me u didnt pay 399 for it, Celestron NexStar 4 SE Telescope when u get your money back try these. and this isnt the cheapest price about,just i have used harrisons and they seem to spot on, next day delivery usually as well!

[gadget man]

No I paid £280 as the cheapest I could find was £350 so I thought it was a good deal as it was 'as new'!!

[Ags]

Bad luck - the 4mm EP is no good anyway - it give a magnification of 331x - way over the max - for a NexStar 4SE. I have a good 6mm EP, and that is probably pushing it with 220x magnification.

The NexStar 4SE is meant to come with an E-Lux 25mm EP, which is a quite nice plossl, in my experience.

Regarding zoom eye pieces, have you looked at the Baader Hyperion Zoom - I have never used one, but people have said good things about it on the forum.

[gadget man]

Hi, yes I was looking at the Baader Hyperion Zoom and did wonder if it was worth the price compared to the Meade 4000 series 8-24mm I was looking at?

The seller has agreed to refund me a further £35 so at £245 I think it's an ok deal at that even though I have to buy an EP as it is as new and all boxed with instructions, software, cables etc etc

[Ags]

I paid £120 more for my 4SE, so for that price difference you could buy 2-3 plossls and a TAL barlow. I did get a free 15mm plossl with my scope - I was really pleased with my bargaining skills! ;-)

Once you get your eyepieces, have a look at M13 and M57 - I love the views of those I get through the 4SE.

[gadget man]

really, so I have got a good deal then? :-)

I am looking at maybe a TAL 2 x barlow and I was thinking maybe a 20mm and a 15mm or something similar?

[gadget man]

What's opinions on this set? ....seems to be good value?

Antares 1.25 inch Eyepiece and Filter Kit | Telescope Accessories | Rother Valley Optics

[robhal9000]

Hi,

I would buy 1 or 2 higher quality EPs at 8mm 15mm TMB planetarys/HS Planetary available through

Modernastronomy.com

You might want to consider making a dewshield from neoprene.

[nicnac]

im at work at the minute so i cant check right away but i may have a couple of plossls that you can have "fer nowt if ya fancy", will pass more detail on monday.

but as for the zooms, i really would not bother with them, they just dont compare with standard plossls.

the plossls made by Televue are regarded the best you can get but you can only really tell the difference with a fast telescope such as mine at F/5 but yours being a slow, any ep should do the trick, have you seen these,

Celestron - Celestron X-Cel Series eyepiece

[gadget man]

im at work at the minute so i cant check right away but i may have a couple of plossls that you can have "fer nowt if ya fancy", will pass more detail on monday.

but as for the zooms, i really would not bother with them, they just dont compare with standard plossls.

the plossls made by Televue are regarded the best you can get but you can only really tell the difference with a fast telescope such as mine at F/5 but yours being a slow, any ep should do the trick, have you seen these,

Celestron - Celestron X-Cel Series eyepiece

Wow, that's very good of you, thank you, I would apprecaite those.

I was also looking at the GSO Super Plossl eyepieces as they seem to be available for around £35 each, would I notice a difference between those and a £59 X-Cel Celestron one in my Nexstart 4Se?

[bombassa]

Wow, that's very good of you, thank you, I would apprecaite those.

I was also looking at the GSO Super Plossl eyepieces as they seem to be available for around £35 each, would I notice a difference between those and a £59 X-Cel Celestron one in my Nexstart 4Se?

Without any firsthand knowledge about any of these I think the X'cels have long eyerelief.

[nicnac]

the x-cels have 20mm eye relief so its not like you have to look through a pin hole so you could say you have more room to move without getting black outs with these EPs.

i dont think the GSOs have that eye relief

[nicnac]

oh, off hand i think i have a spare 25mm and a 10mm, like said, will confirm on monday and sort posting through PMs

[gadget man]

oh, off hand i think i have a spare 25mm and a 10mm, like said, will confirm on monday and sort posting through PMs

You have a PM

..And thanks

[TopHouse]

PM sent as I have a mint cond antares eyepiece set for sale.

[nicnac]

You have a PM

..And thanks

replied.

[Astro_Baby]

Thats a downer - I had a Nexstar 4SE for sale on here - was asking £280 for it - its like mint and I was chucking in a dewshield, decent power cord. If you dont get sorted get in touch with me and I'd still sell and I'll chuck in a moon filter as well if you want.

Mines beuatifully cared for, clean as a whistle, works a charm and has been uploaded with the latest software from Celestron. All original accessories including the 25mm eyepiece.

[gadget man]

Thats a downer - I had a Nexstar 4SE for sale on here - was asking £280 for it - its like mint and I was chucking in a dewshield, decent power cord. If you dont get sorted get in touch with me and I'd still sell and I'll chuck in a moon filter as well if you want.

Mines beuatifully cared for, clean as a whistle, works a charm and has been uploaded with the latest software from Celestron. All original accessories including the 25mm eyepiece.

I have it sorted now and he has refunded the extra money, but thank you for the offer.

Had I been able to veiw the 'for sale' section I would have much prefered to have bought from a forum member, but as I can not view it until I've made a lot more posts, I missed out on yours then ;-(

[brantuk]

The Baader zoom is a very nice general purpose ep - especially if you don't like carrying a box of ep's around. It's not as good as individual ep's but still very crisp and clear with minimal internal reflection (barely noticeable) and useful when aligning cos you can move to higher powers without changing ep's and re-center the object for fine adjustments.

It's particularly good in solar scopes too. I have the Mk2 but the new Mk3 promises to be even better.

[Ags]

On the subject of cheap NexStars, I see you can buy them used with a 1 year guarantee from Telescope Outlet (part of Astronomia) for £299. I haven't seen that shop before. (http://www.telescopeoutlet.co.uk/)

Gadget, the EPs I have for my 4SE are (including my experiences with the EPs):

6mm TS Planetary - very good on the moon, double stars, and globular clusters, might be too much for planets. I might have been better off getting the 7mm version.

9mm TS Planetary - very nice all round EP, good for planets and everything else (except of course larger objects)

15mm Omni plossl - very useful mid-range EP, I use it a lot for aligning the telescope

25mm E-Lux plossl - my most comfortable EP to use, and the widest field (1 degree).

I bought the TS Planetaries from Modern Astronomy for £49 each. I got them for their wider apparent field of view and better eye relief than comparable plossls.

I'm saving up for an EP that will give me 1.3 degrees of field, the max you can get with the 4SE. That will either be the Baader Hyperion 24mm, or a cheap 32mm plossl...