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[Donga]

Gday guys.

Ive been enjoying my telescope (6 inch dob) and have been getting some decent viewing in as much as I can lately and am really enjoying it.
Have recently been able to catch Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and some various nebula and of course, the moon.
As someone completely new its been interesting seeing what differences eyepieces make.
Apart from the standard 10 and 25mm ones that came with the scope I bough some various others from a fellow member, which are..

Meade 5000 1.25" (32mm I think)
Williams Optics 1.25" SPL Series 12.5mm
Seibert Optics Ultra Series Super Wide 2" 18mm
Seibert Optics Regular Telecentric Barlow 2x

What would you recommend that I would get some use out of next? I have a couple of things in mind and would appreciate any input.

Eyepiece. From what Ive read I should be able to use a shorter length eyepiece on my telescope, perhaps around 5-6mm? Would I be better off buying a 1.25" 2x or 2.5x barlow to use with my existing eyepieces instead? Any suggestions either way?

Collimator. Im going to need one sooner rather than later. Are the cheap (sub $50) ebay laser collimators a waste of money or should they seeve me ok? Also with this my focuser is 2" so should I make sure I have the tooling for my collimator to do that or use my 1.25" eyepiece adapter? Im presuming its a cheap focuser/adapter so not sure whats the best to go with.

Filters. I definately want a lunar filter of sorts but what else would be useful? Planets, nebula interest me at the moment and with all the discussion on double stars lately I want to trt amd spot some of these.

With the plethora of cheap options out there for collimators, barlows, eyepieces and filters out there is it best to steer clear of them or will some of them prove handy. Like most hobbies im sure you get what you pay for to a certain extent so I would rather save a bit longer and buy something that Im not going to want/need to replace quickly. From my use of the search function the cheap stuff seems very hit and miss. Some have ok results some of it is rubbish.

Looking forward to hearing some suggestions:)

[Wavytone]

Eyepieces. Resist the urge to splurge - you really only need 3 for most purposes plus a 4th high-power one when the seeing permits.

I don't use barlows - less glass in the light path is better, ie a good eyepiece.

The shortest fl depends on the focal ratio of your scope but at a guess one around 6-8mm will suit and possibly another around 3.5-4mm.

[gaseous]

Righto Adam, open up that wallet, or prep a kidney for removal....

Aside from any quality issues, you've probably got enough eyepieces to be going on with. Your 2x Barlow and eyepieces effectively give you 5mm, 6.25mm, 9mm, 10mm, 12.5mm, 16mm, 18mm, 25mm and 32mm. The 12.5mm purchase may have been redundant as you achieve the same magnification with the Barlowed 25mm, and as a Barlowed 10mm and 12.5mm give you 5mm and 6.25mm respectively you probably don't need to buy separate eyepieces at these focal lengths. Not sure how well the basic 10mm EP Barlows - if it's the standard 10mm EP then I'm guessing not too well, and you're probably approaching the effective magnification of your scope with a 5mm EP anyway.

Cheap online collimators are very much hit and miss. You'll pay a lot more for the same model in a store, but they should at least warrant that it's properly aligned for you. As a dob owner this is an important bit of gear. I don't know your budget, but if money permits, get a decent one first up. I've been down the cheap route myself, and it's not worth the hassle. That being said, even the cheap ones should come with a 1.25"-2" adapter.

Cheap online moon filters can be reasonable though. I've got some pretty basic polarizing filters that do a great job and cost peanuts. Not sure about the standard moon filters though. As far as nebula filters go, every person on the forum will have their own opinion as to the best filter. I haven't tried a lot, but I have the DGM NPB filters which are really good - you'd probably be looking at $75USD for a 1.25" and $150USD for the 2".

Big Joe seems to be one of the resident experts on double stars so he may have better ideas, but from my limited knowledge I don't think you need/want any particular filters for viewing these. I'm sure there's a section on what the best gear is for double star viewing.

As always, it comes down to what you're wanting to spend. You certainly seem to have enough eyepieces for the time being, but a collimator would be a handy/essential addition, as would some form of nebula filter. Even a cheap nebula filter is probably going to be better than nothing (depending on your skies). Others will have different ideas! Good luck.

[Donga]

Thata what I was thinking. Im still having fun looking through all the ones I have but wanting another to get the magnification up closer to what the scope is capable of. I think the rest will do me until i learn more and know what specifically I might be chasing.



The barlow I have is 2" and I only have 1 EP in that size. The others are all 1.25". I was thinking a 1.25" barlow for my other eyepieces.

Makes sense regarding the collimator. Im thinking I might buy something half decent to start considering its an essential piece of kit. Crap collimation is only going to lead to crap viewing.

The filters seem like for now I could probably get an array of cheaper nones just to play around with then upgrade when I know what I might want.

Thanks for the replies!

[gaseous]

If you do decide to get a collimator, the 2"-1.25" adapter could possibly be used in your Barlow too.

[Startrek]

Hi Adam,

I have a Bintel laser collimator and an Orion lasermate collimator I use on my 10” dob and 6” reflector. Good collimation is a must and gets easier to do each time I get the scopes out

I generally use the following eye piece focal lengths -

Stars , DSO’s 10mm to 30 mm

Planets 5mm to 10mm

Moon 5mm to 20mm

I don’t use Barlow’s

AFOV, Eye relief and Exit pupil are important factors to consider when selecting eye pieces

If you can get a copy of William Paolini’s book “ choosing and using Astronomical Eye pieces” it is an excellent resource to totally understand eye pieces in amateur astronomy. I thoroughly recommend the book

Good luck

Clear skies !

[Donga]

Ah I didnt know you could use an adapter to use a 1.25" EP on a 2" barlow. I might have to look into that. Any difference optically thab uaing it on a 1.25"?



Theres $30 difference between those 2 collimators at bintel. Is there mucj difference between them?

Out of that range im missing the 5mm. Its a choice between a barlow to get my 10mm or 12.5mm down around there or just buy an EP. Im leaning towards the barlow to use my existing ones. I want to experiment and get an understanding with what I have in regards to finding my preference with AFOV and eye relief etc before dropping some coin in a decent eyepiece.

Thanks for the advice!