Eyepiece recs for 8" dob

[mwill76]

Sorry for all the newbie posts!!!

Wanting to get a couple (think I have decided against buying a full set) of extra ep's to use with our 8" skywatcher dob, mostly for planetary use at this stage.

The scope came with a 25mm wide angle plossl and also a 10mm plossl.

Am going to purchase a 2 x Barlow, but was thinking of buying a 15mm plossl and also a 9mm plossl.

Would they be a worthwhile purchase for getting better detail with planets?

Thanks,

Michelle

[Starkler]

I would forget the 9mm and get a 12mm along with the 15 and a barlow.

This should give you a nice range of magnifications in combination with the barlow. I am assuming here that your scope is f6 with a focal length of around 1200mm?

[Sentinel]

TeleVue 8mm Radian.

[taminga16]

Michelle, Paul's advice suggesting a Televue 8mm radian would be great if you were not expecting much change from $400.00, there are some good EP's around for considerably less, have a look at the Sirius Optics site under used equipment, they have a set of Meade 4000 plossl EP's (used equipment)
for under $300.00, Bintel list what I think is the same gear for $519.00.

Regards Greg.

www.sirius-optics.com.au

P.S. I recently purchased 4 Vixen EP's from our own forum and cannot wait to view with them, used is not a bad thing when there is so much support from fellow astro's.

[mwill76]

Thanks starkler,

This probably sounds really dumb but what does the f6 refer to?

Here are the specs for our telescope:

203mm Aperture, 1000mm Focal length
9x50 finderscope

[CoombellKid]

@ around the $130.00 per ep the U/O HD's from Frontier Optics are an
excellent ep for planetary work. I have the same setup as yours and
I used U/O HD's in it for some time. The FOV can be a lil small compared
to others but the on axis sharpness is pretty much unbeatable until
you hit the premium line of ep's

regards,CS

[MortonH]

You might also consider the Pentax XF eyepieces from Frontier Optics, available in 8.5mm and 12mm. $215 each, I think. They are small and light compared to the TeleVue Radians.


Morton

[Sentinel]

I just had a look on the internet regarding these XF eyepieces. I thought I had heard of all the eyepieces around. Never heard of the XF.

These eyepieces sound like excellent value. I read a review on cloudynights Re 12mm Radian v 12mm Pentax XF. Very good write up.

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1438

Similar FOV and quality, but the XF is less damaging to the wallet.

[taminga16]

To all, Michelle (mwill760) is setting up a beginners telescope for a seven year old boy without a clue and relying on us to set her and her son straight. As nice as it would have been for all of us to have started with the top of the pile gear, the reality is that we didn't. Whilst I acknowledge that some of the decisions we made could have been better judged with more knowledge, I do not beleive that recommending high end gear to first timers, based on knowledge gained over years of experience is the answer.

Regards Greg.

[wavelandscott]

Before spending any money on additional eyepeices, please get some use out of the ones that you have. The best recommendation that I can make is to get outside and look up with what you have!

The eyepieces that come with your scope are not too bad...(compared to what Gallileo and other astronomers of note had they are likely to be fabulous!)

Once you have had some eyepiece time and have a bit of a feel for what you want to see and how you want to see it, then find some other folks in your area and get together with them and look through their stuff to reinforce of change you thoughts.

It is very easy to spend lots of money in this hobby on stuff that you don't really need so make sure that you enjoy the hobby and will use your scope before splashing out on equipment...

On the Televue website there is a very good article (I think) about eyepiece selection. Basically, you need around 3 (or two and a barlow)...you need to achive low power, mid power and high power...everything else is "extra" (and yes I am guilty of having way too much stuff myself)...

Good Luck and enjoy the hobby...

[janoskiss]

Get a 15mm Plossl and a 1.25" barrel extension tube to use with the barlow for more power. 15mm barlowed will be a good mid-power planetary and with extension tube + barlow it will make good high power planetary. Inexpensive but very effective. Of the less expensive 15mm plossls I'd recommend Skywatcher silver-top plossl over others around. Don't bother with a 9mm Plossl.

[ving]

without knowing what sort of budget you have I am going to presume you are a bigginer and therefore not start sugesting $200+ per eyepiece....
GSO make good eyepieces that will keep you going for some time. If i were to sugest 3 eyepieces they would be 7mm, 15mm and 30mm. seeing as you have a 1000mm focal length the 7mm by its self should create a usable amount of magnification for planets :)

[janoskiss]

I'd tend to disagree with Vingo here, and would recommend using a barlowed 15mm plossl instead of a 7mm plossl. Latter will have very little eye relief. But what's too little comes down to personal preference.

Best barlow for high powers IME is the fully baffled Orion Deluxe 1.25". Got mine for $99 from Sirius Optics in QLD. An absolute bargain.

GSO 15mm plossl is okay but not the best of the GSO range. You already have a 25 and 10mm EP (silver-top Skywatchers I presume, which are decent EPs). On minimal budget I'd just add a 15mm, a 2x barlow (+ optionally a extension tube) to make a comprehensive set for all occasions from low to high power.

Few more thoughts for you to consider at your peril: :lol:

A 15mm will be very useful for deep sky on its own and on planets barlowed, so you might want to make it a good one. "Ultima" style plossls are the best plossls for general purpose viewing IME. Cheapest of this style EPs are the Antares Elites but need to order from o/s (eg scopestuff). More expensive ones, e.g. Orion Ultrascopic, Parks Gold (try AEC in Adelaide), are a better due to full multi-coatings but Elites with MC are quite good already.

If you want the best for planetary viewing with your scope but still for a reasonable amount of money, then 12mm UO HD ortho (try Frontier Optics qld) with the Deluxe barlow - and optionally extension tube for upping the power when desired, but barlow+ortho combo will give you about 220-230x which is normally perfect.

Televue plossls are also highly regarded by many and having owned a few I'd agree that they are up there with the best. However, for your scope and purposes I would recommend the above mentioned EPs before TV plossl for reasons I'll omit for now lest this post never end.

[mwill76]

Thanks for your post janoskiss, it made a lot of sense to me.

I have just received an orion shorty 2x barlow and also a 3x barlow, so I think my next purchase will be a decent 15mm ep.

M

[rmcpb]

Now you have made your mind up on your next purchase don't forget to check out the for sale section in IIS. Some good deals there at present.

Cheers

[ving]

bah! you are always disagreeing with me steve :P

[janoskiss]

No I'm not! :P