Quote:
Originally Posted by 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  |
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.