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Old 17-08-2018, 12:46 PM
Madanie7 (Brendan)
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Eyepieces

Hi Guys,
Is there an idiots guide to eyepieces? I would like to read said guide if there is.

I have a Celestron Nexstar 6SE.
I have the stock standard eyepiece (25mm I think) and I bought a Celestron 8-24mm.
Is this enough for a beginner?

I am open to really nice eyepieces if they will improve what I see and if that improvement is justified in the price.

The reason I ask about the guide as I am not across the FOV, Exit Pupil stuff and I also have no clue what eyepieces would suit my telescope based on their specs.

TIA

Cheers
Brendan
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Old 17-08-2018, 03:11 PM
Wavytone
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The 8-24 covers the medium to high power range perfectly well and theres not a lot of scope on a C6 for anything much longer than 25mm (which you have).

Suggest you attend a star party hosted by a society near you, see what people are using and try a few for yourself before committing $.

Alternatively you could take the plunge and buy 3-4 Televue Naglers and be done with it.
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Old 17-08-2018, 10:05 PM
Madanie7 (Brendan)
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Thanks Nick
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Old 17-08-2018, 11:19 PM
m11 (Mel)
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Hi Brendan,

I have a 6se and found its worth getting 1-2 decent eyepieces. I also found bumping up the magnification, the view really starts to get dim.

I would get something around the 13mm range since you have a 25mm like a Nagler 13mm - the cost I see as a lifelong investment.

The issue I have found is eyepieces purchases start to add up really quickly
m11
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Old 18-08-2018, 06:32 AM
Madanie7 (Brendan)
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Thanks Mel, have you found a Barlow useful in the 6se?
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Old 18-08-2018, 09:21 AM
m11 (Mel)
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Hi Brendan,

My personal viewing I dont use barlows. I have a few of them but prefer to have an eyepiece at the focal length I want to view at.

I have also found with a diagonal and some eyepieces will already unbalanced the 6se.

Hope it helps.
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Old 18-08-2018, 10:23 AM
Madanie7 (Brendan)
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thankyou
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Old 18-08-2018, 11:12 AM
m11 (Mel)
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All good.

As Nick have said, see if you can catch up with an astro society or friends that have scopes to test things out.

Have a read of reviews and which eyepieces get consistent good reviews as well.

One thing I would recommend is get a good eyepiece case with cushioning that you can pluck, helps with protecting the eyepieces and also if you are missing stuff
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Old 18-08-2018, 02:53 PM
morls (Stephen)
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Hi Brendan,

I've tried a few different eyepieces, first in my 8" dob (f6) a few years ago and most recently in my 180 Mak (f15). I'm still pretty new to all this, but maybe my experiences might help? There are plenty of others here with a heap more experience than me, so what follows is purely based upon my own experience with the above scopes, alongside reading in the different forums etc...

In choosing eyepieces for the dob vs mak, the difference in focal length is an important factor. Generally, longer focal length = less demanding of eyepiece = less expensive eyepieces will give good views. So, when I think of an eyepiece for the mak I take this into account, and so can consider a wider range of brands/quality/type.

When I had the dob, I spent a lot of time replacing the collimation screws and springs, got the best collimation gear I could, and basically tried to tune it really nicely. I tend to go into things deeply, and so the logical path as I saw it was to get the scope and eyepiece tuned and matched. The setup that gave me the best views with this scope was dark skies, painstaking collimation and a 13mm nagler. Just beautiful.

The views I got through this scope with other eyepieces were great (GSO, meade), but with the nagler they were exceptional. This taught me that when the eyepiece is well engineered the results speak for themselves.

The same goes for my eyepiece choice with the f15 mak. I've splashed out a lot of spondoolas for a 35mm Panoptic, for a couple of reasons: a) my experience with the nagler; b) I won't have to wonder if there's a 'better' eyepiece in this focal length for this scope. There probably is, but the panoptic is fantastic, and the next step up in quality is a BIG step up in aforementioned spondoolas.

I can't tell you which eyepiece would be best for you, but I've learnt that you get what you pay for, and the resale value on a premium eyepiece, provided you look after it, is very encouraging. But, the chances are you won't sell a premium eyepiece, a statement I make based solely on my own experience...

A lot of members here have posted great info about eyepieces. Two whose comments are always thoughtful and considered are ausastronomer and Mental4astro, but there are many others as well. Mental's research into matching eyepiece type to scope type is very interesting...

My own findings are that premium eyepieces make a substantial difference to my viewing experience, so much so that I'm prepared to wait a few months to save up for another premium rather than buy 5 or 6 serviceable eyepieces. Buy once, and buy well.

I think there is a law of diminishing returns per $ spent, in that once you get into the area of 95% excellence, the amount of money needed to gain that last 5% becomes much greater. A nagler or pentax or similar is, in my mind, that level of 95% excellence that gives astounding views under the right conditions. These may cost hundreds of dollars each, but with three or four of this quality and my 180 Mak I'm going to be very very happy.

This is, of course, just my own limited experience talking. I guess the main point I want to make is that the exceptional quality of viewing, and so great joy in using the gear and sense of awe I feel when looking through the scope makes these eyepieces worth every single cent, and more.

Stephen

Last edited by morls; 18-08-2018 at 04:09 PM.
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  #10  
Old 18-08-2018, 06:20 PM
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OzEclipse (Joe Cali)
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There has already been some very good advice here.

If you have a fast newt then you have to be very careful of what eyepiece design you buy. Different telescope types have different focal plane curvatures, eyepieces have different curvatures that match certain types of scopes.

I have a moderately fast dob f5.6 so I have invested in Naglers which work well with fast Newts. Naglers are a decent investment.

If you are making long term investments, then you have to think about what type of telescope you might buy in the future.

SCT's like your 6SE at f10 are typically very forgiving of eyepiece design so you can use almost any of the economy designs. GSO Super plossls are very cheap and reasonable. The GSO Superviews are good bang for the buck. Some of the Superviews are 2" eyepieces.

I think your 6SE only accepts 1 1/4" but not 2" eyepieces. So that will limit you to the shorter 15mm and 20mm Superviews and Super Plossls for longer eyepieces.


Quote:
A lot of members here have posted great info about eyepieces. Two whose comments are always thoughtful and considered are ausastronomer and Mental4astro, but there are many others as well. Mental's research into matching eyepiece type to scope type is very interesting...
I would +1 the above comment. These two have tested many eyepiece and telescope combinations. search for their posts in the eyepieces thread. Well worth a read.

Joe
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Old 18-08-2018, 09:41 PM
Madanie7 (Brendan)
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Thanks guys. Appreciate it
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Old 20-08-2018, 05:30 PM
morls (Stephen)
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This site has some good info - http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_p...Tab=#Eyepieces

and another - although it refers to 8" SCT the f10 of your scope matches, and the basic principles are there.
http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_p...n=Advice&id=97


Although the above two are TeleVue, the principles are the same no matter the brand. The important parameters are focal length, FOV, eye relief, and true field of view, all of which can be googled. There is a great calculator, again at televue, where you can enter your scope's details and see how different eyepiece designs behave in your scope. You can apply these results to other brands if you want to, just match focal length and FOV. For instance, I think the GSO superviews are 68 degrees, similar to Panoptic:
http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_p...212&plain=TRUE


There is some good info here on eyepieces too, as well as a bunch of other stuff:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/glossary.html

And finally this one is great. You can enter your exact scope details and eyepiece brand/model, and then get an idea of what the view will be. I used this to choose my 35mm Panoptic, based on what would give me the best possible view of Omega Centauri with my scope. (you can do a search for different objects under the 'targets' tab. Choose 'eyepiece' under the mode tab): http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/as...iew-calculator

Cheers

Stephen

Last edited by morls; 20-08-2018 at 05:53 PM.
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Old 20-08-2018, 07:33 PM
Wavytone
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Quote:
Originally Posted by morls View Post
You can enter your exact scope details and eyepiece brand/model, and then get an idea of what the view will be.
Even better:

Configure Sky Safari with details of your scope(s) and eyepieces, select which ones to show, and it draws one or more circles showing the field of view on the sky - at the correct scale.

I have mine set to show the field of view of the finder scope, and that of the main scope at lowest power so it shows a "bullseye".
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Old 21-08-2018, 01:24 PM
Madanie7 (Brendan)
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Awesome websites. Thanks.

I have been on televue website the last few days.

Decided to start with a 13mm Nagler and a 24mm Panoptic.

Will fill the gaps over time.

Cheers
Brendan
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Old 21-08-2018, 05:49 PM
astro744
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Madanie7 View Post
Awesome websites. Thanks.

I have been on televue website the last few days.

Decided to start with a 13mm Nagler and a 24mm Panoptic.

Will fill the gaps over time.

Cheers
Brendan
Excellent choice. Enjoy!

(9mm T6 Nagler complements this pair nicely).
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Old 21-08-2018, 06:13 PM
morls (Stephen)
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Old 21-08-2018, 06:16 PM
Chapstick
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Funny, I just sold my 6SE along with eyepieces and got an edge 11 with no eyepieces. After much deliberation and reading all I could find on the Televue site I ended up going with the Ethos 8/13/21....don't think the wife will talk to me after this.
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Old 21-08-2018, 06:59 PM
morls (Stephen)
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it's a dangerous site

how do you find the 100 degree FOV?
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Old 21-08-2018, 07:04 PM
Chapstick
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Originally Posted by morls View Post
it's a dangerous site

how do you find the 100 degree FOV?
I have not received them yet but I certainly hope they blow me away All I have ever used until this point are celestron Plossl.
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Old 21-08-2018, 09:20 PM
Madanie7 (Brendan)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astro744 View Post
Excellent choice. Enjoy!

(9mm T6 Nagler complements this pair nicely).
that was actually what I was thinking
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