Hi Everyone..

[I_Mor]

Hi everyone,
this is my first post here so i'll probably ramble on a bit...

i bought a pair of Saxon 20x80 binoculars about twelve months ago after my girlfriend's sister gave me a subscription for AS&T for xmas 2011 (great mag!).I've always loved everything about science and astronomy and this seemed a practical start.
Now after visiting Bintel in Melb (great store!) i have a 12 inch lightbridge on hold and will pick it up in two weeks. ( standing next to their 16 inch lightbridge on display i couldn't stop smiling! ). I picked up the pocket sky atlas whilst there and have the Atlas of the Southern Night Sky 2nd Edition as well to start with.This will be my first scope. i was just wondering if anyone has any experience with the bintel 9mm eyepiece just to get started with as i'd like to keep my girlfriend,the Televue 17mm Nagler was recommended but will have to wait a bit.Also if anyone has built an eq platform for this scope,was it expensive?..
Anyway thanks in advance and look forward to rambling again soon.
cheers.

[barx1963]

Hi Ian and welcome!
You have selected a great scope to start with. I have a 12" solid tube GSO which is essentially the same scope.
The Bintel 9mm is a plossl so it offers a 50deg apparent field of view and gives power of 166x in your scope. If budget is tight, it makes a reasonable higher power EP to complement the 26mm that comes with the scope, but be aware that eye relief is fairly tight at 6mm so bot the easiest to use.
I wouldn't go spending much money on EPs as the 26mm will show you a lot. When I first got my scope I used the 25mm plossl that came withit maybe 90% of the time.
I would recommend you read up on collimation. A good refrence to start with is here, http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide .htm

Malcolm

[Scorpius51]

Hi Ian

:welcome: to the IIS forum. A great scope to start with. You may be better off with the Meade HD-60 9mm eyepiece than the Bintel 9mm. A bit more expensive, but slightly higher quality, better apparent field of view (60 deg) and better eye relief (17mm). Bintel sell it as well. Also, check out the eyepieces in the IIS classifieds.

I agree with Malcolm - don't get too carried away with EP's at the moment.

Cheers and enjoy the night sky
John

[Kunama]

Hello Ian and welcome, I see you are only 90 odd klms from me so I shall blame you and your Lightbridge for the clouds last night.

Good luck with the new scope.

[I_Mor]

Cheers for the eyepiece advice,and the collimation link! my car helped with the decision by spitting out the alternator last week so no new eyepiece for a while.It happens right? Doesn't change the scope pick up though..getting excited!