Skywatcher Dobsonian compatible eyepieces?

[darkskybondi]

Hi guys, after many years overseas I find myself marooned in Sydney during a pandemic. A great excuse to spend some time indulging my lapsed ham radio and astronomical hobbies!


I have a 10" collapsible Skywatcher Dobsonian, happily in perfect condition and newly washed and collimated by Bintel. I'm looking to upgrade the eyepieces; would love a couple of used ones. The thing is, before I even start my research on what i should be scouting for, forgive me for the n00b question: how do I know if an eyepiece will fit on my scope? Or are they all standardized?


I've been away from the hobby a long long time. Be kind!


DSB

[glend]

They are standard sizes, and will all fit your scope. Most scopes include an adaptor in the focuser barrel to allow 2" or 1.25" eye pieces. Have a look through Bintels eye piece web page:

https://www.bintel.com.au/product-category/eyepieces-and-barlows/standard-eyepieces/?v=322b26af01d5

[darkskybondi]

Thanks mate. I currently have the standard 25mm and 10mm that came with the scope. I'm thinking a much nicer wide-angle eyepiece would be great, and maybe something in the 5-10mm range. The 10mm eyepiece is... not great, but that may be more due to the laws of optics than the lens itself (I mean, the shorter the length of the eyepiece, the more zoom you get but the dimmer the image will be, right?)


Again, forgive the n00bism. I've been away for a long time!

[Don Pensack]

10" f/5 (approx) means the appropriate eyepieces might be:
30mm for low power and widest field--2"
20mm for low power but a darker background and friendlier exit pupil
10mm for medium power
7mm for a low-end-of-high-power view
5mm for a moderately high power you'd use often.

If you add a 2x Barlow lens, you can shave the set to 30, 20, 7, and 5mm
The barlow will yield 10mm with the 20mm, and 3.5mm with the 7mm and 2.5mm with the 5mm. That would completely fill in the set:
30..20..10..7..5..3.5..2.5mm

There are a lot of brands. Take a look:
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/700069-2020-eyepieces-buyers-guide/?p=10103883
Prices are US prices. You'll need to look up prices for Oz or convert.

[GrahamL]

I had a 27 panoptic with my 10 " years ago very nice eyepiece I dont recall it being overly heavy , theres one nicely priced in buy and sell right now .

[darkskybondi]

Thanks all of you, very useful advice. All of your posts have been helpful.



It sounds like buying a REALLY good wide eyepiece plus a Barlow would be the best way to go for now.



That 27mm Televue looks like the kind of thing that'd do the trick. I don't see it listed in the classifieds? I'd love to buy one used, and I'd also love to know if there are any other wide eyepieces anyone can recommend. There's far too much choice out there and I could really use some guidance.



It may be that I should wait till lockdown ends so I can play with other people's eyepieces at a star party to decide what makes most sense to invest in for my scope.

[Startrek]

I owned a 10” dob y for 2 years and now have a Skywatcher 12” Goto dob
I’ve built up a collection of Televue eye pieces over 4 years and apart from the wow factor of the 21mm ethos my next favourite eye piece would be the 27mm Panoptic ,followed by the 17.3mm Delos
The 27mm Panoptic is a very versatile eye piece , plenty of eye relief , 68 degrees AFOV, good colour and contrast and no issue with kidney beaning, glare or aberration
I use it mainly for globular clusters, open clusters , the smaller Nebula with a Ultra High Contrast filter and the brighter galaxies

For your first Televue eye piece , the 27mm Panoptic is a great choice

NB: Forgot to mention that I observe under Bortle 3 skies

Clear Skies