New 8"=CONFUSION

[BluMoon]

Please help.....
I have just bought my first Telescope (8" Skywatcher Dob) after wathing the sky wiyh a pair of binos for the past twelve months,and the first couple of nights have been nothing but mind blowing.
I got 2 EP's(10mm & 25mm suuper plossle) included with the package.
I have read heaps of reviews and got even more advice on what EP's to buy.
I'm lost...naglers,plossles,UWE???...Ca n anyone please help:help:
Just like everybody I have a budget but not sure where to go from here.
Guy :(

[joshman]

hey hey, i've got no idea, but i notice you are form laidley. i'm from gatton my self.

fun times eh?

[csb]

I often wondered about what different ep's were for, which were best, etc. until I found this site

http://www.astronomical.org/astbook/eyepiece.htm

It's easy to understand (without being too simplified). VERY helpful.

The bottom half has cutouts of 5 popular ep designs and what they are best suited for.

I hope it helps.

[citivolus]

Another thing you may want to consider is a visit to an observing night with your local astronomy club. There are bound to be people there who would let you have a peek through their eyepiece, so that you can get a feel for the different focal lengths, as well as what things like field of view and eye relief really mean.

I still remember 5 years ago at an observing night, looking through a binoviewer with a couple 2" naglers. I've been drooling ever since.

[Phil]

Having a Dob have you looked at collimation. It may help to get your optics collimated first. You can get laser collimator's from any astro shop or other tools to help with collimation.
Phil

[rmcpb]

Guy,

Slow down!!

If you have just got your dob spend a lot of time getting to know it and your observing style BEFORE going down the accessories path otherwise you will end up with lots of expensive paperweights.

At present, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket, get yourself a cheshire eyepiece and laser collimator so you can tune your scope to get the best views available under your conditions.

A good barlow, like the Orion Shorty Plus would be a great addition soon as well.

Worry about eyepieces later....................

[wavelandscott]

Sage advice in the above quote...get to know your current gear well and get it optimised (collimated well) first before running out and buying a whole bunch of new eyepieces or other accessories.

The other sound bit of advice is to get out with your gear to an observing night or two with others and try out some of the gear they have...proper expectations and past experience are your friend when looking to buy new gear!

It is very easy to spend lots of money in this hobby but it is not necessary to do so to enjoy it!

Once you know what you enjoy looking at (moon, planets, globular clusters, faint fuzzies) and how you enjoy looking at it, making some relevent recommendations will be a lot easier for the folks here on the forum and also easier on your wallet.

Cheers!

[madwayne]

I know of a really good laser collimator for sale in the Ice in Space classifieds, in fact the guy who is selling it is a really good bloke.....:whistle:. To the point where he would throw in free express post to help out (gee I hope I haven't done anything wrong by posting this, if I have please kick gently :D).

All the best with the Dob.

[BluMoon]

Sorry Guy's, I should have mentioned I did buy a laser collimator when I got the scope.(thanks to previous advice I had read on this forum) it's a Saxon with the target on it. I have had a tinker with it and it seems to be collimated ok.
I am definatly going to do my research and heed the advice.
Thanks very much Rob,I willcertainly look at getting the Orion shorty and test out the EP's I have. I do want to say I'm not bagging the ones I have its just when you get a 'package' you're never sure of quality and I dont see the point of buying a telescope and not getting the MAX out of it.
Thanks again to all who offered thier help.
Guy

[rmcpb]

Guy,

If you are going to get one of those barlows make sure its the Orion Shorty PLUS. The Orion Shorty is a good barlow but the PLUS model is much better with not much more money attached.

To be honest, I don't think you will max out your eyepieces quickly. Observing is a skill and it takes time to see better than your eyepieces can support. Remember, the eyepieces you get as a throw in today would have been beauties not so long ago. Take your time and enjoy :)

Cheers

[ngcles]

Hi Guy,

One of the most important pieces of advice as someone else noted above is to join an astronomical society and go along with some other amateurs to their field nights. Not only will you gain from the experience of observing with people that are "more along the track" than yourself, after a while you will be able to make a much more informed decision on what to buy -- what is necessary -v- what is nice. You can try out other eyepieces first hand too.

Take it slow!

Just one Nagler is likely to cost as much as your 'scope! (and they are addictive!)

In the end, you _need_ a few (about 4) eyepieces or ep/barlow combinations to give you a useful range of powers and field sizes for your size 'scope. But there is no hurry.

Only one more piece of advice: When the time finally comes to upgrade and after you've done your research, Remember -- 1 really good eyepiece is better than 3 mediocre ones.

Best,


Les Dalrymple
Contributing Editor AS&T

[citivolus]

Oh, and one more piece of advice from me:

If you're borrowing a Nagler, tighten the set screw. :rolleyes:

[rmcpb]

What, so you accidently cannot return it?????????????

[citivolus]

Lets just say the 2x Nagler + binoviewer was a very close call.

[astro_nutt]

Hi Blu Moon!
Firstly congrats on your new scope which I'm sure will give you many years of viewing enjoyment..one thing to consider is the scope's mount..It might be worthwhile disassembling the mount..then coating the exposed particleboard edges with silicone sealant..allow to dry the put it back together..this will help stop the particleboard absorbing moisture and crumbling!!!
Cheers!

[BluMoon]

Cheers Astro,
Advice taken...the only bit of exposed board is where the bottom bolt screws the two circular boards together.
Thanks to everyone for thier advice it has all ben taken on board!
Guy