Which accessorie should I buy next?

[Frosty]

Hey guyz just been reading about eye pieces etc... and im not sure which one i should purchase.

My current EP's are as follows:

4mm
9mm
25mm
30mm

Now I know what people mean when they say a 4mm has poor eye relief. :ashamed:

My budget for an EP or EP's is $100, just wondering if any1 can give me an idea on what kind of EP I should purchase next. I was thinking a 15mm?

Mayb I should buy a 2x Barlow lens? not sure.

Thanks in advance Frosty :D

[MintSauce]

use the telescope first .:astron:

heh nah I got a nice ultrawide angle 30mm for mine, and a superwide 20mm. I do feel my high magnifications are a little lacking, the 6.5mm is not an enjoyable lens to use.

I read that a telerad finder is a good one to buy first (infact I've seen a few people recommend buying with the scope)

G.:astron:

[Starkler]

Low power widefields are nice if you live without light polution.
You'll know yourself from using the 25 and 30mm .

I would start with a good barlow, such as the Orion 2x Ultrascopic 3 element. This will give you the following effective focal lengths.

30mm
25mm
15mm (barlowed 30) Good for dso's
12.5mm (barlowed 25) Good for dso's
4.5mm (barlowed 9mm) very high mag , rarely useful
4mm (throw it away :) )

The beauty of a barlow is that you can view at higher powers and all with the comfortable eye relief of the longer focal length eyepieces you already have.

As for eyepieces, a 12.5mm when barlowed at 2x gives a very useful magnification with your scope for viewing the planets.

When buying eyepieces and the like , buy quality and cry only once :)

[Frosty]

Thanks for advise guyz, it helps alot. Yeah I was thinking of buying a telrad, i found 1 for $70 which is a celestron.

Can any1 give me any feedback on a celestron Telrad, if u have used 1 b4, what did u think of it? Would you rather buy a Telrad or a 2 x barlow Orion?


So many accessroies to buy for my new hobby which cost so much :P

[Frosty]

By the way, how much does this Orion 2 x Barlow cost? :|

I just found a Omni 2 x Barlow 1.25" Celestron for $115.. which i can probly just afford

[jackenau]

Evenin Frosty

I was in the same situation awhile back, with the same size scope.

I agree somewhat with Starkler, the smaller ep's are probably too higher in magnification to give you any real quality observing.

I had a 20mm superwide, (no name brand ep) which I used the most, second, I purchased a reasonable quality 2 * barlow which worked equally as well with my 15mm and 12mm ep's. Reasonable viewing on planets, M42, Jupiter. (you could easily distinguish what you are looking at).

Sometimes, I think we all tend to believe what we are viewing is going to be huge, or at least look like pictures etc, that we see in magazines or in various posts.

I have a Telrad and never used it on my 4" reflector, (sold the scope to finance the 12" dob), however I use it on my 6" and 12" all the time. I would have to say it was well worth purchasing, once you start to know your way around the sky.

The main point being with a telrad, is that you have to know the general direction and what you are looking for (at). It doesn't give magnification, but if your scope is reasonably well aligned, you see where you are aimed at.

Take your time, learn what is where, don't over expect, and don't get over awed by others in your expectations of what you can see through their scopes.

We all start somewhere and mature from there.

Barlow first, telrad third

Ken M

[Starkler]

In short, Telrads are of limited use in light poluted skies.

If you cant afford the barlow yet and really want to spend money, I'd go for a 15mm GSO superview at $69 from Andrews.
It will fill a gap between the 9mm and the 25mm nicely and double for a useful mag for planets should you get a barlow at a later date.

The barlow I think will cost around $150 but its well worth it.
In astro gear, buying cheap inferior crap makes it only more expensive in the end when you buy again to replace it.

[wavelandscott]

This is a good question...

I can't claim to have the answer but here is my 2 cents worth...

I'd spend money on the best optics that you can find...get fewer high quality things...that last over time (or hold their resale value)

I've been saving my "barlow pennies" for a while now and with the recent Christmas gift guilt my wife is suffering I am investing in a TV 2.5X Powermate...(with her blessing)

I now have the plossels that came with my scope and an 11 mm Nagler... I hope to build on this with a bigger "quality" wide fov (undecided) next year sometime...hopefully gaining one per year

I do have a Telrad (just installed) but not yet used (curse the clouds and my travel schedule) but I dig the concept...there are some cool sites with star charts and the Telrad "bullseye" already on them...I call them PHD (Point Here Dummy)

My rationale is that eyepieces make up a large percent of the optics...why skimp?

Cheers!

[gbeal]

Wave has a point, a few quality eyepieces, and a good barlow perhaps. I like the "cry once" concept that Starkler promotes.
I tend to use the barlow more for imaging, but it can stretch the eyepiece case as well, if required.
I have never owned a Telrad, but appreciate that others like them. Try one first, if you can.
Gary

[MintSauce]

Good to see you went for the 1 1/4 inch barlow, I Got the 2" with scope for the 2" andrews 80 eye piece I ordered and it's a pain when trying to barlow a 1.25inch eyepiece with the 2" barlow :( actually thinking of getting andrews 1.25 barlow or long barlow ($39 or $19 respectively) does anyone know why it's better apart from actual size + weight (like does it effect optics).

G.

[Starkler]

Why is it a pain ?
Actually i have heard the 2 inch gso barlow is a decent unit and will give far superior performance to any cheap barlow that Andrews sells.

Where you really want a barlow most is for high power planetary viewing where you are viewing bright objects of low contrast .
A cheap barlow will just not cut it due to reflections and scattered light. A bit like driving at night with a dirty windscreen.

[MintSauce]

it's an andrews 2" barlow I have, altho it will be GS.

it's a pain cause of the 1.25 -> 2" converter things, instead of just whacking in a barlow I have to remove the converter and put it in the barlow etc :D call me lazy then :P

[ving]

superwide EP.... the only way to go!