Skywatcher 254mm Eyepieces

[kingy2511]

Hey guys

I recently purchased a 254mm (10") Skywatcher Black Diamond with 2 inch Crayford focus-er with a 1.25inch reducer.. From new it only came with a 28mm Plossl EP and have been looking to upgrade!.

Vixen NPL's which are actually Super Plossl, they catch my eye, while being at the right price they seem to produce very good views. Couple of examples are here:
http://www.astroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-013B
http://www.astroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-013D
Anyone had experience with these? Are they good for their price range?

Was also considering a Barlow: http://www.astroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-006E


Thanks for any and all advice

Clear Skies
Regards Nathan

[MattT]

Hi Nathan,
As another noob i have just been through the upgrade mine field. There is a thread on the eyepiece forum on having 3-4 eyepieces with a barlow and not double up on magnification, something along the lines of 8,12,18 22mm.
Plossls are narrow field and if your scope is a push dob things drift fast at higher mags. I ended up spending a bit more and got a few 68 degree eyepieces, which are very nice. I haven't used the Vixen plossls so can't comment there , Matt

[dannat]

I had one & I don't know thy will be that much. Better than the plossl you got with your scope, the vixen nlv would be a step up, though there new price is overpriced IMO (they are better had secondhand)

Some ep's to look out fr secondhand are astrotech paradigm, baader Hyperion, Orion expanse (6&9 are good 15-20 less so), & the flat field eyepieces

[kingy2511]

Thanks for reply's.

The scope is mounted on a EQ6 so drift of narrow field EP's shouldn't be a problem. Honestly im not going to own every EP on the market, probly 3 at the most!. 10mm-20mm-30mm range, then ad a Barlow to mix things up abit..

Anyone have some suggestions for 3 EP's i should be looking at? And best place to buy Ep's from? I've been looking mostly at Astro Shop are there anymore?

Cheers

[jjjnettie]

Your 20mm will effectively be a 10mm when you add the barlow. So you might want to think of purchasing one of a different FL so you get good value for your money. :)

Personally, my 15mm SV gets the most use. Followed by my 2" 28mm.
I use the 40mm for tracking down comets mainly.
My last scope came with a 9mm and a 25mm. Both have 52 degree fov, and quite nice considering they are just kit lenses. :)

[omegacrux]

Hi Nathan
Andrewscom.com sell GSO ep's they are of reasonable price and quality , if you don't want to break the bank.
Like most here I mostly end up using 20 to 30mm ep my 30 only gives 25 mag but nice wide views !

[MattT]

Hi Nathan
Firstly congrats on the scope and mount. My first eyepiece purchase was GSO plossls from Andrews Communications 30, 20, and 15. All of these could be their Superview series. I have the 15mm SV which is just as good as the 15mm plossl but a wider view. Also got the 2.5x Barlow which gives great views of Tuc 47 etc with the 20mm. I'm now in the process of getting a few Explore Scientific 68 and 82 degree series from OPT in the U.S. Astronomics is another site with mostly marketing info on all sorts of eyepieces. Matt

[kingy2511]

Sounds like you well and truely have it worked out Matt :)

Well I bought a couple of eyepieces but they havnt arived yet do I decided to get the scope out anyway!. The moon has not yet risen and its pitch black, can clearly see milky way stars etc etc. But I can see very little through the eyepiece? Just faint white in focus stars?? Is that all you can see through a 28mm? Mmm -_-

[MattT]

Yep that sounds about right for the view in the 28mm, it's when you get to globs and nebs that it starts to get interesting. Wish I had worked it out... would have got an EQ6 instead but the HEQ5 pro is a good mount. Seeing as the 28mm is a 2" eyepiece I got a GSO 2" ED 2x barlow which comes with a 1.25" adaptor, then all you need is a 20mm and 15mm to start with:D Should get some good views then. Matt

[kingy2511]

No doubt :)

What are some of you favorite Galaxy/Messier's to look at?

[MattT]

Hi Nathan,
Well it's clear here but don't have the brain power to go outside my favourites in my limited time so far in no particular order: Jewel box, Tucana 47 glob, orion nebula, any thing around the Southern Cross. Galaxy's I haven't had much success at think it's the weather conditions reading other threads here and it depends on what i can see past the trees that take up a bit of sky. Jupiter and planets are really good too...not had any success with Mars yet still a red blob but think that needs a bit of patience! I am envious of your dark skies though... spent a week in Robe in S.A. in January no moon and dark skies only had an ancient pair of binos 7 x 50's but huge amounts of faint fuzzies in view. Matt

[kingy2511]

Very nice!

I think that that is the biggest learning curve, trying to remember what to actuelly type into the Handcontrol.. Also remembering what can be viewd at certain times and only in Southern Hemisphere.. I suppose there is a website that tells u alot, if there is I havnt found it yet!.

[MattT]

Hi Nathan,
If you go to beginners talk at the top third from the top is a list of objects to look up in the southern sky. Matt