Eye pieces supplied with dobs

[James Kirk]

Hi

From what I read, the quality of the eyepieces is extremely important.

Does anyone know if the eyepieces that come with the sw680 skywatcher and the GS680 Dob are different in quality.

SW80 comes with a 10 and 20mm

GS680 comes with 1 x premium possl 9mm and oremium widefield sp26mm.

Cheers

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

The SW Dob comes with silver top plossls 25 and 10mm afaik. These are quite good. The SP26mm that comes with the GSO Dob is not a "premium" EP by any stretch of the imagination and not a good performer in the f/6 scope IME. Better off with a 25mm GSO plossl (the best of the GSO line) or a 32mm GSO Plossl (for max true field of view). I'd also recommend a 15mm plossl (just about any plossl from a proper telescope shop will do) and a 2x FMC barlow for more options at mid and high power.

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

You can count on what Steve has said there - the included eyepieces generally with those scopes are reasonably good, especially in terms of suiting someone who is a beginner at observing (like I was just over a year ago when I bought my GSO dob from Andrew's).

You will find that the ep's that come included with a scope will vary from dealer to dealer (ie GSO dob at Bintel & Andrew's Communications used to come with different ep's) - for instance when I bought mine I received 2 GSO plossl's (25mm and 9mm) and 2 x Series 500 plossl's (15mm & 4mm).

Another thing to consider is that it takes time to learn how to observe, a skill that will increase with time and practice. This is a matter of both the eye learning to "see" better, and of training your brain to better interpret what the eye is seeing.

In short - go with the included eyepieces, get familiar with them, enjoy your observing! Later on if (hopefully "when") you get a chance at a star party to view through someone elses more expensive ep's you'll be ready to decide what factors you like or dislike about other ep's, and whether those factors are important enough to you to spend some money, or lots of money, or huge amounts of money, to buy "better" eyepieces.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I received 3 eyepieces of reasonable quality when I bought my Bintel (GSO) Dobsonian a few years ago.

The eyepieces Bintel included were pretty decent...As has been pointed out previously from others experiences, I am assuming that other suppliers supply decent eyepieces with their scopes too.

I also heartily endorse using what you get (or already have) for a while before you run out and start buying new eyepieces. The more experience you gain the more capable you (we all are) become as observers. Experience will also help you identify the things that you like/want in future eyepiece purchases. One of the "fun" parts of getting together with other astronomy hobbyists is trying out and sharing each thers gear!

There is no substitute to getting your scope (or someone else's) out and using it!

So in summary, pick a "reputable" shop to buy your gear from and then get in to enjoying it.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

You'll be happy enough with those eyepieces. It's good to have a few of the inexpensive ones for the kids to use, it won't be a great tragedy if they get fingerprints on them, or drop them.
Once you get a bit of experience under your belt, you'll want to upgrade to something a bit special that you won't want the kids touching anyway.

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Good advice above. When you first get your scope use the eyepieces supplied and cuddle your dob a lot (use it). When you get some experience in your observing style and have tried a few different eyepieces at observing nights then you will make good choices, otherwise you will end up with lots of expensive paperweights.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by rmcpb

When you get some experience in your observing style and have tried a few different eyepieces at observing nights then you will make good choices, otherwise you will end up with lots of expensive paperweights.

Yes once you have used the supplied eyepieces for a bit and start thinking about something better, be very wary of spending your hard earned on intermediate cheapy widefields. That market is something of a minefield with only a few pearls amongst a lot of dross.

[hickny (Peter)]

I bought my 8" Dob from Andrews two days ago and the sky has been clear ever since. I got a 9mm and 25 mm Plossl and I am very happy with them. Saturn is crystal clear, the moon looks fantastic, Jupiter and four moons are clearly visible. My kids are just as excited as I am. Am I correct in saying that you use the 25 mm to search for deep sky objects. Any suggestions on what to look for first?

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

M42, The Great Orion Nebula, is a good start, then swing the scope around and have a look at the Eta Carina Nebula.