Which eyepiece and where from?

Alphastara · #1 25-08-2007, 05:58 PM

We have just started out and don't know too much about eyepieces. We have a Skywatcher SW135 - 130mm Newtonian Reflector. It comes with a 25mm Wideview and a 10mm eyepiece (30mm dia).

We are keen to get some more magnification out of it, our thoughts are a 6mm or a barlow lens to use with our existing eyepieces. What do you suggest?

Also, where's the best place to buy, brand etc? We are located in Hobart if anyone knows of somewhere local, otherwise online would be great.

Eric48 · #2 26-08-2007, 05:49 PM

I'm very much new to astronomy so not much experience but replying because I started out with the same telescope - and still have it. I decided to upgrade the eyepieces that came with it and get a bit more magnification at the same time - mainly to look at Saturn and Jupiter.

I bought a Orion Stratus 8mm eyepiece online from Bintel in Sydney. It made a very big difference to my viewing because it was very comfortable for a beginner like me to use (lots of eye relief), it gave me a much bigger field of view than the eyepieces that came with my Skywatcher and of course more magnification. My only slight regret was that I didn't get the 5mm.

The Orion Stratus costs just under $200 which may seem a lot of money given the cost of the telescope but to me it was well worth it.

Hope this helps a bit in making your decision.

Alphastara · #3 26-08-2007, 09:02 PM

Thanks for your input, we will take a look at our budget first

but we would love to start to get some quality eyepieces.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #4 27-08-2007, 10:17 AM

The 10 and 25mm are a good start, assuming they are good quality plossls, and not the "super" EPs from the SW line: http://skywatchertelescope.com/ProductsEY.html (the silver ones and the "super plossls" are good)

In addition to what you already have I'd grab a 15mm or 17mm plossl and a 2x barlow also (GSO is the cheapest one that works okay). 15mm will be near ideal for deep sky, and barlowed it will be great on planets. Cannot recommend plossls <10mm because of short eye relief, ie poor comfort.

btw, for everyone else: scope in question is an 5 inch f/7.7 newt.