What eye pieces should I buy?

[SurferSmyth (Ryan)]

So I picked up my first telescope it's a
10" collapsible skywaker dob got it for $750 at btow in Perth malaga (shutting down on Saturday)
What eye pieces should I buy for planet and deep sky viewing? I'm planning on getting a Barlow

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

First step is to find out what eyepieces it came with. My usual advice is to stick at first with the ones that came with the scope.
Personally I have never been a big fan of barlows, and I have only used good quality Televue ones. To my mind prime eyepieces are a better way to go but only in a limited range of focal lengths.

Malcolm

[pw (Peter)]

I have a Bintel 8" dob and my most used eyepiece is the 2" 26mm that came with it. I have ones with higher magnification, including a Televue Delos, but my seeing is rarely good enough to use them.

[pw (Peter)]

PS. I got the Delos for planetary viewing, it's a 6mm for high magnification.

[SurferSmyth (Ryan)]

the ones that came with the scope are Super 25mm and 10mm.
as ive been looking around alot of people seem to think a 6mm is the way to go for planetary viewing?

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by SurferSmyth

the ones that came with the scope are Super 25mm and 10mm.
as ive been looking around alot of people seem to think a 6mm is the way to go for planetary viewing?

The main reason I recommended using the ones you have is they will give you a point of comparison for when or if you think about getting more. You will find that the 25mm is not a bad EP, reasonable field and eye relief. The 10mm on the other hand will have a very small field, a small exit pupil and not much eye relief making it much harder to use. So if you decide to get a 6mm, unless you go for a premium EP (like a Delos!) you will get higher power but the things that make an EP difficult to use will be even more in evidence.
Higher power viewing requires better conditions and the more power the less you can use it.

Not saying don't buy more EPs, just be aware that each purchase is going to involve some trade offs!

Malcolm

[OzStarGazer]

Yes, I noticed the problems mentioned by Malcom with my eyepieces (the same as yours), so I bought a premium 8mm eyepiece with a larger FOV last week because sometimes it was difficult to find an object again with the 10mm once it had drifted out of view, so I had to try and find it again with the 25mm one and then change the eyepiece again, which was a bit tiresome.

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Some time back I was observing alongside my brother in law who has an 8" Bintel with the standard eyepieces. He called me over to check out the globular cluster 47 Tuc in his 10mm. The view was fine, but then I said let's put in my old 9mm type 1 Nagler to get a slightly wider field. The difference was stunning, not just at the edges but the whole image was brighter, clearer and sharper.
So I recommend you keep on the lookout for some used eyepieces, type 1 9mm are quite cheap when they are sold these days.

[hilb]

Think about a zoom eyepiece. I have an Orion Zooom, it goes from 21-7mm and I love it. Especially with the dob (I have the 10" collapsible skywatcher dob, too) where changing from low to high power on a small/faint object, you can lose it before you get the smaller eyepiece in. Saves a lot of fiddling about.

[Clockdrive]

My 2c would be to stick with what was included with your scope for a while. Go and meet a few star-heads and try out their EPs in your scope to see what otehr magnifications, AFOVs etc. work for your eyes. What works in terms of AFOV, eye relief etc. for one person will not necessarily work for another. I LOVE most of the things I look at using either 12mm or 20mm EPs. Magnification aside (depending on scope of course) they just always seem to give me the aesthetic that I like. Many of my friends are for more finicky and spend ours tabulating EPs and magnification for each individual scope..and AFOV and TFOV etc. etc. ....nuts to that, I like to LOOK.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Yeah definitely try before you buy IMO, of you can meet up with some fellow astros locally...eyepieces are often a case of personal taste

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

+1 on the 9mm T1's , I have one and its a very good eyepiece even when compared to the new 9mm Delos .
They do pop up from time to time here .

Brian.

Originally Posted by The Mekon

Some time back I was observing alongside my brother in law who has an 8" Bintel with the standard eyepieces. He called me over to check out the globular cluster 47 Tuc in his 10mm. The view was fine, but then I said let's put in my old 9mm type 1 Nagler to get a slightly wider field. The difference was stunning, not just at the edges but the whole image was brighter, clearer and sharper.
So I recommend you keep on the lookout for some used eyepieces, type 1 9mm are quite cheap when they are sold these days.

[Quoll (Bill)]

Ryan, I second what Malcolm and Ozstargazer say. I’m a newbie and have an 8” DOB and the same eyepieces as you. I don’t find the 10mm much cop but the 25mm is not bad. I Barlow the 25mm and much prefer that to the 10mm as I find it gives better eye relief, a wider field of view and better resolution. If you are getting a Barlow get a good one.

I got my scope at Christmas and was in a rush to get some better eyepieces but then decided to hold off until I had a bit more experience with the scope/observing. The only eyepiece I have bought to date is the Bintel/GSO 2” 30mm super view which I think is excellent value for the money.

What I’ve learned from my experience so far is that I prefer EPs with a wide field of view and good eye relief so that’s the way I want to go. I don’t want to spend heaps of money on EPs so I’m taking my time to find the right EPs for me at the right price.

My advice is to use what you have until you get a feel for what’s best for your type of observing. I’m hoping to get along to a meeting of the Astronomical Society of WA this Monday and then some of their viewing nights to check out some different EPs. Maybe that’s something for you to consider.

[Pinwheel (Doug)]

My GSO 12" Dob came with a 26mm 2" and a 9mm & 15mm 1.25". However I also had bought a full set of 1.25" 40mm, 30mm, 20mm, 15mm, 10mm, 6.5mm & a 4mm four years ago for my 8" newt.

I have to now say I prefer the older set to the ones that came with the 12" including the 2". The Chinese set are sharper, better eye relief & have a black circular mask in them where the newer ones don't. I'm so glad I didn't sell the set off as I was going to a year ago.

Have look on eBay there are some good buys on there.

[14cge (Roy)]

Don't go for the sets if you value quality of view. Better of buying good eyepieces slowly. A good eyepiece will make most scope ( even real cheapies) look great. A lot of people have never looked through a good eyepiece in there scope, so they don't know the difference. My suggestion is to join a club. Go out viewing with them & you will find many of us are happy for you to try our eyepieces for a minute or two! Far cheaper than buying and then not be happy!

[PSALM19.1 (Shaun)]

Hi Ryan, I know you've got plenty of good advice so far; I have an 8" Bintel Dob as well and used the EP's supplied with it for a while; I sought some "upgrade" advice from the Bintel shop and they steered me toward an Orion Edge-On Planetary 6mm EP; these EP's have a very good eye relief and excellent contrast and I have not noticed any aberration at all through the whole field of view. At around $130 I think they are an excellent buy...in fact, I would have to say that about 85% of my observing is done with this one EP (I have to go to a 15mm or so for DSO's though); when I barlow this EP (I have a celestron barlow and a bintel version) it performs well; of course, on any given night, seeing can be dull and pulling back the power is more satisfying than giant blobs barlowed beyond recognition! Anyway, you'll get plenty of enjoyment from the EP's supplied - it costs a fair bit to build up a set of Televue EP's