eyepeice advice

[ricktom]

Hi Everyone

i just wondered if i could ask your opinion on an eyepiece i am considering buying for my Telescope( Skywatcher 120mm Refractor) it came supplied with both a 25mm & 10mm eyepiece, i have really enjoyed using the telescope and i am still amazed  what i can see from my back garden (even with a really bad street light) just up the Groby Road from Leicester, the thing is i noticed someone post something about having the same Skywatcher eyepieces as me but not really be comfortable using the 10mm eyepiece on his telescope and asking for advice as to an upgrade or replacement. i seem to have a similar dilema!

 

i suppose what i am asking is do people think it best to stick with a 10mm of a better quality as a direct replacement or to go with something slightly different such as below, which assuming i can get it past the boss is in my price range.

 

http://www.altairastro.com/altair-lightwave-12.5mm-ler-1.25-planetary-eyepiece.html

 

really enjoy the forum (still haven't got a clue what the hell you are all talking about sometimes though, but love the images you guys do )

Many Thanks

Rick

[Brantuk]

Hi Rick - that eyepiece looks interesting - the Starwave brand seems to have developed very nicely over the last few years - a lot of folks here have purchased their 80ED scopes and I myself got the 115EDT.

 

I hope the eyepieces have followed a similar pattern and would be keen to try it if you do get one. I would expect the 9mm will be much better than the SW 10mm supplied eyepieces which are really very basic. And hopefully at least as good as the BST's which are a similar price.

 

Better to get the 10mm rather than use a 20mm with barlow - that's generally true of most any brand due to the extra glass and coatings involved that tend to dim the view when using barlows. A barlow won't add a whole lot to supplied eyepieces. If you fancy an eyepiece comparison sometime I'm just 5mins up the road from you - literally.

[Daz Type-R]

Hi Rick, depends what you want it for.

 

That ep looks like it is dedicated for planetary viewing (the clue is in the name)

 

It has a very generous 20mm eye relief but only a narrow FOV (55 degrees) so is good for the planets, as your eye is centred on the planet in the centre of the ep but if you are wanting to look at nebula and open clusters (which are bigger than a planet from a FOV point of view), then you need a bigger field of view.

 

If you want a more general ep (which I think you might) then you could do better.

 

Like in a previous post, the BST's are good, a similar price as the Altair one but have 60 degree FOV (also sold under various names such as BST Explorer, BST Starguider, Olivon, Astrotech Paradigm).  These have 16mm to 20mm eye relief also.

 

There are also the William OPtic SWAN's, Meade 4000 and 5000 series and for a bit more cash (cica £70 an ep), the Celestron X-Cel's.

 

If you have been getting on with the 10mm ep that came with your scope, then I would get something different, like a 15mm or 20mm, if not (which I think you have been struggling with it) then get a similar focal length ep (9mm, 10mm ETC).

 

Hope that helps.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Daz Type-R

[Werisit]

Hello Rick.

You don't say which S-W 120 Frac you have and this may make a difference to the answers you get. I have a ST 102 that had a 25, 10 and 2xBarlow bundled. I put the 10 and Barlow on it and decided it couldn't handle 100 x magnification. With the 10 alone the image was getting a bit soft.  A 9mm Revalation Plossl was little better.

   Then I bought a S-W 120 ED and thought I'd better start buying some better EP's to go with it. First up was a Celestron 7mm Luminos 82degree afov. Then one night i thought I'd just try it on the little 102, not expecting much. I was amazed! A nice sharp, if a little small image of Saturn! 

   When I upgraded the 120 ED to a 130 APO I bought a 4mm Vixen SLV,( a great combination). So naturally I tried the 4 on the ST 102 and once again was pleasantly surprised. Now I regularly use this combo, which gives 125 x magnification.

 

What I'm saying is that, in my experience, It's well worth spending out on eyepieces and the 10mm Sky-Watcher EP will give the wrong impression about the capabilities of your telescope. The 7mm Celestron gives almost as wide view as a 10mm Plossl but with an extra 42% magnification. Well above your budget but perhaps worth saving up for.

BUT, eyepieces are a bit of a personal thing so I'd definitely take up Kim on his offer of trying out some of his kit.      

[ricktom]

Hi

many thanks for your suggestions,its given me plenty of scope (excuse the pun) for thought, Kim, thanks for the offer to nip up and try out some eyepieces, that would be great if it would be possible sometime, i think i am beginning to realize there are no short cuts with eyepieces and Alan's observation about an eyepiece  giving the wrong impression about the capabilities of your telescope is one to remember.

i think i may well be leaning to another 9 or 10 mm eyepiece of a better quality but i will have to have a think about it, on a positive note i got one of the red head lights from Aldi yesterday, the kit slowly grows!

Rick

[Brantuk]

Just pm me when you're ready Tom and we'll fix it up - in the week is usually easier.