Guest nottsbloke Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Hi, I think I am best described as a 'lurker' but now I thought it was time to jump in and ask for a bit of advice. I bought a Skywatcher Explorer 130 (my second scope) at the start of the year, and like many of us, it has been an expensive ornament due to the lovely British weather! The eyepieces that came with it are ok, but I assume that I can get better ones. I'm not in a position to break the bank, and am still a relative beginner. I would welcome any advice about any eyepieces that people could recommend that would be better than the ones included. Thanks again, and hope to see you at a meeting soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I highly recommend the Baader Hyperion Mark 3 (or 2) 8-24mm zoom lens. Great optics and very versatile. Also saves having to change eyepieces all thé time. Find ya target at 24mm and then simply zoom in by turning the eyepiece. I use mine ever time I observe. Brantuk put me on to them, and I have not looked back since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Depends on your budget, if you are looking at £40-50 an eye piece, then the BST Explorers are a good improvement over the stock ep's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Doctor Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I have to second Felix, I bought a few Baarder Hyperion single focal length EPs when I first started but have since bought the Baarder III click stop zoom which is now my most used EP. Views are clear and bright and as Felix as already said you don't have the hassle of having to change EPs when you want to rack up the magnification. While it may be more expensive to start off with, it will proably save you money. I think the zoom is around £169 but the 4 corresponding fixed focal length EPs (24, 17, 13 and 8mm) would be around 4 x £90 say £360 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 The Baader zoom will certainly work well in your scope - it'll make the views come alive compared to the supplied eyepieces. But it's around the same price as the whole scope so would have to be regarded as a major investment for the future. If you want to build up an eyepiece collection slowly and more affordably then the TMB's mentioned above are great value in separate sizes. Also look at BST's which have good reports, and William Optics - they do some nice planetary eyepieces and very respectable wide field ones too. My best recommendation would be to go for some Meade 3000 or 4000 eyepieces second hand - it'll take time to find them but the optics are really superb for the price which will be £40-£60 each s/h. Celestron X-Cels are good too in the second hand market between £30 to £50 per piece. Used ep's can save you a lot of money. But do try a few loaners first from other astro chums to see what suits you best. Eyepiece choice is a personal thing and what suits one person may not siut another. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 (edited) Thanks, I'll start hunting for them! Edited July 23, 2012 by nottsbloke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thanks for the advice everyone. Just picked up a couple of Meade 4000 eyepieces on eBay for about £20 each. Working on the basis that if they turn out not to be that good, I haven't lost out too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 That's a fabulous bargain Craig - what sizes did you get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I've checked my emails and I ended up with three! 6.4mm, 12.4mm and 26mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DN18 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Thats a sensible choice of eyepieces. Looks like you got a good deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Assuming your telescope focal length is 650mm (F5) then that will get you 101.5, 52.4 and 25 x zoom respectively. That is quite a good range to get you started and at £20 each it was a real bargain. As long as the optics are good you will notice a good improvement over the stock ep's. Congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Thank you everyone for all the advice! I thought I'd try to get a range, and hope they were of good quality. If they are I have a bargain, if not then I've not lost a huge amount. I'll let everyone know my verdict when they arrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Hello, me again, asking for some more advice to help out a newbie please! The eBayer who sold me the Meade 4000 6.4mm, 12.4mm and 26mm eyepieces has sent me a message saying that he had also sold 15mm and 32mm eyepieces to someone else on eBay, but they had not paid, and he was willing to offer them to me instead. Considering the eyepieces I already have, and also that I have a 2x Barlow lens that came with the scope, is it worth getting these please? Any comments gratefully received! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) a 32 mm eyepiece would be nice to view wide field objects, and easy on the eye to use and nice to use under a dark sky, and using a 2x barlow would make it a 16mm eyepiece, but your 26 mm should be ok for that with your scope and the 15mm wouldn`t be alot different to your 12.4. what is the focal length of your scope is it the 650mm or the 750mm ? to find out what the magnification of the eyepiece and scope would be you need to divide the eyepiece mm by the focal length of the scope i.e. scope focal length 650mm x 26mm eyepiece = 25 x mag Edited August 3, 2012 by red dwalf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Thanks Rob. I've just checked, and the focal length of mine is 900mm. So on a 26mm eyepiece, the magnification should be about 34x? This is my scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Something like that yes. If you can still get the 32mm for around the same money, go for it! If you don't want it I'll take it off your hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 If I can get it, I'll be in touch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Any news? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nottsbloke Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hi, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. After a little chasing, he's now come back to me, and he's sold the other lenses privately for more money than my bids on eBay! Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 No worries, thanks for asking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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