table to help choosing eyepieces - helpful?

[turboscrew]

Inspired of Lady Fraktor's posting in eyepieces-section, I made an Excel with two tabs. One for selecting eyepieces by number of eyepieces and the other tab is for selecting eyepieces by magnification step.
It also shows the effect of using a barlow, and one can play with eyepieces' AFOV too.

I wonder if it's of any help...
For Windows world (Excel): https://www.dropbox.com/s/ewf5lz3fspm7r ... .xlsx?dl=0
For Linux world (LibreOffice Calc): https://www.dropbox.com/s/n7gajmxhgrqjy ... l.ods?dl=0

[West83]

Nice table [mention]turboscrew[/mention]

It will be helpful when looking for new EP. I was reading through Lady Fraktor's post a couple of times now, seems my current EP set is in and around the recommended values. Just I have to say I am not satisfied with my 6mm and Barlow doesn't seem to be what I expected it to be.

[Bigzmey]

Nice table @turboscrew

It will be helpful when looking for new EP. I was reading through Lady Fraktor's post a couple of times now, seems my current EP set is in and around the recommended values. Just I have to say I am not satisfied with my 6mm and Barlow doesn't seem to be what I expected it to be.

What seems to be the issue with BCO 6mm and the Barlow? I have the BCO set and it performs well in my scopes.

[West83]

[mention]Bigzmey[/mention] I am not sure, tbh when I got my scope and Qset I used the lot a couple of times, but never cleaned it properly. And it was packed for almost 2 years. It is possible that it had something to do with that.
But the problem I have with 6mm is with Saturn and Jupiter, it would be only 108x but it's too blurry. With the Barlow I struggle to achieve focus, and image always tends to be blurry (even when used with 10mm, which yields roughly x80ish power).
The 18mm is the one I use the most, and 10mm also performs well, I just feel that with higher mag I lose contrast. Could be due to the scope. Problematic viewing of Ring Nebula at any higher power.
Also a note that I have yet to resolve any globs.

[Bigzmey]

@Bigzmey I am not sure, tbh when I got my scope and Qset I used the lot a couple of times, but never cleaned it properly. And it was packed for almost 2 years. It is possible that it had something to do with that.
But the problem I have with 6mm is with Saturn and Jupiter, it would be only 108x but it's too blurry. With the Barlow I struggle to achieve focus, and image always tends to be blurry (even when used with 10mm, which yields roughly x80ish power).
The 18mm is the one I use the most, and 10mm also performs well, I just feel that with higher mag I lose contrast. Could be due to the scope. Problematic viewing of Ring Nebula at any higher power.
Also a note that I have yet to resolve any globs.

If your scope is properly collimated on an average night you should get good views with 6mm to 32mm EPs. Using barlow at 2.25x factor with 6mm and 10mm BCOs is more power than your scope can handle. Using barlow at 1.3x factor should be OK with 6mm and 10mm on a good night.

How does Moon look in your scope? From limited experience I had with reflectors they tend to deliver softer images than refractors and CATs, but if your scope is collimated you should be able to resolve some details on Saturn and Jupiter.

Have you tried your Neodymium filter?

[turboscrew]

The tables don't really add anything considering Lady Fraktor's post, but it automates stuff. Don't have to calculate things one by one. It's easier also to play with values.

[West83]

If your scope is properly collimated on an average night you should get good views with 6mm to 32mm EPs. Using barlow at 2.25x factor with 6mm and 10mm BCOs is more power than your scope can handle. Using barlow at 1.3x factor should be OK with 6mm and 10mm on a good night.

How does Moon look in your scope? From limited experience I had with reflectors they tend to deliver softer images than refractors and CATs, but if your scope is collimated you should be able to resolve some details on Saturn and Jupiter.

Have you tried your Neodymium filter?

So if I get it right, my scope can handle roughly up to 150x mag? I would agree with your statement that the images are softer.

I can resolve the bands of Jupiter with my 10mm, but 6mm the image loses it's sharpness and contrast, so I thought that the eyepieces are not the most efficient with my scope. The Cassini division remains to be resolved, as is the GRS. Neodymium provides better views of the planets, that is for sure, dims the brightness and brings out the details.

The Moon is crisp in all but the 6mm, that is why I thought it might be underperfforming, or just that it will be much better in a future frac or mak scope (whichever I decide to buy next). I really had this intent on trying to save up and start by buying some premium or semi-premium eyepieces, but at the same time, might as well buy an additional scope for that money. Now when I am getting around and learning more every day, I am more than certain that I would like to add a f8-f10 and something slower than f-12 in the mid term.

For now I had my sights set on one of the BST starguider EPs, as an entry point into a bit wider AFOV EPs. The reviews are quite brilliant I would say, and for roughly 50€ a piece seem to be affordable. The major German retailer is selling same branded under their brand TS for around 90€.

[pakarinen]

Here's a table with some supplemental info:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/6575 ... ers-guide/

[Peacemakeresq]

Greetings! Lady Fractor sent me. I have purchased 2 MWA Meade eyepieces, a 21mm & a 15mm 2”. I am happy with them, but I’m a novice, what do I know. I think they were reasonably priced and I’m considering buying another one, the 5mm. They seem to be reasonably priced on Amazon. The 5mm is selling for $170.00. I have a Celestron 8se, with a 2” diagonal. I bought a kit from Celestron with 44 mm, a 32 mm & 26 mm EPS 5 color filters a 2x Barlowe. Subsequent to that a bought a fancier Celestron 2 1/2 power Barlow These and My Baader planetarium Mark 4 Zoom are my only not kit purchases. Have you had any experience with MWAs? Do you know of any decent reviews? Thanks Peacemakeresq

[Bigzmey]

If your scope is properly collimated on an average night you should get good views with 6mm to 32mm EPs. Using barlow at 2.25x factor with 6mm and 10mm BCOs is more power than your scope can handle. Using barlow at 1.3x factor should be OK with 6mm and 10mm on a good night.

How does Moon look in your scope? From limited experience I had with reflectors they tend to deliver softer images than refractors and CATs, but if your scope is collimated you should be able to resolve some details on Saturn and Jupiter.

Have you tried your Neodymium filter?

So if I get it right, my scope can handle roughly up to 150x mag? I would agree with your statement that the images are softer.

I can resolve the bands of Jupiter with my 10mm, but 6mm the image loses it's sharpness and contrast, so I thought that the eyepieces are not the most efficient with my scope. The Cassini division remains to be resolved, as is the GRS. Neodymium provides better views of the planets, that is for sure, dims the brightness and brings out the details.

The Moon is crisp in all but the 6mm, that is why I thought it might be underperfforming, or just that it will be much better in a future frac or mak scope (whichever I decide to buy next). I really had this intent on trying to save up and start by buying some premium or semi-premium eyepieces, but at the same time, might as well buy an additional scope for that money. Now when I am getting around and learning more every day, I am more than certain that I would like to add a f8-f10 and something slower than f-12 in the mid term.

For now I had my sights set on one of the BST starguider EPs, as an entry point into a bit wider AFOV EPs. The reviews are quite brilliant I would say, and for roughly 50€ a piece seem to be affordable. The major German retailer is selling same branded under their brand TS for around 90€.

A fast scope like yours can't handle EPs with focal length below the scope's focal ratio. So for F5 scope the minimal focal length for EP would be ~5mm. BST starguider will give you somewhat wider FOV, but sharpness, contrast and light scatter control will be not as good as in BCO. Since you already have BCOs set, which are really top optical quality EPs, I don't recommend spending money on entry level wide fields. Consider Explorer Scientific 68 and 82 deg series, Meade 5000 UWA 82 deg, Baader Morpheus.

It is also a challenging year for Saturn and Jupiter. They ride low in the sky and I have yet to get good quality views this season. GRS is not detected as easily, and I have yet to see well defined Cassini division this year.

[turboscrew]

Greetings! Lady Fractor sent me. I have purchased 2 MWA Meade eyepieces, a 21mm & a 15mm 2”. I am happy with them, but I’m a novice, what do I know. I think they were reasonably priced and I’m considering buying another one, the 5mm. They seem to be reasonably priced on Amazon. The 5mm is selling for $170.00. I have a Celestron 8se, with a 2” diagonal. I bought a kit from Celestron with 44 mm, a 32 mm & 26 mm EPS 5 color filters a 2x Barlowe. Subsequent to that a bought a fancier Celestron 2 1/2 power Barlow These and My Baader planetarium Mark 4 Zoom are my only not kit purchases. Have you had any experience with MWAs? Do you know of any decent reviews? Thanks Peacemakeresq

I think you might get answers faster in the "Eyepieces"-section. Start a thread there. You'll be probably better noticed.

[Peacemakeresq]

Thanks.