Relief Eyepiece
What are Your thoughts on Orion eye-pieces for me?
Im a beginner to astronomy and am interested in viewing the planets,star clusters,nebula’s.
I have an Orion star blast 6 with a 750mm focal length150mm aperture and ratio of f/5.Im looking at purchasing a set of expanse eyepieces 6mm,15mm,20mm.
Are these a group of eyepieces for my telescope or do you think I should go for the more pricey eyepieces.
I got a 10mm & 25mm sirius plossl eyepiece with my telescope but the 10mm is very uncomfortable to use(short eye Relief).
Any info on good eyepieces would be great.
I have the Orion Star Blast 4 and a whole box of eyepieces that are worth about twenty times what it cost, mostly for my other scopes.
Your question has several different answers. One is: can a superb eyepiece do marvelous things in a simple 4 or 6″ star blast? Yes: I have used the Telvue Pan Optic 24mm in the star blast and it makes for marvelous wide field views. The Pan Optic 24mm goes for about $300. If you pop the money and are “sensitive to what astronomy has to offer” the Pan 24 plus your scope will blow you away.
Another question is, c’mon, I don’t want to buy three $300 eyepieces for my $300 scope. Well, OK. Among the less expensive eyepieces I recommend the RKE series from Edmund Optics. The 28mm is a marvelous eyepiece for wide field in 1.25″ format, much better than what you got. These go for about $65 new and have to be ordered direct from Edmund Optics. The 28mm, 12mm, and 8mm would be good to own along with a nice 2x barlow which would give you 14, 6, and 4mm respectively.
Or you could do what most folks do, which is upgrade to Televue plossls. These are nice eyepieces.
You can also get inexpensive stuff from Celestron and Meade that will work fine till you go to a star party and find out what jewels top end eyepieces can be.
My general thought is that you should join astromart. The kinds of eyepieces that you are talking about from Orion will often sell on Astromart for $15 to $20, sometimes less. It is a good place to pick up inexpensive eyepieces. The Baader Hyperion series is a good “intermediate range” eyepiece; the Vixen LVs are also nice. Joining astromart costs $12 (one time fee) but you will save that much on your first eyepiece score. There are typically 150 eyepieces for sale at any given time. You can post an ad, for free, saying “WANTED: inexpensive plossls,” and a whole bunch of people will answer.
The reason is that a lot of people have been through the phase you are going through and usually these cheap eyepieces end up in a drawer. That’s where mine are.
Another fact of note: the old “circle V” and “circle T” and just about any Japanese eyepiece from Celestron and Meade in the 1980s and 1990s is going to be superior to recent vintage Chinese cheap-o eyepieces. So you can look for those too.
UNIVERSITY OPTICS is another well-known source for reliably good inexpensive eyepieces.
I’m suggesting astronomics as a general purpose astronomy store resource because they sell everything including Pentax, Takahashi, Vixen, etc.
GENERAL BUYING POINT: if you want good eye relief get a 10mm and barlow it 2x, or get a 20mm and barlow it 4x, for example (televue makes 4x and 5x barlows). Your eye relief stays the same but magnification increases. A barlow can be used with any eyepiece and thus doubles your collection size.
What do you get with more expensive eyepieces? I was at an event where I got to watch a bunch of Orion scope users fight over who got to use a Pentax XW 10mm. One look through it and you felt like it your Orion Newtonian was a new scope. Nice eye relief, clean crisp field; no extraneous colors, no ghosting on bright objects. Once you’ve spent some time with low end eyepieces you “feel the difference” when you get your eye up to a piece of well-made glass. There are many different competitors, but you’re starting with “comes-with” eyepieces.
But my vote is for RKEs or University Optics, plus a barlow. The Baader hyperions are nice, and there are few complaints about televue plossls. You can save a bundle buying this stuff on Astromart. Astromart also has some very smart people on the discussion groups and the discussion groups aren’t as heavily censored as the Cloudy Nights forums.
Good luck, I hope you enjoy learning about eyepieces as much as I have.
GN
22X EYEPIECE TO ENHANCE YOUR ALPEN RAINIER SPOTTING SCOPE VIDEO.wmv
|
|
Pentax 8 x 43 DCF ED Binoculars $999.00 8 x 43 DCF ED BinocularsThe PENTAX DCF ED 8×43 binoculars combine Extra Low Dispersion glass elements, full reflection and phase coated prisms, hybrid aspherical lens elements and fully multi coated optics. Built to last with JIS Class 6 waterproof construction, DCF ED binoculars feature a durable magnesium alloy body and a hard coating to protect exposed lens elements.Features:ED Optical glass el… |
|
|
BUSHNELL 730132P TROPHY 1 X 32 RED DOT RIFLESCOPE Trophy Scope.Engineered with Amber-Bright optics that quickly help you distinguish between a brown tree and a brown critter, the Trophy riflescopes have been heralded by hunters as the ideal scope for the autumn deer woods. With multi-coated optics for increased brightness in low-light conditions, the avid inner hunter in you will be most satisfied. No question about it, they’re designed to excel … |
|
|
Pentax 65809 PCF II 12×50 Waterproof Binocular $199.00 With large objective lenses for superior light-gathering and the power of 12X magnification, the PENTAX 12×50 PCF WP II binocular is the perfect companion for observations made at dusk or dawn. Add to that a 219 foot field of view and waterproof construction, and this high-performance model provides superior viewing in even the lowest light conditions and harshest climates…. |
|
|
Bushnell Powerview 8×21 Compact Folding Roof Prism Binocular (Black) $12.96 The Bushnell(r) Powerview(r) Series of binoculars offers you compact, streamlined designs for bright, crisp views of wherever you’re exploring…. |
|
|
Celestron SkyMaster Giant 15×70 Binoculars with Tripod Adapter $62.65 Celestron and ;s SkyMaster Series of large aperture binoculars are a phenomenal value for high performance binoculars ideal for astronomical viewing or for terrestrial (land) use – especially over long distances. Each SkyMaster model features high quality BAK-4 prisms and multi-coated optics for enhanced contrast. Celestron has designed and engineered the larger SkyMaster models to meet the specia… |
|
|
Bushnell Falcon 10×50 Wide Angle Binoculars (Black) $31.54 Bushnell Falcon 10×50 Porro Prism Black Binoculars 133450… |
|
|
Bushnell PowerView 20×50 Super High-Powered Surveillance Binoculars $57.58 The Bushnell(r) Powerview(r) Series of binoculars offers you compact, streamlined designs for bright, crisp views of wherever you’re exploring…. |
|
|
Celestron Accessory Kit $120.95 Celestron Accessory Kit… |
|
|
2, 10mm WF Telescope Eyepiece $65.00 This is a great eyepiece with a 60 degree plus field of view. Provides sharp, flat edge to edge color corrected images. 8 elements (6 air spaced and one doublet). Nice 11mm eye relief and 14mm exit aperture. Fits standard 2 inch focusers. Threaded for filters. Coated optics… |
|
|
Rigel Systems Rs-Spectroscope For Telescopes Illuminate the night sky with brilliant colors!Illuminate the night sky with brilliant colors that span the full spectrum of the rainbow.The RS-Spectroscope attaches to a telescope eyepiece, spreading light from stars and nebulae into strains of luminous colored light. Study the constellations with new capabilities to analyze colors present, discover absorption and emission lines, and determine lu… |