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caheaton
super member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 157
Loc: SW Ohio
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Hello...I just ordered an ETX-80 last night and am looking forward to its arrival. I understand the limitations of this scope, but intend to use it to its strengths (wide field, occasional lunar and planetary) and as an ultra portable travel scope. Now it's time to look into accessories.
So...I will definitely acquire (or make) a dew shield and a solar filter. I would also like to pick up an additional lens or two and some filters. This is where I would like some advice, preferably from those who might have used such items with this or similar scopes.
As for lenses...a 6mm lens will give me a bit more magnification, but the exit pupil shrinks to around 1mm. Will this cause the image to be too dark?
Filters. I would like to get a violet blocking (CA) filter for lunar and planetary use. I'm leaning towards the Baader semi-APO, Orion V-block and the Baader contrast booster. Are those others I should consider? Also, how about skyglow filters? The semi-APO incorporates one and I've read one good report by someone who uses it on his ETX-80 to bring out detail in the Orion nebula. Any other filters to consider here? Due to the small aperture, I'm leaning towards broadband filters, but some have said narrowbands are good under dark skies.
Is there anything I'm missing?
Craig
(doing my part to stimulate the economy  )
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2098
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Skyglow filter may be a Bad Idea for general use, even if useful for faint emission nebulae, because of the light absorbtion - it's like cutting the aperture by approx. 30% and you don't have a lot to start off with. Personally I don't think you need any filters except for a green or neutral Moon filter (green would be better with the ETX80 despite the rather odd tint), plus a solar film filter for the Sun.
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caheaton
super member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 157
Loc: SW Ohio
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I agree...I wasn't planning on leaving the skyglow filter in full time...I'm only going to use it to enhance views of nebula when I'm seeking them. Even the V-block will be left off most of the time. Good point on the moon filter...forgot that one. My old Tasco had a green filter...I disliked the tint so I think I'll go with a more neutral filter. :-)
Craig
Craig
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Craig
Ancient Tasco 4.5" (from back when Tasco's were good)
Meade ETX-80
Orion XT10i
Meade Super Plossls 6.4, 9.7, 15 & 26mm
Zhumell Z Planetary 3mm
Agena Ultra Wide 30mm
Edited by caheaton (06/05/09 11:01 AM)
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JT5
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 576
Loc: Ozarks of Missouri
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First see if you can locate an Astronomy club in your area. That is the best source of help and advice. You can search for them by State and find the closest one.
I would NOT buy anything other than maybe a lunar (polarizing) filter at this point.
Alternately, there is set of four filters from Mead that includes a polarizing filter and a Light Green, Light Blue and Light Red that can be used with your scope to look at Saturn, Jupiter and Mars for minor enhancement of colors that is reasonably inexpensive.
Skyglow is a waste unless it is essential and may be to much light loss for your size scope.
Clear skies to you. I hope you find the hobby as rewarding as I do.
John
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My wife shares my love of the night skies and tolerates all of my other hobbies.
Televue Pronto w/Starbeam pointer and Televue tripod
Meade 2045D, ETX-125PE, 12" Lightbridge
Celestron: 7Amp PowerTank, 15X70mm binoculars
Meade, Swan and Televue Lenses (33, 26, 20, 15 & 9mm), Televue Barlow
Catsperch Observing Chair
Member: Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri
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KWB
Postmaster
Reged: 09/30/06
Posts: 9268
Loc: Westminster,Co Elev.1646Meters
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A way to operate the scope at 12 volts. I use a 12 volt 1 MA AC adapter. Mine delivers noticeably improved performance over the battery pack which operates at 9 volts.
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Kenny
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein
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jgraham
Postmaster
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 6757
Loc: Dayton, Ohio
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A fairly beefy external power supply is a handy thing to have. I use a 12 VDC jumpstart battery with my little ETX-60 through a 12VDC - 9VDC converter I picked up at Radio Shack.
A 2x Barlow might come in handy. The built-in Barlow is okay, but it requires a lot of turns of the focus knob to refocus when you switch it in or out, an external Barlow doesn't seem to shift the focus as much.
Other than that the usual suggestions; read the manual, visit Mike Weasner's Mighty ETX Site, calibrate the motors, and train the drives.
I know I voted for the ETX-90, but the ETX-80 is a fine little scope and the -80 and -90 are different enough they compliment each other nicely rather than compete against each other. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with your new scope.
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-John
================================================
Homebuilt scopes from 4.25-16.5"
Meade LXD75-N6/SN6/SC8, DSX-90, ETX-60BB, ETX-125PE, DS-2130
Orion StarBlast, BinoViewers, Coronado PST
Rebel XT/XTi, DSI Pro (I, II, & III), DSI, LPI, Electronic Eyepiece, Phillips SPC900NC
Tasco 60mm Refractors
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Arthur Dent
Galactic Hitch-Hiker
Reged: 10/23/08
Posts: 1181
Loc: South Yorkshire, UK
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HI Craig
Personally, I wouldn't go as low as a 6mm EP - at least not to start with.
Low focal length eyepieces - high magnification and unless the condition of the atmosphere - known as "seeing" are very good, you'll find that you don't use it much (if at all).
Most important accessory to get first (IMHO) is an external 12V power pack (not a mains adpter) such as a PowerTank or an Auto Jump Start battery.
Next would be a Barlow lens (although I gather that the ETX 80 has a built-in Barlow).
Then an EP around 18-20mm and, if funds stretch, another around 10-12mm.
Some people go for a Zoom EP (say a Baader Hyperion Click-Stop Zoom) which covers focal lengths from 8-24mm and costs only just ove the cost of two decent fixed-length eyepieces.
Others may disagree with my first few "purchases" and I'm sure that if they do, they'll advise you shortly.
Hope this helps
Art
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If I like it, the wife says that we can't afford it!
=======================================================
Meade ETX105 (a nice "Grab & Go" scope) & Celestron NexStar 6SE with Bob's Knobs.
Various EP's from 6mm to 26mm, Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom, a 2x Barlow, 2" diagonal and 7Ah PowerTank.
MRF and Antares 8x50 RACI finder scope - both for the 6SE's OTA, whilst the ETX gets a plain RDF.
Canon EOS 400D DSLR (un-modded) and SPC900 webcam. Finally climbing the AP Learning Curve!
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astrowolf67
member
Reged: 12/15/07
Posts: 94
Loc: Western Kentucky
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I would make sure to get parfocal eyepieces. If not, you will tire quickly of having to make adjustments with the small focus knob (it takes a lot of turns).
As for a dew shield, which bundle did you order? The back pack bundle comes with the shield.
A 12V jump start battery, and adapter cord should be high on your list. I use a 25 dollar Rally brand that I found at a local K Mart. It is small, and will easily power my 60 and 80 at the same time for a session. I run the scopes off of 12V power with no issues.
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David
"Seek the Spirit of the Wolf, for He holds the Secret of Life."
Edmund Astroscan/Meade DS 2000 tripod
Meade ETX 60
Tasco 60mm EQ
Meade 114 NT/LXD75
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2098
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
I would make sure to get parfocal eyepieces. If not, you will tire quickly of having to make adjustments with the small focus knob
In my experience, even a set of eyepieces claimed to be "parfocal" need small adjustments when changing from one to another. Certainly you need a much bigger tweak when changing between two EPs that are of completely different design, but in my experience, expecting not to have to refocus when changing EPs is unrealistic.
You can parfocalise your own EPs reasonably accurate with parfocalising rings though the design of some EPs makes this difficult (undercuts or tapers in the barrel).
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Elias_Jordan
member
Reged: 12/26/08
Posts: 74
Loc: Derby, Kansas
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As I did with my ETX-80 I would get a Finer scope, I dont have a magnified on (but would advise getting on) and get a rigel here is a picture of mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eliasjordan/3553142312/,
I love the scope! and it works great for those "quick" views of the moon, but I cant really advise going for deepsky.
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AlexDJ30
sage
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 276
Loc: Monterrey, Mexico
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Things you may purchase :
1 - dewshield, we dont want ending the session earlier by dew!
2 - A Red dot finder! something like EZ-finder or other one you may like to find the star for aligment!
3 - Power connector so you can use it at home with your normal power outlet!
4- Powertank or jump start battery so when you go out you have plenty for using it some nights in a row.
5- A pelican brief or meade's etx-80 box so you can store your scope with the accesories (you dont need this if you buy the back pack version)
6- Moon filter when using the scope with full moon.
7 - Solar filter! hey you can use it in daylight too to watch the sun with the proper solar filter! (around 40 to 60 bucks)
8- A 2X barlow..to double your eyepice power, the etx-80 have one already internally but i have find not very good reviews about it, its useful has far i know but its not the best.
9 - Eyepices, whatever you may like stand alone eyepices or maybe a zoom eyepice so you can cover more ground (and less accesroies around), the etx-80 already comes with a 26mm (very useful) and a 9mm eyepices (its ok..but small pinhole to see). I would prefer use a zoom eyepice even that its a bite expensive than a normal eyepice bt you will cover more mm (like 24mm to 8mm zoom eyepice)...there are many around to chooose..but many favors the baader zoom eyepice (orion have a couple good, WO and others).
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Equipment:
- ETX 125 AT
- C6 ASGT
- WO 66mm SD
- 2.5X ED Barlow, 8-24mm Zoom Eyepice
- Canon EOS Rebel XSi
- Celestron Nextimagen
- Orion Starshoot CCD cam
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Elias_Jordan
member
Reged: 12/26/08
Posts: 74
Loc: Derby, Kansas
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Though I must say that the built in Barlow is "alright" I can agree that it is not the best, but it is in no means bad. Unless you are planning on high power planetary imaging or high power viewing the built in is fine.
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caheaton
super member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 157
Loc: SW Ohio
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Thanks to everyone so far for the advice....I received my scope on Monday, but so far the weather has been terrible...clouds mixed with rain, when we do get sun it's through thin clouds (scattered with thicker clouds). It's been that way since Monday and forecast is for the same for the next 10 days at least! 
I have purchased a few accessories so far...I picked up the Orion Skyglow (used on ebay for a very good price), Orion Steadypix (again used...), Baader solar filter, dew shield (TC model doesn't come with one), Meade 6.4mm Super Plossl eyepiece and an Orion V-block filter. I went again and purchased these items, figuring that I can also use them on the Dobsonian I would like to get later in the year (even the V-block...my research shows it's also a decent filter to use on Jupiter to bring out detail in the spot and belts).
I did finally get to use it this morning...we had a break in the weather (only very thin clouds), so I did a bit of solar observing. No spots were to be seen, but it gave me a chance to play with the goto (I really like the tracking....makes observing very relaxing). I also noticed that when using the built in barlow, it does take a lot of turns to refocus, but I can live with it for the time being. In the future I'll probably get an external barlow as the reports are that they require much less refocusing. Nicest image of the sun seemed to come from the 26mm eyepiece with the barlow flipped into position. Good eye relief and decent magnification
Interesting thing about the solar observing...a few decades ago I did solar observing with my Newtonian. It had a solar filter that screwed onto the eyepiece (dangerous I know...but that's what they gave us back then:yikes: ). Anyway, seems old habits die hard. Even after close to 30 years since looking at the sun through a telescope, as I approached the scope to drop in the eyepiece, or would go to change eyepieces, I found myself closing my eyes. :rolleyes:
Thanks again....I'll keep you all filled in on how this scope turns out...I'm happy with it so far...the image of the sun was crisp with less chromatic aberartion then I expected (just a bright greenish line around the suns edge...rather attractive actually).
Craig
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Craig
Ancient Tasco 4.5" (from back when Tasco's were good)
Meade ETX-80
Orion XT10i
Meade Super Plossls 6.4, 9.7, 15 & 26mm
Zhumell Z Planetary 3mm
Agena Ultra Wide 30mm
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cnstarz
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/22/07
Posts: 549
Loc: Kentucky, USA
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Hi Caheaton,
I have an etx-60 (similar to your 80) with almost all of the meade accessorys made for it. They're all nice to have especially the AC/DC power supply, but the one accessory that I like the most isn't Meade, its a Celestron Zoom eyepiece web page . It has made my viewing so much more productive, because changing eyepieces in the ETX acromats requires too much fiddling with the focus. I've heard raves about the Baader hyperion zoom which is doubly more expensive, but if it's as good as they say (parfocal through the zoom range) then it's well worth it too.
Look at my gallery to see my low budget/performance yet still fun AP setup.
Clear Skies,
--------------------
Matt
Apogee 50mm BB scope
ETX-60 BB
Meade 70-az
5" DIY Newt (wip)
C6-N on CG-4 GEM
Gallery
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