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Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all) SilentKnights member Reged: 10/04/12 Loc: Northeast What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE       #5467085 - 10/12/12 04:53 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Buying a new NexStar 6SE telescope as my first telescope ! Wondering what eyepieces would be best to have for starting out ?? I am not sure what extras are needed for viewing moon , galaxies, planets, nebulas, to name a few plus I have a young son who will be viewing through the eyepiece with me. Just needing help on what couple extras I would need starting out then adding more eyepieces the further I get along with more experience at the eyepiece. Any feedback would be appreciated Thank You ! Post Extras:       ke4kso member Reged: 07/18/10 Loc: Chiefland Fl. Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: SilentKnights]       #5467129 - 10/12/12 05:23 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   You really dont need many, I use a 26mm with a Celestron ultima barlow that I have had for about 20 years,Three different magnifications depending on where the barlow is inserted, before or after the diagonal. But on the 8 it doesnt clear the base inserted before, when pointing straight up. May be ok with the 6. I like the barlow because I wear eyeglasses when I observe. I have the Celestron eyepiece kit but have only used the 17 for high power with the barlow. Post Extras:       Sorny super member Reged: 03/15/12 Loc: Southern MN Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: ke4kso]       #5467372 - 10/12/12 08:36 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   While I don't have a 6, I do have a 5" so I've got an idea of what should work... . Truthfully, just a barlow will allow a lot of different magnifications with the 25mm you got with the scope. ~12.5mm if inserted after the diagonal, and ~8mm if placed between the scope and the diagonal. To go along with that, maybe a 32mm plossl to get the widest possible FOV at low power. Post Extras:       Midnight Dan Postmaster Reged: 01/23/08 Loc: Hilton, NY, Yellow Zone (Bortl... Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Sorny]       #5467401 - 10/12/12 09:04 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   A lot depends on your budget and your goal. You can get eyepieces (EPs) from $30 to $600 each and selection is a very personal choice. If you're looking to get some inexpensive EPs that you may want to replace later, the Agena Astro Enhanced Wide Angle set is a great bargain. You can get the whole set for $135, or buy them individually for about $40 each: http://tinyurl.com/8bnphv2 If you want to spend more and move up the food chain to some really good quality EPs, the Baader Hyperions are about $120 and are a great bang for the buck. Since these are more expensive, these would be good to look at if you want to maybe buy one at a time and build up your set over time. Since your scope comes with a 25mm EP, something in the 13-15mm range would be a good first addition. This would give you more magnification for use with planets or other small targets. My 13mm Hyperion is probably my most used EP. -Dan Post Extras:       Peter9 Post Laureate Reged: 10/30/08 Loc: Yorkshire - Born & Bred Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Midnight Dan]       #5467753 - 10/13/12 05:10 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi SilentKnights and welcome. I would go along with Dan in that something in the 13mm to15 mm is a good start. A x2 Barlow used with the supplied 25mm would give you x12mm If you remove the bottom element from the Barlow and screw it into your 25mm, as you would a filter, it will give you x 1and a 1/2 (17mm). Both focal lengths are approx. I'm sure you will enjoy the 6se. It is a good scope. Regards. Peter. Post Extras:       Maverick199 Postmaster Reged: 02/27/11 Loc: India Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Peter9]       #5467876 - 10/13/12 08:44 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I agree with Dan as well. I use a 14mm Meade eyepiece a lot, even during alignment and for Planets and DSO's. Post Extras:       Bob Griffiths Getting Grouchy Reged: 10/10/05 Loc: Frederick Maryland Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Maverick199]       #5467907 - 10/13/12 09:21 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   First telescope ??? and don't want to spend a lot of money until you know what you may want... Id just buy an inexpensive 8 to 24 mm Zoom (and I do NOT like zooms) But for your purposes one would be a good idea.. Meade Zhumell and Celestron all sell for well under $100 and all are "acceptable" The Baader Hyperion Zoom is excellent but its over $200.00 The cons are that the FOV is not as great as a single eyepieces BUT who cares it will allow you to see what magnification(s) you seem to be using night after night... Bob G. Post Extras:       SilentKnights member Reged: 10/04/12 Loc: Northeast Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Bob Griffiths]       #5468266 - 10/13/12 12:40 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This is my first telescope so very much a noob here I just figured there might be a few must have eyepieces to have on hand that are used quite often and very useful. I am sure as I get better and spend more time with my telescope I will know better which ones I need. Just wanted to add a few eyepieces that would make my beginners clear skies and observing more pleasurable and enjoyable not to mention rewarding. Thanks for the help and feedback thus far I do appreciate it. Post Extras:       barbarosa professor emeritus Reged: 04/11/10 Loc: "lamorinda", CA Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Bob Griffiths]       #5468272 - 10/13/12 12:44 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Id just buy an inexpensive 8 to 24 mm Zoom (and I do NOT like zooms) But for your purposes one would be a good idea.. Meade Zhumell and Celestron all sell for well under $100 and all are "acceptable" Bob G. Add my vote to Bob's. A zoom is a handy EP and a good way to explore the range of useful magnification. I own two at the moment (included with used scope buys), an older Vixen and the current and much less expensive $59 Celestron. In head to head comparisons with the Televue zoom on a NS 8 and C5, the Celestron gives up surprisingly little to the more expensive EPs. If this was CR it would get a best buy rating. My most often used EP is a Meade 5000 SWA 20mm. A 10mm EP is the next choice for me and my sky. Edited by barbarosa (10/13/12 12:48 PM) Post Extras:       hopskipson professor emeritus Reged: 06/24/10 Loc: Queens, New Yawk, Light pollut... Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: barbarosa]       #5468790 - 10/13/12 07:27 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Ditto on the zoom EP suggestion. I picked up the Celestron model when I started out. After I got some experience I tried the Explore Scientific 82 degree line of EP's and thoroughly enjoy them. The 2 I use most are the 24 and 14mm. James Post Extras:       Gui Marques member Reged: 08/15/12 Loc: Quebec/Canada Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: SilentKnights]       #5469043 - 10/13/12 10:49 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I'll echo the suggestion of the 32mm. That's definitely a must with a long focal length scope like yours, to help frame some DSO's. A nice Plossl should do the job, and if you want to spend a bit more, you can get a Televue 32mm for around $120. Otherwise there are many good options below $100 as well. Your minimum should be around 8mm, practically speaking. Anything below that most likely won't get used often due to seeing limitations. Thus, a good starter shopping list for your scope would include: 32mm plossl 17mm widefield (68o Hyperion or similar) 13mm widefiled (68o Hyperion or similar) If you add a barlow it will also give you around 8mm and 6mm, for those good seeing nights. Although I call this a "starter" list, you probably won't need to add many more to cover a good range of magnifications and fields. You'll see users with long lists of EP's, but that's mostly because people like to collect those little shinny things. In terms of priority, I'd get the 32 first and then the 13. The 17 can be added later to fill the gap. Gui Post Extras:       Arctic_Eddie Post Laureate Reged: 12/30/07 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Gui Marques]       #5469425 - 10/14/12 09:02 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Adorama has the Celestron zoom for $57.95. I also noticed that Celestron is now selling a premium zoom which looks like a relabeled Baader. http://www.adorama.com/CNZEPD.html Post Extras:       Midnight Dan Postmaster Reged: 01/23/08 Loc: Hilton, NY, Yellow Zone (Bortl... Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Arctic_Eddie]       #5469516 - 10/14/12 10:17 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Just have to throw in my contrary view on the zooms. I own the Baader Mark III zoom, arguably the best of them, and yet I'm not a big fan. They have their place, and for me that place is in my grab and go bag. A zoom obviously replaces several eyepieces so it is handy if you have little space or just don't want to fiddle with a case full of EPs. But for me, an eyepiece with a field of view of around 68° or more is a big part of the enjoyment of the experience. When I look through EPs with smaller fields I feel constrained - like I'm looking through a straw. And since I often spend time scanning around looking for objects, it feels a bit like I'm trying to find my car keys in my house ... while looking through a straw! I'm just itchin' for more view. While the zooms have nice 68° field of view at the high mag end, when you start moving the zoom towards the low mag end, the field starts to narrow until it reaches about 50° at the end. And of course, the low mag end is really where you WANT the wide field of view for seeing larger objects or scanning around. For magnification it is a 3x zoom, but for field of view it is only about a 2x zoom. In other words, you only see twice as much of the sky at the low end vs. the high end. I know many people love the zooms. But I find that whenever I have a choice, I always reach for my fixed focus EPs. The only time I really use the Baader zoom is when I want to take a quick peek through one of my smaller scopes. I store it in a small grab and go bag that I strap around my waist so I can take everything I need out with me in one trip. It's definitely handy in that situation. Just my 2 cents! -Dan Post Extras:       Bob Griffiths Getting Grouchy Reged: 10/10/05 Loc: Frederick Maryland Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Midnight Dan]       #5469602 - 10/14/12 11:13 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I Agree with you Dan...BUT this is for a guy who just purchased his first scope and only has the single eyepiece that was included with the purchase... like I noted I'm not a fan of zooms either But a INEXPENSIVE zoom just fits the bill for his situation... I do own a Celestron Zoom that I use with my 4 inch refractor that I use for our clubs outreach sessions and it works very well .. Bob G. Post Extras:       Mariner@sg super member Reged: 06/28/12 Loc: Little Red Dot Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Bob Griffiths]       #5471086 - 10/15/12 08:24 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The 6SE comes with a generic 25 plossl so IMHO, you should be getting some EPs in the range of 12.5mm and 6mm for the higher powers as well as a 30mm (preferably Wide angled) for low power work on large DSOs. Post Extras:       Tel Postmaster Reged: 03/31/06 Loc: Wallingford England Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Mariner@sg]       #5471135 - 10/15/12 09:21 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi SilientKnights, A very warm welcome to CN and to this forum ! A 6mm EP is far too powerful for a 6SE and even for an 8SE in my opinion ! It's only use is, arguably, in providing an image with ideal Airy rings when collimating. I therefore would have thought that a 10mm was probably the shortest useful focal length EP, for observing purposes, a 6SE could usefully tolerate on a night to night basis. Best regards, Tel Post Extras:       Arctic_Eddie Post Laureate Reged: 12/30/07 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Tel]       #5471159 - 10/15/12 09:44 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The longer FL limit is about 32mm @ 68° for the 2" version. This yields a FOV of 1.32°. Here's a link to some tests. http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3619392/page/2/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1 Post Extras:       ke4kso member Reged: 07/18/10 Loc: Chiefland Fl. Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Tel]       #5471204 - 10/15/12 10:11 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I bought my 8se used, It came with the Celestron eyepiece and filter kit. I got around to checking some more of them out last night. Its the later kit tthat includes the 17 mm They are much better than I expected. Really sharp and contrasty. And the barlow was much better than an Orion shorty that I had years ago. I think I like it better than my Ultima. I dont think you can go wrong for about 140.00. Post Extras:       BigC Carpal Tunnel Reged: 09/29/10 Loc: SE Indiana Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: SilentKnights]       #5471297 - 10/15/12 11:03 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Too bad Celestron doesn't sell an eyepiece kit with more choices on the big end. If I remember correctly ,35mm gives the biggest FOV for 1.25" focusers in most any scope;and my 32mm gets less use than my Celestron 25 or Meade 26. You will find something close to 15mm and also 10mm useful . At the right price the Celestron or other kits is fine even if you don't use the smallest EPs but rarely,just because the price individually can be much higher. Post Extras:       Skip Starlifter Driver Reged: 01/23/08 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas, USA Re: What extra eyepieces would a beginner need for 6SE [Re: Tel]       #5471404 - 10/15/12 12:03 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   So true, Tel! I have a 6mm and I have NEVER been able to get a decent image in it with my 6SE. Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all)

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