45 replies to this topic

[ClownPants]

Found myself with around $200 to spend on upgrades to my beginner setup. I currently have an 8" Dobsonian (f/6) and a UHC nebula filter, but I'm still using the default eyepieces that came with it (Meade 25mm and 10mm Plossl). Since I've heard eyepieces can make a big difference, I think this is where I have the most room to upgrade. 

 

Are there any good recs within my price range? I'm interested in both deep sky and solar system objects, so really any recommendation is welcome. I also realize it's fairly low budget compared to a lot of other folks on here, so if it isn't worth upgrading without spending more, I'd appreciate y'all letting me know. I can maybe spend a little more if there are some strong recommendations.

[Mike W]

I would recommend a 24pan but a 24mm UFF would be an upgrade that you will enjoy. Wider FOV, more eye relief and still usable with your UHC filter. APM, Celestron Edge, SV bony all make the 24UFF and available on Amazon.

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.c...8d-218a6afeae72

Edited by Mike W, 12 May 2025 - 03:58 PM.

[DLuders]

If you monitor the Cloudy Nights Classifieds section for eyepieces, you can get some gently-used ones for the budget you have.  I'm gotten some eyepieces that way, and it's a great way to stretch your money.

[rfcooley]

Found myself with around $200 to spend on upgrades to my beginner setup. I currently have an 8" Dobsonian (f/6) and a UHC nebula filter, but I'm still using the default eyepieces that came with it (Meade 25mm and 10mm Plossl). Since I've heard eyepieces can make a big difference, I think this is where I have the most room to upgrade. 

 

Are there any good recs within my price range? I'm interested in both deep sky and solar system objects, so really any recommendation is welcome. I also realize it's fairly low budget compared to a lot of other folks on here, so if it isn't worth upgrading without spending more, I'd appreciate y'all letting me know. I can maybe spend a little more if there are some strong recommendations.

A zoom ep would give you the most versatility. SVBony 7-21 (40-57) would be a good choice. You already have a 25mm the zoom would cover from 21 to 7. It also gives you a chance to learn about how seeing affects observing.

 

The next good choice in fixed eps would be the the AT Paradigm sold by our sponsor Astronomics to fill in the blanks between your 25mm and 10mm. One in between 25 and 10 and one below 10 perhaps an 8mm. To much smaller than 8/7 may only be useful in seeing conditions are really good  With a zoom you would have all those bases covered with one ep. Your could add a fixed Paradigm 5mm.

 

If the scope accepts 2" eps you have some more choices for low power sweeping and be able to stick within your budget. SVBony, Astromania, are some reasonably priced eps both in 1.25 and 2" eps.

 

A good 2x Barlow is always useful if you don't already have one.

 

RF

[Jay_Reynolds_Freeman]

It depends on what you want to look at -- if you are not sure where your interests lie, perhaps you should wait a while. The provided eyepieces, of 25 mm and 10 mm focal length, are pretty much what I would recommend for a two-eyepiece set for an f/6 Dobson that didn't have any eyepieces yet. One good option would be to find a local astronomy club, go to some of its star parties with your telescope, and ask to borrow other eyepieces to try them out.

 

If you are interested in medium to high magnification views of things, and have reasonably good seeing reasonably often, one possible purchase might be a 6 mm orthoscopic or Plossl. An eyepiece of focal length between 10 and 25 mm -- perhaps 16 mm -- might be slightly less useful, since it is possibly better to make a substantial extension of the range of magnification available than to add one where you have bracketed the target.

 

Zoom eyepieces can be very useful, but I strongly recommend "try before you buy", since not all of them work well at focal ratios as fast as f/6, and some of them, particularly the less expensive models, have smallish fields of view.

 

 

Clear sky ...

[vtornado]

• Svbony zoom 7-21 6 element zoom.
• 5 mm AT paradigm, for moon planets
• You could also 2x barlow your 10mm eyepiece.
• 6 and 9mm svbony red line/gold line work well too.   There are eye placement issues.
• svbony 18mm UFF -- something in between.
• Maybe an agena 32mm Q70 2 inch eyepiece.  this would be good as a finder or for open clusters.

 

It really depends upon what you want to view "next" 

Joining a club would allow you to try some eyepieces without buying.

 

Buying off the classified can save you some money, and allow you "rent" eyepieces.

Edited by vtornado, 12 May 2025 - 05:09 PM.

[jrmacl]

APM 30mm UFF or AT 28mm UWA for low power wide field 5mm exit pupil (or whatever brand clone)

 

The SvBony 7mm-21mm zoom, just to have- it's only $40 or $50 and it's fun to use. It's probably about as good or better than the ep's that came with the scope. The zoom will help you decide what size fixed ep's you will want. It's nice to use on the planets and the moon, zooming in and out until you find the perfect magnification. Also, if you lose your target, you can just zoom out and re-center it. You might want to also get one of Svbony's inexpensive $15 2x Barlows so you can add the 1.5x lens cell to the bottom of the zoom for higher mags.

 

For fixed ep's, the AT's (or clones) 100* XWA's, 82* UWA's for wider fields or Paradigms, UFF's, Celestron X-Cel LX or many many more choices for narrower fields.

Edited by jrmacl, 12 May 2025 - 05:52 PM.

[dmgriff]

Some budget suggestions...

 

A 30/32mm Plossl 50/52 degree afov (must be 50 or 52 degree) is a good lowest power around 40/37.5x, 1.25/1.33 degree true field in your 200mm f/6. Any decent plossl 25mm to 12mm or so will have decent eye relief for most and good in your f/6. 2x barlow to obtain shorter focal lengths.

 

 AT Paradigms 65 afov ~70usd, or, Celestron X-Cel LXs 60 afov (best price xcels Amazon).

A 25mm of either will give you about the same true field as the 30mm plossl but 48x.

 

Svbony SV190 UFF (APM clone) 18mm 65afov ~95usd.

 

Svbony Red or Gold line (Orion Expanse clones) 68/66 afov 20/15/9/6mm. Some report the 6mm as weakest in the line.

 

AstroTech ATPF 65 afov series 40usd, 25/19/15.5/10.5/5.5mm. Sharp as similarly priced plossls across the field, except the 25mm will have edge aberrations at f/6. 

 

AstroTech AT2XTB 4-element telecentric barlow. 60usd. Strongly suggest one of these. Excellent telecentric barlow for the price. Cuts your ep focal length in half. 2 focal lengths become 4 etc. For example 25mm, 15mm, 9mm eps add focal lengths of 12.5mm, 7.5mm, 4.5mm with the 2x barlow.

Edited by dmgriff, 12 May 2025 - 08:39 PM.

[Bulldawg54]

+1 on dmgriff suggestion of the AstroTech PF series and Barlow, with the 25, 15.5 and 10.5 eyepieces. Nice and sharp, and comfortable to use with or without glasses.

[ABQJeff]

In 1.25": AT/SV/APM 82 degree lineup, ES 68 degree line up (16/20/24), 32mm Plossl. 40mm Plossl (for max exit pupil)

 

In 2": AT XWA series (eg 9mm, 13mm, 20mm), AT 28mm UWA, 30mm UFF, Pentax 40XW* (*I know spendy but maximizes exit pupil and field of view with a lighter weight 40mm 2")

[T1R2]

Since you're in Texas, on the high power end,  I think a 5mm (240x) and 6mm (200x) to take advantage of those stable air mass, hot nights this summer when a lazy high pressure dome just sorta sits there for days with no jet stream in site for 500mi. 

[Tony Cifani]

I have a 6" F/8, about the same focal length as your 8" F/6. My most used eyepiece focal lengths are 32mm, 18mm, 12mm, 10mm, 8mm, and 5mm - most of these are Paradigm or Starguider Dual EDs as mentioned above. These are decent eyepieces. I use a 32mm Plossl for low power sweeping or sometimes as a finder eyepiece. My 12mm probably gets the most use of all of my eyepieces. I also use the 8mm a lot. But depends on what kind of objects you spend your time viewing.

 

For a little more than $200, you could buy three Paradigms (12, 8, 5), or maybe shop around for used and save a little money (a couple of mine were bought here on Cloudy Nights classifieds).

 

1200mm FL

EP  Power

32  37.5x
25  48x
12  100x
10  120x
8    150x
5    240x

[T1R2]

Astronomics is out of the 5mm Paradigm, so maybe an Agena Astro or BST Starguider 

[Procyon]

If you are interested in medium to high magnification views of things, and have reasonably good seeing reasonably often, one possible purchase might be a 6 mm orthoscopic or Plossl. 

You really think it's wise for a new amateur astronomer to roll out a 6mm ortho with a non trackable dob with so many good and inexpensive 60-82º widefield options? Sounds a bit harsh lol.

[SeattleScott]

My vote would be 12, 8 and 5 Astrotech Paradigm.

Upgrade your low power when you have more to spend.

[jrmacl]

You really think it's wise for a new amateur astronomer to roll out a 6mm ortho with a non trackable dob with so many good and inexpensive 60-82º widefield options? Sounds a bit harsh lol.

I agree. I love my little 8mm and 11mm TV Plossls and sometimes my 6mm Kelner in my C8. I think I tried them in my Dob like once, not my cup of tea.

[Jay_Reynolds_Freeman]

You really think it's wise for a new amateur astronomer to roll out a 6mm ortho with a non trackable dob with so many good and inexpensive 60-82º widefield options? Sounds a bit harsh lol.

I did and do advise "Try before you buy," but note also that at eight-inch f/6, a 6 mm orthoscopic will give a magnification of about 200 and field of about a quarter of a degree: If the original poster is already making successful use of the 10 mm Plossl that came with the telescope, there shouldn't be much problem going to a 6 mm. After all, one of the several reasons why an eight-inch f/6 Dobson is so commonly recommended as a first telescope for beginners is simple, easy, and butter-smooth tracking. (That of course assumes that the telescope has decent bearings, that use Teflon in the standard way.) A more expensive, wider-field eyepiece would certainly be nice, but in a well-made Dobson at a magnification of only 200, it scarcely seems necessary, and the original poster mentioned a $200 budget and was possibly interested in getting several eyepieces for that amount.

 

The first Dobson I built was an eight-inch f/5, and my previous experience with telescopes had generally been with driven units that had slow motions (early Celestron-14, various stuff on Super-Polaris-type equatorials). Finding things and tracking with the Dobson was a cinch from the word "go", and I used 4 mm orthoscopics regularly.

 

 

Clear sky ...

[Mike W]

Orthos should be the LAST E/P recommended to a beginner!

[MrsM75]

If you want a mid-power eyepiece, you can get this Orion Edge On Planetary 14.5mm eyepiece sale at HighPoint for $59.95 New. It has 20mm eye relief, it good even for glasses wearer. I got one from them and I really like it.

 

[Spile]

What works for me and my 8” Dobsonian is a 2” wide angle 30mm and a Baader Hyperion IV zoom with matching Barlow. 

[DC869]

I'll echo @dmgriff and @Bulldawg54 on the ATPF 65° series. I have an 8" f/5.9 dob, and often view with the Grandkids. I picked up a couple of these to have for them, and have found I like the views so well I plan to let them use the Starguiders that I have instead. (Someone probably already pointed out that Paradigms from Astronomics and Starguiders from Agena Astro are the same EP)

I had a full set of the Starguiders and they worked well in the 8"dob, too. I find the ATPF seems to have easier eye placement for me, and better contrast... but EP views are quite subjective and personal. You can't go wrong with either of those and the price is great.

AND... ditto the SvBony 7-21 Zoom. I give that one a lot of time as well.

Happy shopping! 😁

Edited by DC869, 20 May 2025 - 03:34 PM.

[pregulla]

I'd start with low power 2" eyepiece, 28mm UWA or 30mm UFF are good options and eyepieces you may keep. It makes star hopping much easier and overall observing experience much better. Even something like 34mm Svobny 70 degree will be a big step up and very enjoyable to use, but you'll probably upgrade it eventually. I'd skip 24mm UFF/ES68 - while good eyepieces, they don't really fit into a lineup of 2" capable scope (the field is too narrow compared to what 2" can offer, and the magnification is too close).

 

Zoom eyepiece, something like Svbony 7-21 or Celestron 8-24 + 2x barlow will close the gap for the rest of magnifications until you get. 

 

Buying used you can compromise on some quality to save money now, and upgrade later without loosing anything. My first 2" eyepiece was Skywatcher SWA70, it had pretty horrible edge correction, but compared to stock plossls it felt like I huge step up anyway, and I enjoyed using it a lot until I could upgrade for something better. I bought it used and got all my money back when I sold it.

[CollinofAlabama]

Clownpants,

 

As you can see, there are as many suggestions about eyepieces are there are eyepieces (or people on Cloudynights.com)   That's because eyepieces are such particular things.

 

Personally, I'd avoid the zoom eyepiece options.  They are, generally, not as good.  There are some very good zoom eyepieces, but the very good ones are not in your price range.

 

I also like the Paradigm 5mm and 12mm eyepieces from our sponsor, Astronomics.  These two are really quite good, although not all of the line perform as well as these.  So long as you don't wear glasses for astigmatism and don't need a whole lot of eye relief, these are good choices.  From the Celestron XCel LX line, I recommend the 7mm (really 6.5mm), the 9mm and the 25mm.  These three are quite good, extraordinarily good for the cost-benefit ratio.  BTW, the Meade HD-60 line of eyepieces (no longer on the market new) can sometimes be had in the CloudyNights.com Classifieds, and are the equivalent of the Celestron XCel LX eyepieces, but stick to these focal lengths.  Again, like the Paradigms, this line is not universally good, with a few poor performers as well as some that are just okay.  These three from the Celestron or Meade lines, however, are quite good and represent a very good value, like the two Paradigms, 5mm and 12mm.

 

But a different path, and probably the best one, is to go ahead and get the AstroTech 7 & 10mm UWAs.  These two don't cover as much ground, magnification-wise, because the 7mm is really an 8mm eyepiece, so you're getting 8mm and 10mm eyepieces, but with the huge true field of view they'll put into your eye, you will be quite happy with the result in your 8" dob.  Although together they'd cost just a little over your budget, with your CN discount they won't be much over it.

 

I also recommend a good 2" widefield eyepiece.  Without a doubt in my mind, the AT 28 UWA from our sponsor is one of the best deals going, bang for the buck, in widefield eyepieces.  It will cost more than your budget by itself, but it is definitely one of the most valuable things you could upgrade your scope with.  You won't believe what it can do.

 

Good luck and welcome to CloudyNights and the wonderful world of astronomy.

[Oldfracguy]

Whatever eyepiece(s) you choose, especially ones that will give you the medium-to-lower magnifications, be sure that they will work well at your scope's f/6 focal ratio. The performance of certain types of eyepieces starts to degrade at the lower ("faster") focal ratios compared with how they perform at the higher ("slower") focal ratios.

[CollinofAlabama]

Whatever eyepiece(s) you choose, especially ones that will give you the medium-to-lower magnifications, be sure that they will work well at your scope's f/6 focal ratio. The performance of certain types of eyepieces starts to degrade at the lower ("faster") focal ratios compared with how they perform at the higher ("slower") focal ratios.

Dave, Oldfracguy, makes a good point here.  All of the eyepieces I recommended you in the my post (#23) work well at F/6.  I have scopes from F/5 to F/13.5, so understand exactly what Dave is referring to, and typically use my scopes in the F/6-to-F/7 range.