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Hi Mike,
Looks like you didn't get much response to your appeal. Here are my thoughts on it. There are two areas that most people enjoy studying, deep space and planets. You are fortunate that the planets are visible right now. Soon they will be gone until next fall. So, eyepieces need to cover those two area, deep sky and planetary. There are others things of interest, but you need to start somewhere. For planetary when your scope is well aligned (collimated), my favorite eyepiece is usually a 10mm, sometimes a 12.5mm. For planets, I think orthoscopics are you best choice, so I would try to land a 10 or 12.5mm ortho through astromart for $45. For deep sky on a scope like yours a 27mm to 32mm is generally a lot of fun. In this case, I would go with a plossl because you get a bit wider field than an ortho. Again, you can try astromart, and I would expect to pay about $45 again. I really like the 32mm Orion Sirius eyepiece for the price. I have 5 32mm eyepieces and it is the least expensive. Yet I consider it the best value, and that's what you should concentrate on right now, value. People will give you a lot of information about distortion, field of view, flatness of field, etc, and most of it will be true, but just stick with the basics for now and buy good, simple eyepieces. If you want to upgrade later, sell the ones you have on Astromart and move up. Some of these guys have twice as much in eyepieces as they have in their scopes, the morons.
As for a 2X barlow, it is an optional lense that is placed between eyepiece and focuser to double the power of the eyepiece. I use one from time to time when doing planets. Right now, though, if you have more than $90 to spend on eyepieces, get a third eyepeice. If you find you like planets more than deepsky, add a 6.5 to 9mm orthoscopic eyepiece, a 7.5mm being a good choice. In orthos, most used ones fall into the same quality range. If you buy new, University Optics orthos are hard to beat. If you like deepsky more than planetary, and have already bought a 32mm, then get a 25-27mm. If you bought a 27mm and the field of view is wide enough for you, get something around a 20mm. Again, a plossl is a good choice unless you find a bargain on something slightly wider. Most plossls will come in at about 52 degrees of field. You may come across a 60 degree eyepiece at a good price. But beware, some of these widefields are a mess along the outer edges and the extra field will be wasted. Konigs work reasonable well. Erfles will probalby disappoint you. If in doubt, buy a plossl. Hope this helps. If you need more put another message on the board and with your email address and I'll track you down. Fred |
