Advice Wanted!

[Coprolite Whisperer]

Yes, you can usually any brand of eyepiece of the right size in any scope - current standard sizes are 1.25" and 2" barrels, though some older/smaller scopes may still use 0.965" barrels, which are harder to find good eyepieces for these days.

Best quality eyepieces are probably Televue - especially as far as ultrawide designs go - with prices to match - but there are several other high quality brands around. It's a bit like high end audio gear - you can pay premium prices to get the last bit of performance, or pay quite a bit less for something with most of the performance, or go for something cheaper which works but has limitations.

In eyepieces, the basic plossl eyepieces are a nice improvement over earlier designs, and are quite usable - but premium designs can have wider fields of view, better eye relief at short focal lengths, and maybe better quality views - though the quality differences may be subtle. The field of view difference can be huge - especially with ultrawide designs - and the eye relief difference can be big too.

Basic coloured filters are usually of little use, apart from a moon filter to cut the brightness down a bit - most people tend not to bother with coloured filters.

Narrowband filters are expensive and have specialised uses - they can help spot some types of nebulae by making them stand out more - but all filters give you a dimmer view; what they can do is boost contrast by dimming unwanted colours more...

Light pollution filters are useful for imaging, but are no substitute for dark skies.

The eyepiece kits you see advertised can be worth considering - they're usually basic plossl eyepieces, and if you have the budget you'll probably end up replacing them with premium designs - but they're a relatively cheap learning resource - you can see how bright/big various objects come out in your scope with different focal lengths, so when you go shopping for premium eyepieces you'll have a better idea what to go for...

Thanks Jerry! Assuming I'm equipped with a 2" focuser and a 1.25" adapter for ruduction, which would you recommend a barlow lens for the 2 or 1.25? That is assuming I'm using the 2 for deep sky and 1.25 for planetary. How well would the barlow work on deep sky observing?

[TILLIBOBS]

Welcome to the forum. Regarding your question on the difficulty of tracking with a DOB, someone on here once said that if you can chew gum, and walk at the same time, you can track a Dob. I no longer have my Dob, but I soon picked up the knack of tracking with it, and, if I can do it, anyone can.

[Coprolite Whisperer]

Welcome to the forum. Regarding your question on the difficulty of tracking with a DOB, someone on here once said that if you can chew gum, and walk at the same time, you can track a Dob. I no longer have my Dob, but I soon picked up the knack of tracking with it, and, if I can do it, anyone can.

SWEET! Thanks Tillibobs! That's what I was hoping to hear!

[Makuser]

Hello Coprolite. You have already gotten some solid advice, so all I can do now is to re-recommend some of the same. I have the XLT150R refractor version of your XLT150 reflector telescope. My refractor can take 2" diagonals and eyepieces, but from what I was able to determine from the Celestron website, the reflector only comes with 1.25" capabilities. Also, in this price range, you could get an 8" or even a 10" Dob reflector that takes both 1.25" and 2" eyepieces, AND with a Crayford focuser. There is nothing like a low power wide field view of DSOs through a 2" eyepiece. I hope this helps, and best wishes on your telescope decision.

[zxcvb]

I have a zumell 12 dob and the build quality and tracking movement are very smooth. The nice thing about large scopes is the time it takes for objects to pass through the field of view more so with wide field eyepieces[82+]the inprovements i have done on mine are as follows,telrad sight[a must have] heavier springs in main mirror cell,the stock ones work,but you have to re-columate when you transport the scope even if it is just across the yard/dew heater for telrad/secondary mirror and eyepiece holder home made using nicad wire out of an old eletric blanket[easier than it sounds,check u-tube]stock eyepieces are nice and a cheap plossel set works;but i eventually purchased a exsplore scientific 82 degree 2 inch 18mm and 1.25inch 6.7 and 2x barlow still use the 2 inch 32mm that came with it. Also made a cart to transport to dark location in my yard.oh and one more thing the laser columater that comes with the zhumell will more than likely be out of columation.easy fix just goggle on u-tube how to columate a columater. Happy hunting

[Coprolite Whisperer]

I have a zumell 12 dob and the build quality and tracking movement are very smooth. The nice thing about large scopes is the time it takes for objects to pass through the field of view more so with wide field eyepieces[82+]the inprovements i have done on mine are as follows,telrad sight[a must have] heavier springs in main mirror cell,the stock ones work,but you have to re-columate when you transport the scope even if it is just across the yard/dew heater for telrad/secondary mirror and eyepiece holder home made using nicad wire out of an old eletric blanket[easier than it sounds,check u-tube]stock eyepieces are nice and a cheap plossel set works;but i eventually purchased a exsplore scientific 82 degree 2 inch 18mm and 1.25inch 6.7 and 2x barlow still use the 2 inch 32mm that came with it. Also made a cart to transport to dark location in my yard.oh and one more thing the laser columater that comes with the zhumell will more than likely be out of columation.easy fix just goggle on u-tube how to columate a columater. Happy hunting

Cool! Thanks for the resource Zxcvb! Could you tell me a little more about the after market springs, like where to buy and recommended size? Just a few minor details. Thanks for your help!

[zxcvb]

Just go down to your friendly neighborhood hardware store ,or even one of those not so friendly stores with one of your stock springs in hand and buy 3 springs of similar size with a little heaver gage wire. The felt tension does,nt have to be dramatic. Squeeze them between your finger if the new spring feel a little firmer that,s the one. The stock springs are just weak enough that any kind of vibration causes the calumniation to go out, nothing drastic just enough to be noticed. Now when you remove your primary mirror cell there are a couple of things to watch out for,first with the scope in it,s stand bring the scope to a hora zonal position and place a box or some other support under the tube on the eyepiece end to support it when you remove the weight of the primary. Then place your primary mirror side down on a clean surface[wow that just gave me a chill just typing that, be careful]i use a clean shammy on my kitchen table . Now you can get at the springs, just make sure to also remove the two screws that hold your fan plug in.i sound like i am making " well duh" statements and i don,t mean to insult your intellegence, but as you know "s-happens" and i would,nt want to cause any grief to a fellow observer. And[i am getting typers cramps] all this might be a mute point as zhumell has known about this for some time now and may have already rectified one of the very few short-comings in a fine product,try your,s out let us know. May the clouds in your life blow away and bare the wondrous heavens before you.zxcvb

[Coprolite Whisperer]

Just go down to your friendly neighborhood hardware store ,or even one of those not so friendly stores with one of your stock springs in hand and buy 3 springs of similar size with a little heaver gage wire. The felt tension does,nt have to be dramatic. Squeeze them between your finger if the new spring feel a little firmer that,s the one. The stock springs are just weak enough that any kind of vibration causes the calumniation to go out, nothing drastic just enough to be noticed. Now when you remove your primary mirror cell there are a couple of things to watch out for,first with the scope in it,s stand bring the scope to a hora zonal position and place a box or some other support under the tube on the eyepiece end to support it when you remove the weight of the primary. Then place your primary mirror side down on a clean surface[wow that just gave me a chill just typing that, be careful]i use a clean shammy on my kitchen table . Now you can get at the springs, just make sure to also remove the two screws that hold your fan plug in.i sound like i am making " well duh" statements and i don,t mean to insult your intellegence, but as you know "s-happens" and i would,nt want to cause any grief to a fellow observer. And[i am getting typers cramps] all this might be a mute point as zhumell has known about this for some time now and may have already rectified one of the very few short-comings in a fine product,try your,s out let us know. May the clouds in your life blow away and bare the wondrous heavens before you.zxcvb

Thanks zxcvb! Sounds easy enough. You're wise to account for Murphy's law So much help here! I would have gone out every time wondering why I couldn't get a good picture! Not to worry, I'd rather have tech specific directions than vague instructions. I'm mechanically inclined so I shouldn't have too much trouble.

[rtcooper2]

Hi CW
Welcome to the forum. I started with an 8" Dob about a year ago and like it so much I bought a 14" Go To. With the 8" I wanted to foster my son's interest in space so I looked for something easy, quick, able to grab some views of more than planets and because he's a kid, something not so delicate.

Set up is a piece of cake with the 8". It weighs 40# so you basically pick it up, move to your back yard, porch , etc and start looking. (The 14" is another story at 160#). Dobs are nudge, bump and push to stay on target and it becomes second nature about 15 minutes into your first session.

It didn't take long to start playing with new EP's beyond what came with my scope but would definitely put a premium on quality EP's. personally, I've found 2" low mag (38mm, 32mm) my go to for finding things because of the FOV then I start step up the magnification for a larger/bigger view. This is where I think quality comes into play as there is more degradation of the view in my X-Cel EP than my Delos even though my Delos has greater magnification. And the ultra wide FOV EP's are pretty breathtaking.

I'm not much on filters other than the moon filter and a UHC (also an O-III) for light pollution and nebula viewing.

Good luck to you

[Coprolite Whisperer]

Hi CW
Welcome to the forum. I started with an 8" Dob about a year ago and like it so much I bought a 14" Go To. With the 8" I wanted to foster my son's interest in space so I looked for something easy, quick, able to grab some views of more than planets and because he's a kid, something not so delicate.

Set up is a piece of cake with the 8". It weighs 40# so you basically pick it up, move to your back yard, porch , etc and start looking. (The 14" is another story at 160#). Dobs are nudge, bump and push to stay on target and it becomes second nature about 15 minutes into your first session.

It didn't take long to start playing with new EP's beyond what came with my scope but would definitely put a premium on quality EP's. personally, I've found 2" low mag (38mm, 32mm) my go to for finding things because of the FOV then I start step up the magnification for a larger/bigger view. This is where I think quality comes into play as there is more degradation of the view in my X-Cel EP than my Delos even though my Delos has greater magnification. And the ultra wide FOV EP's are pretty breathtaking.

I'm not much on filters other than the moon filter and a UHC (also an O-III) for light pollution and nebula viewing.

Good luck to you

Thanks Cooper! I was a little worried going with a Dob for size and navigation. However, after more research, Telrad with riser and extra aperture seem totally worth the extra effort. My plan is to go with Zhummel Z10 Dob. After talking to some great people here I'm more confident about the selections. My only concern now is should get the deluxe package that comes with a 16mm Z100 100deg FOV or get a few important accessories, head out, and see what eyepieces I want after a few months. The eyepiece sounds awesome but I haven't seen enough reviews for an FOV that size. I've seen a lot of negative reviews about huge FOV's. Guess I wont know till I try it. Any experience with an eyepiece like this?