What would be a basic set of eyepieces?...

Frank - you get what you pay for in this hobby. Also, I would strongly advise buying from a reputable source - new or second-hand.

If you want the best, buy Televue. They do a good range. But prepare to pay. You can get good deals secondhand and I've never heard of a 'copied' Televue...

I'm selling a 16mm Nagler for example - so you'd know the source was reputable (I'm not doing a sales job here - just illustrating that you can buy second-hand as long as you know who you're dealing with). Astromart is good - probably a little safer than ebay - and dealer get star ratings so you can see who to avoid.

As for other makes, e.g Meade, Celestron, Moonfish, TMB etc, I really can't help you with any experience there.

Also, the same goes for filters.

I'm not that much of a fan of 'box sets' - invariably there's stuff in there you'll probably never use. And you have to be suspicious of bits 'thrown in' that give the appearance of great value but in reality are just fillers and not worth a whole lot. Look at all those '110 toolset' kits...

For webcamming, my understanding is folks doing planetary work get as much magnification as they can - but the really good palnetary imagers have scopes and mounts that would put us all to shame. Some collimate their OTA every 30 minutes. Yes, you read it right....

Anyhow, hope this helps. A bit...

Some collimate their OTA every 30 minutes

Well in that case I want an RCX400. (Collimation in seconds - allegedly).

I'm not that much of a fan of 'box sets' - invariably there's stuff in there you'll probably never use. And you have to be suspicious of bits 'thrown in' that give the appearance of great value but in reality are just fillers and not worth a whole lot. Look at all those '110 toolset' kits...

The only eyepieces I have are the meade boxed set that they did for £99 a few years back. That had 7 Super Plossil eyepieces in it. That was great value and has enough eyepieces to keep me happy. Though the 32mm and 40mm rarely get used on my scope. The current meade set also contains a 32mm and 40mm; not sure that I'd fork out $299 for a set with those in it for my scope; they may be more useful in the etx though.

The new full set also contains filters which are something else that you'll end up having to buy later if you like looking at planets. The Neutral density filter is really only for lunar observing to dim down the intensity of the moon a bit.

As for Barlows, I've the regular 2x Meade one. I mainly use it with the webcam though sometimes for planetary viewing, using it and a larger eyepiece seems better than a higher power eyepiece. I've also a 5x powermate which is only good for webcam use, and to be honest at the kind of magnification that gives you you need a very steady scope and mount, it pics up every vibration.

So, the eyepieces that I have for visual use that get the most use are:
6.4mm, 9.7mm, 12.4mm, 15mm, 26mm. For the ETX125 the 6.4mm will probably be pushing it. You already have the 26mm. So the 9.7mm and the 15 or the 12.4 would probably be a good initial set.

There are better eyepieces out there than the Meade set I have, but I've never seen through any that would make me want to rush out and buy them. With one exception - naglers, have a look through one at a starparty and you'll see why, however they are not cheap and I wouldn't list them in a 'basic syspiece set'.

Given all that the ETX kits [1] seem to be ideal.

Cheers,
~Al

[1] www.meade.com/accessories/telescope_kits/index.html top 3 on that page.

Hi Frank,
Sorry for the late reply, I was out of the country on business for the week.
I use the 2x meade apo barlow, its does a good job, I've also used the 3x.
The televues are excellent but you'll pay.

Thanks yet again for all the advice lads,
I ended up getting these on eBay..

Meade X2 Apochromatic Barlow.
6.4, 9.7, 12.4 & 15mm Series 4000 Super Plossl

so with the 26mm I already have
I'd say thats gonnahave to do me!!!!

(or else my bank manager is goin to come a-knockin') :shock: