What is Reddit's opinion of SVBONY Telescopes Eyepieces 1.25 inches Eyepiece 68 Degree Ultra Wide Angle Telescope Accessory (6mm)?

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I'm looking at the 6mm one personally ...I've got a 10" dob on order, and this one was recommended. Check them out, hopefully someone who has used one can provide more detailed feedback.

I would always suggest getting a dedicated eyepiece instead of a barlow. These 68° “redline” EPs are the highly recommended budget ones. If your budget allows, I would recommend getting all 4.

But he will be able to sketch DSOs with the 25mm. The Orion Nebula would be a fun first target to sketch.

• Telrad or Rigel Quickfinder for aiming the scope.
• headlamp with a red light option is useful
• SkySafari 6 Plus (cheaper than 7 Plus and pretty much just as good)
• then I would consider eyepieces. I would start with this 6mm 68° EP for viewing planets.
• I prefer an RACI to a straight through finder.

I meant Svbony redline 6mm/68 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CCKFDZY/ref=twister_B07JGY39D3?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

But goldline is good as well it is 66 degree.

Note with 68 degree 6mm/x110 you get same filed of view as with stock 40 degree 10mm/x66...

This eyepiece is exactly the same as the first one you linked, but $30 less. They can usually be found for about $7 less from places other than amazon. I just don’t know what you have in Australia. Anyway, these redlines are some of the best budget eyepieces you can get. I’d also highly recommend getting the 15mm to go with your 6mm. That puts you at ~$110. Just enough to get a used telrad if you aren’t already planning on it.

https://www.amazon.com/SVBONY-Telescopes-Eyepieces-Eyepiece-Degree/dp/B07CCKFDZY/ref=asc_df_B07CCKFDZY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366384189491&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=175301688675876090&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=...

Plossl just refers to the type of lens configuration used in the eyepiece. There's nothing particularly special about them other than they have good performance at low cost. They aren't the best but they aren't the worst either and they won't break your wallet. They do have problems at high magnification though. Don't get a 6mm Plossl. But a 20mm Plossl is great.

The 6mm goldline are the most bang for the buck when it comes to high magnification. They have a very wide field of view and perform great. They only cost like $30. I don't know what kind of optical magic is done in these but I have one and it's fantastic.

There's many brands of goldline and they are all the same. Probably from the same manufacturing line. Here's the one I got. Great for moon and planets.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CCKFDZY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_TdosFbTJY95M1

They increase magnification but also degrade the image quality unless you have a very good one.

The more magnification you apply means the dimmer image is going to be and if you over-magnify your scopes abilities then you’re going to have a worse visual experience.

For a scope like that I’d have this as your main eyepiece and maybe go down to a 4mm on really good seeing days.

SVBONY Telescopes Eyepieces 1.25 inches Eyepiece 68 Degree Ultra Wide Angle (6mm) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CCKFDZY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ASZNDbE8KAP88

Don’t bother with cameras or filters now (or focusers because the stock focuser can’t easily be upgraded).

First things you will want to do/know/learn: - get a collimation tool and learn how to collimated the scope (search this sub for recommendations) - get the book “turn left at Orion” - learn how to star hop to find targets (overestimate in the above mentioned book” - download the free desktop software Stellarium - get a mobile planetarium app. I prefer SkySafari 6 Plus because you can simulate the FOV of your eyepieces which makes star hopping easier - get a small sturdy platform/table to place the scope on - Align the finder (during the day or at night with Polaris, assuming you are in the northern hemisphere) - Figure out your level of light pollution, and see if you are close to any darker locations. We generally like to use the Bortle Scale as a reference. - On the topic of light pollution, it is best to observe DSOs when there is little or ideally no moon. - Learn how to use averted vision and how to let your eyes fully adapt to the dark. I take the dark adaptation very seriously and it definitely makes a big difference. I turn off all the lights in the house (that I can) and close any blinds that might help block light, I position my scope so that a bush blocks the landscape light that my neighbor leaves on, and I wear sunglasses if I need to go back in the house for whatever reason. - Buy a headlamp with a red light option. Useful for astronomy, but I think everyone should own one. - Figure out how to make your phone screen red. - As for what to expect, here are some sketches I made of DSOs from Bortle 5/6 with an 8” scope. The nebula and galaxies are brighter in the sketches than they are in real life, but it at least gives you a rough idea of what DSOs will look like. Also feel free to search this sub for “sketch” to see more examples. - And here are what planets will look like. - Here is a great write-up on how to make the most out of viewing the planets. Basically use the highest magnification possible before the view degrades due to optics and atmospheric conditions. - A good rule of thumb is to start with the lowest power eyepiece first, and then move to higher magnifications. Different targets will look better with different eyepieces. - Don’t feel the need to use the highest power eyepieces. For many DSOs I actually prefer to use relatively low power (I do most of my observing between 45x and 105x - exit pupil between 4.4mm and 1.9mm - Glow in the dark tape is useful. - Let your scope sit outside for at least an hours before you observe so that the mirror can equilibrate with the atmospheric temperature. - observe from a seated position. They make nice observing chairs, but they aren’t cheap. I use a folding camp chair.

As for eyepieces, that depends on your budget. These 68° “redline” EPs are the often recommended budget options. They are sold elsewhere and under a few different brands. You will also probably want a 5-4mm eyepiece for viewing planets.

“redline” is just that name for these 68° eyepieces sold under different brands. They cost about $30 USD and can even be bought from AliExpress for a a bit less.

I unfortunately can't speak to that as easily, as I only have the 130mm and am relatively new here. But the amount of light gathered by a scope depends on surface area of the mirror, so while 114mm to 130mm is a small jump in width, it's a 30% bump in surface area (130^2 / 114^2 ), so not an insignificant increase. But both scopes should be perfectly capable of magnifying up to 100x-150x clearly, which is plenty for some good views of the planets and moon. When looking at star clusters, nebula, and galaxies you usually want lower power anyways, as you're limited to what you can see by how light hits the mirror. Both of these are big enough for a beginner to see loads of cool "deep-sky objects" (DSOs) to keep them busy for awhile. For DSOs you'll typically want the darkest skies you can travel to as well.

One issue with both of these options is just that the included eyepieces aren't going to take full advantage of the magnification ability of the scope. Magnification = focal length of the primary mirror (~total length of the telescope tube) / focal length of the eyepiece. Since these types of scopes tend to have short tubes, by default they won't magnify very much unless you get a new eyepiece of a smaller focal length (by the math above smaller focal eyepieces increase magnification). The Z114 only comes with 17mm and 10mm eyepieces, while most of the 130mm options come with a 25mm and a 10mm. That's only going to get you up to 45x-65x magnification. I'd recommend purchasing one higher power eyepiece regardless of which you pick up.

If you go with a 130mm scope, which usually have a 650mm focal length, I'd recommend picking up a "6mm goldline 68° eyepiece", like this one from Svbony. That'll give you 108x magnification which would be much better for planetary viewing than what's included in the box. It's also only ~$35 extra investment.

For the 114mm scope, it does get a little harder since the tube is just shorter at 465mm. You'd want to pick up something like a 4mm eyepiece to get in the 116x magnification range. That size isn't available in the goldline ultrawide lineup by the various brands, so you'd want something like an SWA Planetary II 4mm (~$30-50 depending on where and when you get it), or you could push it a little further and get a higher quality Agena Starguider Dual ED 3.2mm for around $65 (at the time of writing), which would push you all the way up to 145x mag.

Just in terms of portability, size, and weight, here's a video of Space.com opening up and displaying the 130mm AWB OneSky. I can't find a good video of the Z114, but it weighs more like 11lbs compared to the 14-21 lbs of the OneSky or Z130 scopes.

Awesome so here are some thoughts/comments:

• so the scope definitely appears to be an 8”
• here is a diagram of a dobsonian telecope (officially a Newtonian reflector telescope on a dobsonian mount)
• take a look at the mirrors (primary and secondary), shine a light on them and look for dust, scratches, grime, etc… some dust is usual, but a lot of grime means you will need to clean them
• avoid touching the mirror surface. They consist of a thin and delicate coating of aluminum that can easily be damaged
• the holes at the top/front of the tube are for mounting a spotting scope. A spotting scope along with a Telrad make it easier to locate objects in the sky. These are two accessories that are highly recommended
• the focuser is able to accept 2” diameter eyepieces as well as 1.25” eyepieces. These are the standard sizes. You will want to get a 2” to 1.25” adapter like this
• see my previous comment about the fan
• no need to use the 3x barlow and 1.5 erecting eyepiece
• instead you can just purchase a few (3-5) individual eyepieces. These are the recommended budget eyepieces, add this to the set and you will be good to go.

Any 1.25” diameter eyepiece will work with your scope. But as others have mentioned, your money will probably be better spent buying à la cart. Some good options would be to get at least the 6mm version of these eyepieces, and the 4mm version of these eyepieces. That will give you 75x and 112x (medium sized targets and planets). Also we would recommend getting the 20mm version of the 68° Svbony EPs for wide views and to help locate targets.

https://www.amazon.com/SVBONY-Telescopes-Eyepieces-Eyepiece-Degree/dp/B07CCKFDZY

The 6mm I mean is this one with the red band

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CCKFDZY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_btf_t1_kUJtFbBXM19XG