More focal length, more aperture. I want something that is relatively easy to figure out on my own. Would anyone make an argument for the other EPs or ones I haven't listed? 6mm goldline: mag 108, AFOV 66, TFOV .61? Since the upper end of your budget is $300, my personal recommendation would be an Orion XT6 or SkyWatcher 6" Classic rather than the AWB OneSky. A lot to think about when buying eyepieces. It will also give you slightly more contrasty views since the secondary mirror is closed in and not sending stray light into the eyepiece. That said, the OneSky is a great starter telescope. It will also help for DSOs, since they will be 20% larger in the 6" than the 5" at the same view brightness. For $110 you can get this kit of four eyepieces that will work very well with that scope. May I ask what astronomy activity you've done with your students? A 6" dob will be just as transportable as a 5" tabletop when you factor in the table or tripod you would have to bring along with the 5" tabletop. Very important in a light polluted area with potential sources of extraneous light nearby. I live in a Bortle 7 area, and both scopes go with me to star parties organized by my astronomy club to show the general public what can be seen. Primary purpose is for planetary and DSO observing. But myself, I'm a man of action, hardly ever think about what I'm buying. Feel free to discuss anything here, from what sort of telescope you should get, to how to actually use that scope of yours! There is a light shroud on the truss. Aperture is king when buying a small reflector for visual use, so having a little more aperture than the AWB OneSky will give the Dob a slight edge. I think you make a lot of great points about the OneSky's reduced portability once you also pack its required accessories. AWB OneSky Mirror Clean. There is a light shroud on the truss. I read somewhere on here that the upper tube ring needs to come off. Thanks so much for your help! Good condition used scopes would be great options also! but that is also easy enough to travel with. I think the 10mm can also fit it but I haven't been awake at 4am with a low horizon lately. I'm glad to know that they have good options and knowledgeable staff. You can then search, sort, and compare different eyepieces against each other, or the same eyepiece against multiple scopes. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. I really appreciate the eyepiece recommendation! Primary purpose is for lunar and solar observing; could also be used for open clusters or DSO. I recommend at least 80-100x or more depending on how bright the sun is through your filter). The 4mm is great magnifying Jupiter and Saturn but they sure whiz through the FOV real quick. If you want a more compact travel solution, perhaps look into the explore scientific 127 Maksutov sets. Isn't TFOV .91 good enough for a large number of DSOs? You get an extra inch of aperture, which will be strongly beneficial for planetary and lunar observing (the kind of observing you want to be doing since you live in a light polluted area). I'm glad you mention Analytical Scientific! Looks like a great little scope too. If you had to recommend a handful of accessories for this scope that a first time stargazer would find most useful, what would they be? The minimum magnification I would recommend is 130x for these objects (which is a 5mm eyepiece). I have a OneSky and a 10" dob, and use my 14mm ES 82° in both of them without regret. While the extra aperture cannot overcome light pollution, it can deliver 1.625 more magnification at the same view brightness. cheaper telescopes. So the 10 and 25mm you listed are not good choices. This all sounds like really great advice, and I have to admit that part of my reason for posting this was to see whether or not people would tend to recommend a 6 in. For DSO on the Onesky, if I use the 25mm Plossl that gets me 1.9 TFOV at 26 mag (50 AFOV), right? That said, I'm not THAT far a drive from places with much better viewing conditions (and there are certainly patches of Texas with excellent conditions) so I want something that I can use at home for the moon, planets, etc. The 14mm will be good for the largest DSOs, but for smaller DSOs, you will want more magnification. I'm working at a local school. You can get lower power and wider angle if you want, but the only object really worth going wider angle for is M31, but with your light pollution levels, you're not going to see the outer extents of M31 anyway. I use the Onesky's EPs with it, which means: 10mm Plossl: mag 40, AFOV 52 or 50?, TFOV 1.3 or 1.25. Thanks! I'm a high school science teacher that had the good fortune of being assigned to teach Astronomy this year, and I've loved it. Press J to jump to the feed. That eyepiece in general would be good for your low power, wide angle eyepiece. This thread shows on the first pages a DIY shroud made of thin foam material or Kydex. Most people who own OneSkies have to make their own light shroud to give you something you get out of the box for free with the Zhumell Z130. If you get the 5mm eyepiece for planetary viewing, you can also use that for smaller brighter DSOs (such as globular clusters) where you want more magnification to resolve the individual stars. I built the site for this exact situation: trying to decide which eyepiece to get. As for a "mount": The Ikea Bekväm fits the OneSky perfectly and is more rigid than any other telescope on a tripod in this price-range. I am leaning towards the Explore Scientific for the quality and magnification plus TFOV for DSOs. Press J to jump to the feed. I would actually replace the 10mm Plossl with it. Still fun! Checkout out https://eyepieceplanner.com. If you have any other advice, feel free to leave that as well! Just kidding. Seems like most people go the same route for the light shroud. You can't even get decent quality plossls that cheap, and these are going to be better than plossl eyepieces. But if your atmosphere allows, you can get away with much higher magnifications. Great advice so far! AWB OneSky: 130mm aperture, 650mm focal length, f/5. Do you know anything about the Plus variants of the Orion XT scopes? I'm terrible at math so I'm posting all numbers for accuracy checks. AWB OneSky: 130mm aperture, 650mm focal length, f/5. Thanks! Since you are in San Antonio, there is an astronomy store called Analytical Scientific, that has lots of telescopes on the second floor of the store, both new and used and the staff is very knowledgeable. Having scoured reddit, CN and Google for info on what other eyepieces are good for my astronomy pursuits, I'm posting here for feedback on my findings and conclusions and what's best for my observing. Also, it sounds like though it's initially more expensive, it would actually be a little cheaper in the long run? Most people who own OneSkies have to make their own light shroud to give you something you get out of the box for free with the Zhumell Z130. I (a beginner) love my OneSky. Thanks so much for the detailed reply! The view will just look cleaner. Same price, but a solid tube. If it's not obscured by light pollution, that extra size will make it much easier to see. Whatever. What I love about reddit and CloudyNights is the absolute wealth of information coupled with the dialogue/questions and answers needed to really understand this hobby. I want something that I can modify a bit as needed and/or that would be worth keeping long term as a travel scope if/when I decide to invest in something larger. All of the Pleiades can fit into the FOV with the 25mm, which is great. OneSky with shroud, RACI finder, and carry handle. That's a nice contrast boost! I have access to 2 different local Astronomy groups in San Antonio, and am definitely interested in making it to their meetups but they tend to conflict with other commitments that I have. If you had to recommend a handful of accessories for this scope that a first time stargazer would find most useful, what would they be? dob instead. As a full size Dobsonian, it will be much more comfortable to view through than a table top telescope. Technically your 10mm covers the lower end of that magnification, but it's hard to look through. Quick follow up question. Aftering poring over dozens of reviews and reading the "What telescope should I buy?" It's not a "planetary expert" but beats most(all?) I'm not sure that I have a convenient space that I can dedicate to its storage. (Other than that I might occasionally want to snap a smart phone image for fun). But before I go all in, I wanted describe my needs and ask a few questions here to see what y'all think. You can enter information about one or more telescopes, and it will automatically compute the true field of view, magnification, and exit pupil of every eyepiece. Since buying the OneSky I’ve made several modifications to customize the scope and enhance its performance for the way I use it. But I'm going to look tonight because if I have space for it, it sounds like it might be a more solid investment. The home to all amateur astronomers & telescopes! Either of the 6" scopes I mentioned are F/8, vs the AWB OneSky's F/5 focal ratio. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, For $110 you can get this kit of four eyepieces that will work very well with that scope.