I built my own 8″ F8 telescope, but I bought all the optics, spider, and mount, as a bundle from another party who parted out another ‘scope.

I purchased a kit of good quality eyepieces from Celestron. They come in their own aluminum case. That is probably the best deal for the money. That kit is still available — go to:
/c2/product.php?CatID=42&ProdID=271

They are 1.25″ eyepieces, so you might have to get a 2″ to 1.25″ converter (but that’s an inexpensive item). I don’t have any complaints with any aspect of this kit. They also sell the same kit in 2″ for more money.

Go over the mirror with a magnifying glass and look for surface imperfections. If the mirror looks clean — no pits, no scratches, then it probably doesn’t need recoating. Recoating will cost a few hundred US$ when you decide to do it.

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Posted by tlbs101, on December 5th, 2008, at 2:26 am. #.

Get a Telrad finder. Then I would recommend low-power Plossls in the 18-40mm size initially, and a good x2 Barlow. Plossls in the longer sizes such as these are very cheap yet pretty hard to beat. Next maybe a x3 Barlow. Save you money up and work your way down in focal length, nice wide-angle high-power high-quality eyepieces costs in the 100′s (I’ve got a $330 12mm, rare-earth optics, 85-degree FOV, about 1/2 inch or more of eye relief, only really-nice eyepiece in my collection).

If your focuser or mount is not top-notch in terms of performance, either can cause a lot of frustration. Learn how to star-test and collimate.

Mirrors can visibly look God-awful, yet still deliver the views. Hold off on the recoat unless you really, REALLY need it.

If this is your first scope, congrats, it’s an ideal starter.

Posted by Gary H, on December 5th, 2008, at 7:56 pm. #.