ballisticbrian

I have a question about the 3 x Barlow I have with my vintage 0.96 setup. When adding the Barlow in positioned at the moon, I am having trouble focusing. My instinct is that I have to reel the focus into th scope to compensate for the lengnth of th Barlow. Is this correct? Is the eye piece always fully inserted into the Barlow lens? Beginners guide required! lol

Commanderfish, how would you rate this as a beginner scope and how different is it to the Bresser you recomended? https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-evostar-120-eq3-2-telescope.html

Lockheed Martin on "The Hubble Telescope", 😆😆😆

What is pinching for the resident noob?

I liked your reply but I did the exact opposite oooops 😕 I figured that as Ive seen one of these sell for 60 or 70 pounds and it was in poor condition, that it might be worth me getting all the original parts to go with this one so when I sell it on, it's complete. I bought, all in 0.96, the prism 90 degree thing, 3 eye pieces and a 3x bartholemu. And judging by the scope he was selling on it's own, I hink that these items are as near goddamit as the originals that came with this telescope. Hopefully you can see my logic, can't wait to get this fired up with its vintage parts and see what we can see.

Hey, I have the chance of getting some 0.965 pieces cheaply for this scope. Shall I go for that or was the idea of getting a 1.25 converter and some 1.25 eyepieces a good upgrade option. (bearing in mind I may sell all this and go for a new refractor?)

Thank you for the suggestions, I need to read it a few times as some of it is new to me. I punched in the telescope you mentioned on eBay and non were found but as "similar items" it showed me this: Bresser Messier AR-152S / 760 Refractor OTA Telescope ONLY

What would you buy if you were a complete beginner and only a budget of a few hundred quid,? (Im sure its ben discussed on here before but anyway)

Someone has a similar telescope possibly a few models down right now on eBay and it doesn't look like it has been stored in a dry place and it has a bid for 49.99 on it and 10 quid postage. I'm suprised how saleable such an old scope is worth to be honest!!! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Wooden-Tripod-Hilkin-T-504-Telescope/284197765599?

The reason I would buy an adapter and all the eye pieces in 1.25" is because I have every hope to get into it, and then the eye pieces would be useful on another setup. I'm doing this for the children though, I am slightly night blind and wear glasses. So far, all I have really seen is the moon. I'll probably need to upgrade my barlow lense too I guess. Maybe I should really be looking for whole new telescope, but if I can get this going cheaply that would be ok. Does adding 90 degree prisms add to this lengnth / focus issue as described about the 30mm 1.25" adapter? Also, I've now looked at the descriptions of the converters in the link above - ens optical and it appears they are for using 0.965 eye pieces and not the other way round.

The reason I would buy an adapter and all the eye pieces in 1.25" is because I have every hope to get into it, and then the eye pieces would be useful on another setup. I'm doing this for the children though, I am slightly night blind and wear glasses. So far, all I have really seen is the moon. I'll probably need to upgrade my barlow lense too I guess. Maybe I should really be looking for whole new telescope, but if I can get this going cheaply that would be ok. Does adding 90 degree prisms add to this lengnth / focus issue as described about the 30mm 1.25" adapter?

OK, so I assume it does work ok then, I'm due to bid soon on some 1.25" bits. Link to a 1982 pop video for OLDFORT containing a very similar if not the same telescope and tripod as this , time stamp 2:03

Arrr, that would be a problem!!! What would happen? I wonder has anyone tried this? 😮

OK I may be using it slightly incorrectly, but surely you first read the whole parts of an inch which I think is 15/16ths, and then the fraction part as you mention which is an additional 5 fractions of a 16th of an inch?

So just to clarify, my gauge shows 10 scorelines at the top of the gauge and the first line from the left is the mark. It does appear to me to be just under an inch? Or am I using the gauhe wrongly on the shaft of the eyepiece? Haven't bought what I was looking for yet, nor have a camra roll tube.

Hi there, it's a long time since I posted this thread. I want to get some goodish eyepieces so my kids can use this Hilkin telescope when old enough, so I found a 10mm eye piece and the prism 90 degree thing on a well know auction site , perfect , however, I realise before I bid on there these that I have aren't 1.25 inch pieces. Can anyone explain what I have in beginners language, here's the pictures with micrometre, and what is the black offset piece I wonder? As before you people are great and I appreciate your help? So I need to know what is is I have here, these adapters and pieces and am I right to look for a 10mm eyepiece or something more extravagant like a 2 incher? And what is the actual size eye piece I have, it looks just under an inch? SO here you can see me measuring the eyepiece itself in pic 3 and in the first picture I attempt to measure the inside diameter of a sort of adapter (but it may not be an adapter and simply part of the telescope?)

Is that HM.25mm lens that I have , what you mean by low magnification? Unfortunately I couldn't see M81 or 82 but I was on the floor on uneven concrete and I only tried for 10mins. (don't have a diagonal lens) I could see a very bright Uranus though and a rather dim Mars near to eachother (if indeed it was Mars). It's a shame that the conditions looked excellent but my inexperience at looking for things or working the telescope meant I spent most of the time dashing in and out to look at a planetarium online. Seeing something as bright as Uranus was quite interesting though. I might try extending the legs as they are intended on the tripod next time.

So I managed to get stars into focus tonight but it was clouding over (more like mist). I managed to confirm that my peculiar form of night blindness doesn't hinder telescope work. I could see the stars brightly through the telescope and other stars came into view that I couldn't see at all in the sky. I had read that the brightness of stars diminishes proportional to magnification, but it appears that more of my eye surface catches the star and I can see it. I worked out how to use an online planetarium and was going to look for Mars and Uranus which are on a line with Orions Belt but , no that mist came in. All I really want to achieve was getting good enough with this to point out some thing to my son when he's older, he us currently 6 months old. I was also hoping to see galaxies through this, but I really don't know if that's possible!

God, I'm such a dimlow. This post is sponsored by Merrydown Cider. After drinking one of those, I walked past the telescope and thought "what is that thumb screw?" (in pic above with model number) and pop, out come another 8 inches of chromed tube!!! Too cloudy to try it out though. I feel like the guy that phoned Tesco customer services to say there was no topping on his pizza when he had it upside down!

OK, I see, thanks for your reply. Is there any way I could double check this without shelling out cash as it will probably cost more than the telescope? I guess an "experiment"? Failing that a download of the original user guide but I really can't imagine that would be available. I do really appreciate all your help so far. Also, are there various types of diagonal pieces and sizes / compatibility issues?

Can anyone help me to double check everything? If you look at picture 5 above (the close up of the installed eye piece), can you tell me if it looks like that 25mm eye piece is installed correctly? There's not something missing that would change the focal length? Also, having just obtained the telescope, is there anything else that should be double checked that could be missing or broken? Any other newbie error that could be stopping me getting an image of trees a few gardens away?

Yes, you are right! I then screwed the .25mm on the end of that but still can't get an image into focus. There's pretty much nothing in the field of view just light and dark. Can't even get the edge of light and dark into focus.

This is all I have and the bad news is, I'm not getting an image through that .25mm lense (in day light looking for a chimney or tree) which was installed when I got it. The lense to the far right has nothing written on it and could be missing the end possibly. Disregard the incomplete Barlow below.

OK, so my first foray into telescopes was short and a little uneventful. I found a star in the scope but couldn't find it in the telescope. I was in an illuminated house / room with various fish tank lights going. I don't know if that makes a difference? The light out there from the city doesn't help. The eyepiece in there is 25mm. I'm now not sure if the other one I have is complete or not, I think I should post pictures of the eye pieces I have for you guys to look at? Yes sorry, it's a Barlow not Bartholemew and it's just a plastic or metal tube with nothing in it. I don't even know at this stage if the scope is pointing exactly where the telescope is pointing. Is adjusting the screws and making the alignemrnt good something that has to be done when you set up a scope? Than you for the extra info on swift and eikow, I will have to look into that. Especially if I need eye pieces lol.

No, that piece is definitely missing and there is a spare place in the box where one would possibly go. I must be missing the user guide as well. But to put a positive spin on this, let's say I got it for a good price and possibly saved it from oblivion. If these eye pieces and the diagonal come up, maybe I can restore it as a set. Contrary to the other member who found one of these in an attic some years ago, mine isn't covered in mould and missing bolts and fixings. Apart from a small dent in the telescope and scratches it looks ok. Yes the Bartholemew is just a "tube" LOL. A special kind of lens!