AstroMuni

I have received my Baader Q-turret 2.25x barlow & Skywatcher planetary 58deg 4mm eyepiece from FLO. Now to wait for clear skies The skywatcher eyepiece is quite weighty. The near end can be turned (unscrewed?) a little bit - I am guessing this is for fine focussing. Is that right? Also I read somewhere that this planetary eyepiece comes with a built in barlow which can be removed. Any tips on how to do that?

Thanks. I have placed a 'donut' on the primary and done a bit of basic collimation. I also got rid of the erecting prism on the 20mm so its improved a little bit. I took a punt and procured a Svbony 23mm and that has opened a better vista for me. Now contemplating purchasing a Skywatcher Planetary UWA eyepiece 4 or 6mm and the Baader barlow.

I think it would be a good idea to have a section on this forum that lists good lesser known vendors (eg: cheaper Chinese ones etc. selling unbranded but decent products). Is there a discussion thread already that I have missed?

Thanks gents. Onwards and upwards 🙂 In the UK both the planets traverse quite low. I did have a look at both last week with a Svbony 23mm and could see the rings on Saturn. Could see faint lines across Jupiter and 4 moons. The 10mm supplied with my telescope doesnt give great images. With the self erecting 20mm piece I removed the erecting prism and images have become better (Svbony has a better FOV and at times clearer it seems).

I did read a few and thats what attracted me to these. But when I went on Skywatcher website only the 66deg ones are shown http://skywatcher.com/product/w-6mm/

Hi I am confused with the variety of SW 6mm UWA Planetary eyepieces available. Which is the better one - I am guessing the first one as its fully multicoated and more eyerelief. I have a f/5 130mm reflector (Celestron astromaster) FLO has this which says its fully multi-coated lens elements and a wide 58 degree fov, 16mm eyerelief - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-uwa-planetary-eyepieces.html 365astronomy & Amazon and several others have this; which says its Multi-Coated with 66º fov, 14.5mm eye relief - https://www.365astronomy.com/SkyWatcher-6mm-UltraWide-Eyepiece-1.25-31.7mm-Format.html

Thanks for all the tips. All roads seem to lead me to the Baader Barlow 🙂 Will keep you posted once I purchase one. BTW, Has anyone bought from AliExpress? Some of their prices are quite low ; for example this ES eyepiece - AliExpress ES 4.7mm 68deg eyepiece

Nice pic Geoff

And that is what I am trying to make a start with 🙂 i.e buy a Barlow & decent Plossls. FYI, the finderscope was rubbish, so bought a Telrad and that has made it a breeze.

I have just the standard eyepieces that came with the scope - 10mm & 20mm celestron. I am hoping to be able to get better view of planets and moon to start with. My reading tells me that Barlow may not be as useful for DSO. Is that right?

Thanks John. I have read that these ES Focal extenders need longer in-travel of the focusser. Has anyone on this forum used the ES Focal extender with the Celestron 130EQ?

Hi, I am a newbie to astronomy and I have a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ (The scope is f/5 and accepts 1.25" eyepieces) which I had bought for my daughter but is now my hobby 🙂. I wish to buy a Barlow (perhaps a 2x?) that will stand by me long term. I have read reviews which say that Powermates are the best (but expensive) and many other reviews that suggest that the Omni, Celestron, BST barlows are good/great and this has confused me. I am not about to commit to the Powermate just yet, so looking for advice on which of these other barlows are worth investing in. So would be interested in your advice please.