Hi everyone,
It's been years since i last posted here after initially getting a Skywatcher Skyliner dobsonian which became impractical after i moved to a small flat. Now, with a young son, I've bought a Celestron Powerseeker 70AZ and last night i set it up.
It came with 4mm and 20mm lenses and a 3x barlow. Last night i showed my son the moon and Jupiter, out of his mind excited (he is 3 and can name all planets in the solar system in order from the sun and tell you the hottest, coldest, smallest, largest he loves it all). However I could only see anything using the 20mm lens with any images of the moon in the 4mm being a little blurry and Jupiter being totally blurred. I could just make out Saturn with the 20mm but really small and had to squint to recognise it, higher magnification with the 4mm was just nothing at all. The barlow, forget it, everything is blurred all of the time. With my Dobsonian i got small but clear pictures of Jupiter, able to see the colours and even the red spot, i forget which lenses I had but i can check, perhaps a 10mm but ill confirm.
Today I have recalibrated the finderscope and its pretty much smack on. I did this by focussing on a window in an office block around 1 mile away. Both 20mm and 4mm lenses worked. The barlow again does nothing, its like its smeared with vaseline.
So is it me? Is the barlow junk? Maybe the 4mm is too strong and im missing the tiny bit of sky im looking for? I don't think so because I can get something but just can't focus enough on it to get a clear picture.
Any advice or help very welcome because id love to really keep my son interested and spark his curiosity further.