Eyepieces and barlows.

[Jason Garrett]

I'm sure this has been asked a hundred times but I can't pin point any old threads.

Which manufacturers should I be looking at for eyepieces/barlows?

My price range would be within 20-60£

And also at this moment what barlow is recommended out there for that price region? And is it worth getting x2 or a x3 barlow? or perhaps even x2.5.

Scope: Celestron AM 130eq.

EP's: Celestron 10mm, 20mm.(Came with scope)

[rory]

barlows most recomended are orion shorty plus, or celestron ultima, slightly cheaper is a tal barlow.

[Mr Spock]

The eyepiece most recomment in that price range is either the BST Explorer, or the TMB Planetary. For Barlow it's usually the Tal.

[Jason Garrett]

Ok thanks guys, also i'm wondering, I just noticed my 20mm eyepiece is an erecting one? what does this mean? Just easier for viewing or what? Or is it just a cheap option for Celestron to include in in their package rather than putting in a plossl one?

[John]

An erecting eyepiece includes extra glass elements to turn the image the right way up for viewing terrestrial objects. They are not generally recommended for astro use as the extra glass lenses cause light scatter and reduced contrast.

You may want to replace it with a normal astro eyepiece.

[Monki]

Erecting may refer to the diagonal, the bit that goes between your scope and eyepiece....not the actual eyepiece.

Another vote for a Tal barlow here if you can find one , as for eyepieces around that range, i hear vixen npl and bst explorer are best. I have a celestron 18mm x-cel i got for £40 and i cannot fault it, but i've heard nothing but good things about the other 2.

Sent from a Galaxy S 2 far away.

[AWR]

At the cheaper end of your budget I would also look at Vixen plossls. Mostly £30, some of the longer ones £40.

Tal 2x barlow is good (3x and above are more used for imaging). In fact I rarely use my barlow at all (only ever my 15mm plossl).

An erecting EP turns the image to the correct orientation. Useful for terrestial viewing but not for astronomy. I don't know of any decent quality ones. I'm sure a quality 20mm plossl (for example) would be much better. My 15mm Vixen plossl was the first EP I bought. It was clearly better than the supplied EPs and I still use it.

Andrew

[Jason Garrett]

Ok thanks so much guys, most helpful forum in the universe

P.S I asked the missus to put the barlow on the wedding present list, she told me to buy one myself and use it as the wedding ring and marry the telescope instead haha, she bought the telescope in the first place hahaha