First go with a 2xBarlow and oh dear :-(

[farren272]

Hi all,

OK, so I bet this kind of thing comes up a lot.

Basically, first clear night in a while so thought I would test my new 2xBarlow (on my Skyliner 200p dob with standard x10 and x25 eye-peices).

I can't get anything better than a big fuzzy blod when looking at Jupiter. Without the Barlow at x25 it look nice and I can just make out bands (just). At x10 it bigger but no better and with the barlow its as out of focus as you can get.

Am I doing something wrong?

Is this just a limitation of my setup?

Migght i need to collimate (it's a very new scope though)?

Or other? :-)

Farren

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'd say try a collimation.

[Axeldude]

Well you should get focus as I tried it with my Skyliner 150p dob too and got excellent focus.

[farren272]

OK, thanks guys.

Looks like a need to collimate.

[JamesF]

You mean the 25mm and 10mm eyepieces?

Assuming you've refocussed the image after adding the barlow, a 2x barlow with the 10mm eyepiece is going to give you 250x magnification. Unless the seeing is very good I'd probably not expect good results at that kind of magnification.

James

[farren272]

You mean the 25mm and 10mm eyepieces?

Assuming you've refocussed the image after adding the barlow, a 2x barlow with the 10mm eyepiece is going to give you 250x magnification. Unless the seeing is very good I'd probably not expect good results at that kind of magnification.

James

OK, thanks James

I was just assuming that I would be able to get something more then a large reeaalllyyy fuzzy blob.

I'm so new to this that I can't tell if the seeing is really good or not :-)

Farren

[farren272]

With the x25 eyepiece it's a bit better now after being out in the cold for an hour but I'm going to collimate over the w/e to make sure all is ok.

Maybe it's also to do with lowering my expectations too.

Farren

[Astrosurf]

Are the lenses and Barlow the stock ones that came with the scope? They can be pretty rubbish, but I would still expect better than a fuzzy blob! Let us know how you get on after collimation.

Alexxx

[Stargazer_00]

You Aren't using the Barlow as an eyepiece. Right? The Barlow sits between the telescope and the eyepiece.

[cosmological]

*edited because I'm thick and should read posts properly*

[farren272]

Are the lenses and Barlow the stock ones that came with the scope? They can be pretty rubbish, but I would still expect better than a fuzzy blob! Let us know how you get on after collimation.

Alexxx

They are indeed stock eye-peices :-)

I shall let you know how I get on.

Farren

[farren272]

You Aren't using the Barlow as an eyepiece. Right? The Barlow sits between the telescope and the eyepiece.

Yes, got the barlow btwn the scope and the eye-peice.

[stubbadub]

Does the image change at all when you move the focus?

One thing i always forget is the focus lock after ive been imaging, i spend a min or so turning before remembering i have locked the focus.

[Stargazer_00]

240x (10mm with barlow) would give about a1mm exit pupil. depending on your eyes and the sky conditions I would expect jupiter to be a mostly orangy-ish blob with the 2 prominent bands visible, regardless. If you have eyes with no floaters and good sky you should get acceptable views in terms of brightness (it gets dimmer the more you magnify) and you may start to tease out the less prominent bands, possibly the GRS if its in the visible face.

Can you even see the main bands?

Have you checked there isnt a tumb print or something else on the glass or inside the barlow ruining the image?