Should I bother with a Barlow yet?

[Pippa01]

Having just received my new scope at the weekend, I was wondering if I should bother getting a Barlow yet or just get used to what the scope and current EPs do as they are? I have just noticed that some people say that the first thing they get is a Barlow but then on my first night of viewing I had a wonderful view of Jupiter with my 10mm and the double star in The Plough.

So, should I just enjoy what I have for the moment or is it worth investing in a Barlow and if so, which is best on a £50 budget. Thanks.

[dweller25]

Hang fire and build up a little more experience, then you will know which way to go with eyepieces.

I have an 8" Dob and use wide field of view eyepieces - less nudging :-)

You chose a good scope.

[faulksy]

barlows are good if you get the right ones celestron ultima/orion shorty+ which are the same antares is very good as well the 1.6x. but your probably better of getting a new e.p. first something like a 7-8mm, a lot lke the bst,s from ebay skys the limit.or i like the ts hr,s from modern astronomy both are in your price range

[dweller25]

@pippa01 - BTW - look south and find the constellation of Cancer, there are a couple of nice open clusters there ....

[Pippa01]

@pippa01 - BTW - look south and find the constellation of Cancer, there are a couple of nice open clusters there ....

Will give it a go. Thank you.

[andyman]

when you do decide to invest in a barlow try and get a good quality one as faulksy suggested both got very good japanese optics although the orion shorty plus is hard to get not sure if it is being phased out

[swamp thing]

My advice on Barlows is: buy once, buy the very best one you can......"Why?" Well:

You will change eyepieces many times throughout your observing life as different scopes have different requirements, but a good Barlow will be in your eyepiece case for life. Good Barlows add nothing but power, half the number of eyepieces you need. This in turn means you can purchase better quality eyepieces. All this can really add to your observing pleasure.

[Hzadbhat]

Save some more and be patient. As others have stated, your barlow will be a permanent part of your kit.

I use mine heaps but am still researching as to which one to buy. Anything I get (due to where I live) has to be posted, so i'm deliberately delaying until I have a business trip to Sydney next month. The few weeks of additional saving WILL get me better optics.

If you can get to a star party, take your set up and if you ask politely, most other gazers are happy to let you use their accessories in your scope. That will give you a far betteridea of what to buy.

Congrats on the new toy and good gazing.

[Qualia]

Ay, get some hours under your belt and see what kind of things your like looking at, from here you'll get a better idea of what is needed.

Many astronomers - myself included - follow quite a predictable path when it comes to buying EPs and to a lesser extent Barlows. For whatever the reason, sound or not, many of us start out buying new and cheap stuff but soon arrives a day when we want to upgrade but now we find ourselves in a situation where we have one quality EP and a case full of relatively cheap EPs that on the secondhand market are pretty worthless. The same can be said of a Barlow.

So, I'd say that if it is possible try to save up for premium eyepieces and a premium barlow (something I wish I had done since the beginning). Buyiing premium is never a waste of money, especially if you buy used. These EPs might become 'lifers', so you never have to upgrade again or you can always re-sell them without losing much - if any - money, especially if you buy them already secondhand. Premium eyepieces, then, simply hold their value more than cheaper ones.

As a general working guide for barlow use, take the aperture of your telescope (153mm) and half it: 76.5. So, more or less, you want to get a decent EP which provides about 75x to 80x magnification. This will be your workhorse EP. You could always go just a tad higher and look at about 90x with the 6". You've now got a medium power EP which can be barlowed into a high power EP.

For your second EP divide the original, non-barlowed magnification by 1.4 or 1.3. This will be your moderate-power EP. So, for example, from our proverbial 80x EP, you are now looking for another which covers somethng like 57x to 61x.

So, with just two EPs and a Barlow we've got these kind of ranges covered:

• Midish-power to highish-power: either 75x and 150x; or 80x and 160x; or 90x and 180x.
  

• 1.4 Low-midish power to high-midish power: either 50x and 100x, 55x and 110x, 60x and 120x.
  

• 1.3 Low-midish power to high-midish power: either 55x and 110x, 60x and 120x, 65x and 130x
  

As you can see, we now have a rather bewildering range of numbers (don't even want to start on field of view or exit pupil!), so as you can appreciate you need to practice a little to see what kind of thing you like looking at, what might be your own telescope's 'sweet-spot' and what kind of seeing conditions are general permitted in your viewing area and make some educated guesses, better still, try to get to an astro club to check out other astronomers' gear.

Personally, as a working field guide, I've found useful and most used magnifications around 50x - 55x for Solar observations and star-hopping; around 40x to 55x for many open clusters, around 80x to 150x for many nebulae, globulars and galaxies (these can sometimes be pushed just a tad more but not really to any greater aesthetic affect apart from globs which are sometimes more forgiving at higher mags); around 140x to 160x for Jupiter; around 140x to 200x (and sometimes just a little more) for Saturn and close Lunar work.

I hope these figures and sums give you some kind of working guide to get your head around

[brantuk]

I've had about half a dozen barlows over the last 5yrs. Which one you get depends on budget and which eyepieces you have and what magnifications you are trying to obtain. So a little maths is inevitable. But with a judiciously chosen range of eyepieces you can effectively double the number of magnifications you view at for a considerably reduced cash layout.

The one's I'd recommend are: Tal 2x - great value for money at under £50, Celestron Ultima 2x around the £85 mark (Orion Shorty+ is the same), Antares 1.6x around £70, and TV Powermate 2x circa £230 to £260. All very good except the last one which is something else - very special - practically flawless.

Beware there are different power ratings than 2x (eg 2.5x, 3x, 5x,....etc) so choose wisely. You will make considerable savings if you purchase second hand. Best thing to do is join your local astro soc, get to their observing sessions, and try a few different ones - most folks will loan you one to try in your scope for a while.

[CSM]

The Barlows that come with Skywatcher scopes can be a bit iffy. Suggest you consider a Skywatcher zoom eyepiece 7 - 21mm, which gives you 5 eyepieces - 7, 9, 11, 15 and 21. Experiment with these and you will discover which magnifications you use most often for whatever objects you are seeking - Qualia's suggestions good here. As for Barlows, yes get the best. I have a Televue 2x and that is superb.

[Pippa01]

Wow! Thank you all so much for advice. I shall read and try to make some kind of decision.

[MadAlbert]

+1 for wait and +1 work out what mags you're getting and how useful you find them.

[ronin]

I would wait a while to decide, say the start of the next millenium. :rolleyes: