Barlow x2 Eyepiece

[rhw1967]

Good morning.

Having purchased my new telescope it's been recommended to me that I get a Barlow x2 eyepiece. I don't have a massive budget for this, but wondered if anyone had any decent recommendations as to which one I should get. I google, look on EBAY, etc and am swamped with choices.

Many thanks.

[rwilkey]

To help us help you, please let us know what telescope you have plus aperture and focal length, also whether 2" or 1.25" fitting focuser, what eyepieces came with the telescope, and also, importantly, your budget.  Cheers.

[rhw1967]

Thanks. It's a SkyWatcher Mak 127mm, 1500mm, 1.25" fitting.... not sure about budget but really not huge (sorry, know that's not much help) as spent allotted budget on my telescope set up.. guess would be looking for the best "value" one.

[lenscap]

Astroboot usually have Skywatcher, Celestron or GSO metal bodied 2X Barlows for around £20. These are decent quality.

But don't be tempted by the  plastic ones for less than a fiver.

http://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot/telescope-and-astronomy-stuff.html

 

 

[rwilkey]

Hi there, the telescope already has a long focal length (1500) and to tell you the truth a Barlow may be of limited use, especially with shorter focal length eyepieces, for example, if you used it with the 10mm eyepiece that came with the scope then it would yield 300x mag, more than the telescope could reasonably handle (254X).  But if you would definately like to get one then I would recommend the following StarGuider (in the middle price range): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlows/bst-starguider-2x-short-barlow-lens.html

If you haven't already got one, I would recommend your first purchase should be a dew shield as Maks are prone to dewing up quickly, found here: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-flexible-dew-shield.html

One more bit of advice, always buy your gear from an astronomy supplier like FLO, the Lounge's sponsors, you will always get great advice and exceptional service.

Good luck with your new adventure!

[rhw1967]

Fantastic, thanks for the advice guys. 

Hadn't even thought about a dew shield, so will grab one too. 

[Stu]

I would agree with the previous post, save your money and don’t buy the barlow. It seems many people are told they ‘need’ a barlow when they get their scope and in many cases it just isn’t true or necessary.

With a 1500mm focal length, a barlow would turn your scope into a 3000mm focal length, f24 equivalent which isn’t really needed.

A good high power might be around x180 to x200 which you can easily achieve with a 7mm or 8mm eyepiece. You could try an 8mm BST Starguider for under £50 which should give good results and x187.

[baggywrinkle]

I too would agree with rwilkey on this.

[Panda Alvin]

Having the same scope as you do @rhw1967, I would also agree barlow would probably be at the very bottom of a "to buy" list for a Mak. 

If you have very clear nights and a good run on planetary, there will always be an itch to see if you can push a little further. In my experience (judging as I rotate the zoom eyepiece) the image blurs out very fast, very quickly with a barlow. It is actually one of the least used item in my astro bag and there are probably more better essential items to buy with that money.

[RT65CB-SWL]

I too don't bother to use a Barlow with my Mak or SCT. A dewshild though is a 'must have'.

[rhw1967]

Thanks again guys for all the advice.

So, have ordered a Dewshield from FLO.

Any of you guys that use a Mak have any suggestions for anything further to go with it  ? Cheers

 

 

[Stu]

22 minutes ago, rhw1967 said:

Thanks again guys for all the advice.

So, have ordered a Dewshield from FLO.

Any of you guys that use a Mak have any suggestions for anything further to go with it  ? Cheers

 

 

What is it mounted on? A manual mount or goto?

What do you have in the way of finderscopes or RDF? Maks tend to have a narrow field of view so a good finder, certainly a well aligned finder is very useful, even if you have goto.

The best advice is probably to just use the scope for a while and you will find out what needs changing. The standard eyepieces are often not that brilliant so upgrades to those are normally a good place to start.

A Star Atlas like the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas is worth considering, 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317

Certainly look at some of the phone apps around. SkySafari is my favourite, the entry product is free now. Stellarium is another good free one for PC or smartphone to help you find your way around.

[rhw1967]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

What is it mounted on? A manual mount or goto?

What do you have in the way of finderscopes or RDF? Maks tend to have a narrow field of view so a good finder, certainly a well aligned finder is very useful, even if you have goto.

The best advice is probably to just use the scope for a while and you will find out what needs changing. The standard eyepieces are often not that brilliant so upgrades to those are normally a good place to start.

A Star Atlas like the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas is worth considering, 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317

Certainly look at some of the phone apps around. SkySafari is my favourite, the entry product is free now. Stellarium is another good free one for PC or smartphone to help you find your way around.

It's mounted on a AZ-GTi... only received it the other day (the whole package) so just trying to get everything together and figured to ask advice rather than just buy buy buy  I liked the sound of that mount as it allows me to use it manually or controlled, so good for me learning the night sky I think.

This is the package I purchased ..... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

Apart from a Dewshield  and moon filter I have purchased, "Turn Left At Orion" and (thanks to your recommendation) just purchased the sky atlas you linked.

The mount can be controlled by a phone app, and will have a look at those you mentioned Stu.

Thanks

[RT65CB-SWL]

Maybe an SCT adaptor ring for your OTA that screws onto the backplate, (see image below), so you can attach SCT accessories - link here... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/lynxastro_makcas-sct_adptr.html

 

Below are images & photos of my 're-modded' ETX105...

<--- without the SCT adaptor ring...

     <--- with the SCT adaptor ring...

     <--- and with SCT-1.25" visual back.