Chosing a Barlow?!

[Raph-in-the-sky]

Hello stargazers,

I'm currently contemplating buying a decent barlow (I got a dirty cheap one when I bough my telescope). 

From what I saw my best options are either a new Orion Shorty x2 (not the plus) for +-30 GBP, a second hand Celestron Ultima Japan x2 for +-50 GBP or a new Celestron X-cell LX x2 for +-70 GBP. If you beleive that something else could be better suited please let me know...

I am planning to use it visually on different scopes. I currently have a small 114/500 nat geo dobsonian travel telescope which I use mostly with a 8-24mm Celestron zoom (This is where is need more magnification, something lifht would be a plus) and a 130/900 Eq2 skywatcher (which I might upgrade to an 8'' or 10'' Dob ... not right now) with this telescope I mostly use my 5mm and 15mm BST starguiders (I m also looking to buy a decent 32mm plossl).

Obviously I am trying to keep my wallet from suffering to much. I would love to have some advice.

Cheers,

Raph

[MarsG76]

I recommend the Celestron Ultima 2X.. that is one of the best (if not the best) barlows that I have... its great visually and for planetary imaging if you go that way later.

 

[DarkLane]

Wasn´t that Ultima 2X discontinued? Would love to find one myself...

[MarsG76]

1 minute ago, DarkLane said:

Wasn´t that Ultima 2X discontinued? Would love to find one myself...

It is, but if you can find one... snap it up immediately.

 

[Raph-in-the-sky]

OK, that's a pretty unanimous answer. It's a little more than I would like to spend but it sounds like a good deal.

Thanks all for the advice

[Raph-in-the-sky]

44 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

It is, but if you can find one... snap it up immediately.

 

There WAS one to buy on this site ... I snaped it 😉

[DarkLane]

lol, guess I wasn´t quick enough

[Raph-in-the-sky]

2 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

I recommend the Celestron Ultima 2X.. that is one of the best (if not the best) barlows that I have... its great visually and for planetary imaging if you go that way later.

 

Thanks for the advice. 

How can I use the barlow for planetary imaging? Will I need a motor to track the object across the sky? Would my celestron 8mm-24mm zoom (which is treaded for T-ring) + this barlow be sufficient?

 

[MarsG76]

2 minutes ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

Thanks for the advice. 

How can I use the barlow for planetary imaging? Will I need a motor to track the object across the sky? Would my celestron 8mm-24mm zoom (which is treaded for T-ring) + this barlow be sufficient?

 

I wouldn't use an eyepiece with the barlow for imaging, not necessary unless you want a particularly large scale.... just connect you camera to the barlow, find focus and yes, tracking will help you with the capture of planetary data. To summaries the procedure, the trick is to capture as much frames as possible, like a video at 30fps, than run the video through registax, keep the best 15% and stack them, and use wavelets in Registax to increase detail for a final image...  You can also use AutoStakkert to stack, but will still need Registax to show detail.

[Raph-in-the-sky]

7 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

I wouldn't use an eyepiece with the barlow for imaging, not necessary unless you want a particularly large scale.... just connect you camera to the barlow, find focus and yes, tracking will help you with the capture of planetary data. To summaries the procedure, the trick is to capture as much frames as possible, like a video at 30fps, than run the video through registax, keep the best 15% and stack them, and use wavelets in Registax to increase detail for a final image...  You can also use AutoStakkert to stack, but will still need Registax to show detail.

That 's interesting... I ll probably try to get my hands on a super cheap second hand camera (I guess any digital camera where I can change the objective would do the trick?) to play a little bit.

[MarsG76]

1 minute ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

That 's interesting... I ll probably try to get my hands on a super cheap second hand camera (I guess any digital camera where I can change the objective would do the trick?) to play a little bit.

Just a web cam type, like a toucam....

[Raph-in-the-sky]

8 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

Just a web cam type, like a toucam....

How do you attach it to the barlow?

[John]

The webcam would be fitted with a 1.25" barrel adapter which would then go into the barlow lens like an eyepiece does.

An alternative good quality barlow by the way is the Baader Q-Turret 2.25x. I use one of those with a zoom eyepiece and it works very well.

[Raph-in-the-sky]

20 minutes ago, John said:

The webcam would be fitted with a 1.25" barrel adapter which would then go into the barlow lens like an eyepiece does.

An alternative good quality barlow by the way is the Baader Q-Turret 2.25x. I use one of those with a zoom eyepiece and it works very well.

What is the cheapest webcam would you recommend? Should I buy a generic one or one made for astrophotografy like this one https://www.astroshop.eu/astronomical-cameras/orion-starshoot-usb-eyepiece-camera-ii/p,58253? 

[John]

I'm not an imager so I don't know what the latest ones are like. The old Philips Toucam Pro II was popular as was the even older Toucam (the egg shaped one). Something to do with the CCD that they used I think.

Much of the software used for capturing and processing the images is freeware.

This is for lunar / solar (with appropriate filter) / Planetary imaging though. They are not suitable for deep sky objects.

[MarsG76]

3 hours ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

What is the cheapest webcam would you recommend? Should I buy a generic one or one made for astrophotografy like this one https://www.astroshop.eu/astronomical-cameras/orion-starshoot-usb-eyepiece-camera-ii/p,58253? 

Yes, I think it would be a good camera to start with.

Ultimately you have the Imaging Source cameras, Skyris Cameras and ZWO cameras that are the premium cameras to upgrade to when you out grow the Orion.