Eyepiece / Barlow

[GiggaKubicca]

2 minutes ago, miguel87 said:

Presuming you have tried the camera with only the nose piece adaptor in place and you still cant teach focus, I would personally get hold of a skywatcher or similar 2 inch to 1.25inch eyepiece holder and unscrew it like I do to use the t ring with. But I'm sure there are other solutions too, theres tons of adaptors available to turn your t ring adapter into a 2 inch eyepiece basically. Better than moving your mirror or cutting the tube IMO.

Firstly I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way because it's not how I intend it as I do really appreciate peoples time and help. However it's starting to get frustrating for me. I seem to have loads of people conflicting with what others have been telling me.

I have tried without a barlow. I have tried with a barlow. I have tried with both a barlow and an eyepiece. The only time I have had focus was with both the barlow on its own and with the barlow and an eyepiece. When I try without a barlow I get zero focus. I can get it all the way till it looks like Jupiter with no detail.

One person says elsewhere that my barlow is cheap and that is why my image quality isn't that good. I have someone else say that the barlow is fine and not to listen to snobs.
One person says try this setting and then someone else says that I shouldn't be using that and use this, neither of which seem to really accomplish much.

I bought the adapter I have now because I was told that it would work with what I am trying to do. However when I tried doing it how I was told I didn't really get anywhere until I used both the barlow and the eyepiece.
I bought an adapter before that because the one before that I bought thinking it was the right thing but it wasn't. Then the second adapter that was recommended didn't work even after having extensive help. In the end I contacted a telescope directly and asked them, which is the adapter that I have now.

I honestly don't know where to go from here because I feel like I have tried everything and I've progresed nowhere and I get told multiple different things regardless of where I ask.

All I want to do is photo the moon and even that seems to be incredibly difficult to achieve, like smashing my head against a damn wall.

[DaveL59]

does that knurled ring on the drawtube with the 2 thumbscrews in it unscrew off the tube I wonder?

If so is there a 2-inch T-thread adapter that would screw directly onto it?

That first pic is I guess your 2-inch to 1.25 inch eyepiece holder yes?
Looks like it's adding 1/4 inch to the focuser length before you even get to installing your camera to it which might be preventing you reaching focus.

Now I could be talking out of my hat, not having a 2-inch eyepiece setup but just my 2 cents...

[Kev M]

I don't believe this particular reflector can achieve direct focus with a DSLR ( not enough inward travel on the focuser ), you would need to either fit a low profile focuser or move the primary mirror ( not easy to do ).

Alternatively some barlows may work by moving the focal point further out, which I believe you have found works.

 

 

[DaveL59]

4 minutes ago, GiggaKubicca said:

Firstly I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way because it's not how I intend it as I do really appreciate peoples time and help. However it's starting to get frustrating for me. I seem to have loads of people conflicting with what others have been telling me.
...
All I want to do is photo the moon and even that seems to be incredibly difficult to achieve, like smashing my head against a damn wall.

Might be best to just enjoy using the scope visually until we're out of our restrictions and then go along to an astro club and get someone there who knows how to take a look and advise/show you?

[miguel87]

3 minutes ago, GiggaKubicca said:

Firstly I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way because it's not how I intend it as I do really appreciate peoples time and help. However it's starting to get frustrating for me. I seem to have loads of people conflicting with what others have been telling me.

I have tried without a barlow. I have tried with a barlow. I have tried with both a barlow and an eyepiece. The only time I have had focus was with both the barlow on its own and with the barlow and an eyepiece. When I try without a barlow I get zero focus. I can get it all the way till it looks like Jupiter with no detail.

One person says elsewhere that my barlow is cheap and that is why my image quality isn't that good. I have someone else say that the barlow is fine and not to listen to snobs.
One person says try this setting and then someone else says that I shouldn't be using that and use this, neither of which seem to really accomplish much.

I bought the adapter I have now because I was told that it would work with what I am trying to do. However when I tried doing it how I was told I didn't really get anywhere until I used both the barlow and the eyepiece.
I bought an adapter before that because the one before that I bought thinking it was the right thing but it wasn't. Then the second adapter that was recommended didn't work even after having extensive help. In the end I contacted a telescope directly and asked them, which is the adapter that I have now.

I honestly don't know where to go from here because I feel like I have tried everything and I've progresed nowhere and I get told multiple different things regardless of where I ask.

All I want to do is photo the moon and even that seems to be incredibly difficult to achieve, like smashing my head against a damn wall.

I think this is why you are struggling.

The adaptors you have are not familiar to people and sound strange. An adaptor with a 10mm eyepiece in I have never heard of.

Secondly there are.multiple ways of solving this so each person is just recommending their own tried and tested setup.

I dont know the details of what you have been told before but I know a method that will 100% solve the problem. I will try to explain.

You said you reach focus using the barlow attached to the camera, great, there is no mistaking hitting good focus on the moon. The barlow lens reaches further down the focusser tube and can reach the focal plane. When you dont have the barlow in, just the nise piece. The cameras sensor has to reach all the way into.the focal plane which it is not able to do. So to reduce the distance between sensor and focal plane you need to get the nose piece out of the way and the 1.25 inch eyepiece holder out of the way.

The simplest way to do this is a t ring adapter which you already have, and attached to the thread on the t ring adaptor is essentially a copy of the tip of a 2 inch eyepiece. If you google "t ring to 2inch eyepiece adapter" loads come up.

I'm sorry you are being bounced around but all I can give you is what I would do in your situation. I cant imagine how it wouldnt work. Of course there are other problems that a telescope can have but if it is working well for visual use then there shouldn't be an issue.

Good luck

[miguel87]

8 minutes ago, Kev M said:

I don't believe this particular reflector can achieve direct focus with a DSLR ( not enough inward travel on the focuser ), you would need to either fit a low profile focuser or move the primary mirror ( not easy to do ).

Alternatively some barlows may work by moving the focal point further out, which I believe you have found works.

 

 

You could find your focus plane by measuring where the barlow front lens sits in your focusser tube when the moon is in focus on your camera. 

Then you can work out if your DSLR camera sensor could reach this spot.

[Kev M]

An alternative may be to obtain a mini camera that fits inside the focal tube ( like an eyepiece )

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras.html

Or see if you can borrow one to try it, sure there may be someone nearby you who could lend a hand ….maybe ?

Obviously this would mean giving up on your original camera with this scope.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Kev M
missed a bit