Terrestrial use of 76mm reflector

[Crossway]

Perhaps I could ask for some advice about the following 

I use  a Celestron Astromaster 76 reflector and although  pretty modest indeed  for  night sky use , it is ideal for observation of  near distance coastal wild life..  I   use  the  Celestron standard 20mm  eyepiece  and sometimes  used to use the 10 mm but this was  largely unsatisfactory because of poor eye relief..  I bought a budget 2 X  Barlow and dispensed with the 10mm  eyepiece and this largely improved  matters., 

My query is about upgrading.........  I rather thought  that to replace the Barlow with one of decent quality  would perhaps be the better option as the 20mm  eyepiece  seems to be  OK.   But having said that I have never   been able to compare it with any other. 

The obvious alternative of course is to replace both  but  cannot do this !!

Any help much appreciated

Pete

 

 

[Gabby76]

A 2x barlow is not overly expensive: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlows/astro-essentials-125-2x-barlow-with-t-thread.html

If it has a removable lens cell such as this one you can attach it directly to the eyepiece for approximately 1.5x

This would give you 20mm, 13.3mm and 10mm. 

Knowing what eyepiece you have would help with recommendations as many included eyepieces are of average quality and a simple good quality Plossl can give a much better view. 

[Greymouser]

I would suggest it depends on your budget. If it can stretch to it, I would suggest a zoom eyepiece, this from FLO is good and works with a barlow too:  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/hyperflex-9-27mm-zoom.html

You can get cheaper, the Svbony one is decent too, also barlows well. Any zoom eyepiece, particularly with a barlow effectively gives you many eyepieces in one. A zoom also makes grab and go much easier, as it reduces what you have to carry. The BST Starguider eyepieces are all good and come with rave reviews. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

I am afraid, as ever, it all come down to money and what you are willing to pay.

[AstroMuni]

18 hours ago, Crossway said:

My query is about upgrading......... 

As you are using it for terrestrial viewing the 20mm erecting eyepiece works best, but has poor eye relief. The other options said above eg. BST and other wide angle eyepieces are great but on their own would invert the image. You can ofcourse make use of the erecting prism in your 20mm to help convert these to right side up images. Check this video

 

[Crossway]

Thank you Guys,  for very useful  replies.      There is a lot to think about here  , all the options you mention are interesting  and  all would obviously improve  my system .  I have been looking at the  specialist websites  including FLO .  As I mentioned , I am  on a  budget  (hopefully of shortish duration !! )  and am initially  interested in FLO's   advertised  2X Barlow at £25.  I think that would do the trick for me.   Alternative  suggestions are  nevertheless tempting   but  going into  a zoom eyepiece  would be, for me,  far too ambitious.   My Astromaster  76,  " kit " included an erecting lens  which I have sometimes used  with the 20mm eyepiece but I never found it absolutely necessary.  

Many thanks to you again.

Pete