Celestron x-cel ed 2x barlow trick

[sbooder]

When I sold my C10-NGT, I sold all my eyepieces with it, so when I bought the Orion UK 200 f8, I needed a couple of new ones.

It did come with a 25mm, 10mm and a 6mm, so I bought a 40mm. But I needed a good barlow.

My uncle came to the rescue, as he mainly uses his big 16" f4 newt in his observatory with 2" eyepieces, he was happy to let me have his Celestron x-cel ed 2x barlow 1.25.

Now here is the point of this thread. I read a review where some guy said that the Celestron x-cel ed 2x barlow lens element was in the wrong place, Celestron have stuck it in the middle and he could not focus, so he removed it and placed it at the bottom, and apparently Celestron (on investigation) agreed.

Well I do not know about that, mine focuses fine with the element in the middle. But what it also dose, if you do move the element to the bottom, is you increase the magnification (to what I am not sure), with still a sharp image.

It would be nice to hear from anyone with a Celestron x-cel ed 2x barlow, if they try this and get the same results as me.