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Newbie with new 'scope

Alwyn

By Alwyn
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Alwyn

Alwyn

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I'm another newbie who's an old boy, just turned 70. My children gave me a Meade ETX-80AT if that means anything to any of you. It is an 80mm with a 400mm focal length.

I got Jupiter in my sights tonight before the sky clouded over. It's clear, unless I use the flip barlow. If I do I just get a blur. This is either 'cos the 'scope is not up to the doubled magnification or 'cos I haven't yet mastered the focusing.

I would be grateful for any advice, also to know if there are any clubs in the Cambridge/Essex area.

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brantuk

brantuk

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Hi Alwyn and welcome to SGL :)

Can't really comment on the "flip" barlow. But any barlow will nearly allways mean refocussing due to the doubling of magnification. Don't forget it will also magnify the atmospheric effect on the "seeing" and cause blurry'ness.

Make sure the scope has cooled for an hour before use, to reduce air currents, and make sure you don't go too much over 200x mag. Otherwise you might benefit from better quality ep's :D

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BAZ Senior

BAZ Senior

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Hi Alwyn, welcome to SGL.

You are right, it's the focus, when using the flip Barlow you have to move the focus from just about one end to the other. This can take thirty or forty odd turns of the focus knob to achieve focus.

I just got hold of a cheap Barlow that fits in the eyepiece holder and it focuses in a couple of turns. The optics are quite good for a small scope, and it's very portable should you fancy going to a darker site.

Enjoy.

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Alwyn

Alwyn

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Hi Alwyn, welcome to SGL.

You are right, it's the focus, when using the flip Barlow you have to move the focus from just about one end to the other. This can take thirty or forty odd turns of the focus knob to achieve focus.

I just got hold of a cheap Barlow that fits in the eyepiece holder and it focuses in a couple of turns. The optics are quite good for a small scope, and it's very portable should you fancy going to a darker site.

Enjoy.

Thanks for the tip. I tried it out in daylight from my garden where I can see objects over half a mile away. I had to turn the focus knob anticlockwise 75 times (probably around 35 full turns) to get a barn in focus.

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