Please Help with my setup (130EQ - Nikon D3000)

[BlinneOrlaith]

Hi guys, I would be grateful for some advise, my head has been in a spin this last few days between Barlow's, T Pieces, Omni Plossl and all that

I have the patience and dedication but for the minute lack the know how.

I have just bought the Celestron 130EQ for like £120 on Amazon with the intentions of upgrading it, I also want to mount my Nikon D3000 to the scope.

So Initially I was gonna buy this T Piece here :

Celestron T-Adapter, Universal 1-1/4": Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

And the Nikon T Mount

But after reading this review I have back tracked :

"Please be warned this Celestron universal T adapter is not compatible with the Celestron 130Eq or the Celestron 114Eq as these telescopes do not have enough back-focus i.e. you cannot focus at infinity using this adapter (only to about 20m!). It is therefore well worth checking the focal point of your telescope before purchasing (check with your telescopes manufacturer) "

Then on my travels I read somewhere that the T Adaptor will work with a Barlow inserted, so I started looking at Barlows

First I looked at the Celestron 'Omni' Series X2 Barlow Lens, but I read that the Ultima is a better Barlow but is twice the price. I would bUy the Ultima if I thought it is much better.

I then read that a 32mm Plossl would be a good buy.

So I guess the question is would the Celestron Omni Plossl 32mm Eyepiece, along with either the Omni Barlow or Ultima Barlow, Celestron T adapter and NIkon T piece be something that will actually work together?

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions/help

[oldfruit]

Hi and welcome to SGL. I`m not sure about the focus issues with your scope but if you are looking for a good barlow then Tal barlows are rated pretty highly by members on here and are not too expensive.

[BlinneOrlaith]

Cheers for the reply man

Right so let me tell you all how I got on and hopefully help others with the same scope as mine.

I ordered a skywatcher x2 Barlow with the threaded end, and also the T Ring for my D3000.

I actually had those parts before the telescope even arrived so kind of putting the cart before the horse but on this occasion everything has worked better than I thought.

So anyway I was working late last night so I built up the scope got the moon in focus with the supplied eyepieces, stuck in my camera with the barlow and the T Ring, stuck the camera to Manual (Have no idea even what settings I used lol), on about the 3rd click of the camera I got this image :

Not bad I thought, it was taken 10 minutes after setting my telescope up and on a cloudy night, and rushed, and without a clue what settings I used.

For a £120 telescope, £50 worth of attachments and and cloudy night I was over the moon lol