What are the advantages/disadvantages of using this vs a Barlow? Have a Nexstar 90GT (similar to 102gt) and plan on using with Orion star shoot
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On this zoom lens you can zoom in and out on an object without taking the eyepiece out, and therefore having to re-adjust your focus. Once you adjust your focus, you can zoom in and out without touching the focus knobs ever again. In addition, often changing eyepieces can bump or move your scope by small amounts. This will not happen with the zoom eyepiece. My experience is that sharpness of this eyepiece is quite close to the corresponding Omni Ploessel eyepieces, with or without a quality Barlow such as the Celestron Omni 2x one. In some cases the Omni 2x Barlow provides a slightly wider field of view, and slightly better sharpness. On this zoom lens you can zoom in and out on an object without taking the eyepiece out, and therefore having to re-adjust your focus. Once you adjust your focus, you can zoom in and out without touching the focus knobs ever again. In addition, often changing eyepieces can bump or move your scope by small amounts. This will not happen with the zoom eyepiece. My experience is that sharpness of this eyepiece is quite close to the corresponding Omni Ploessel eyepieces, with or without a quality Barlow such as the Celestron Omni 2x one. In some cases the Omni 2x Barlow provides a slightly wider... » Read More On this zoom lens you can zoom in and out on an object without taking the eyepiece out, and therefore having to re-adjust your focus. Once you adjust your focus, you can zoom in and out without touching the focus knobs ever again. In addition, often changing eyepieces can bump or move your scope by small amounts. This will not happen with the zoom eyepiece. My experience is that sharpness of this eyepiece is quite close to the corresponding Omni Ploessel eyepieces, with or without a quality Barlow such as the Celestron Omni 2x one. In some cases the Omni 2x Barlow provides a slightly wider field of view, and slightly better sharpness. « Show Less
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A barlow provides 2x or 3x the magnification of your regular eyepieces. This lens is adjustable between 8mm and 24mm simply by turning the piece. In essence, this eyepiece could replace your regular eyepiece. Before I purchased this zoom lens, I had 2 separate eyepieces of 9mm and 25mm. I no longer use those and just use this adjustable zoom lens. I still use my separate Barlow lens which enhances this zoom lens by 3x. Hope this helps!
790390
How are you hooking up the starshoot? You can put a barlow between the telescope and the starshoot (it slides in between them), but a lens won't work. The starshoot won't attach to the lens.
2061055
Hello, First issue is the use of a reducer/corrector with a barlow multiplier. The two lenses are working against each other to no effect. Use the eyepiece alone or use it with the reducer corrector for lower power (wider fields of view) or use the eyepiece with the barlow for much higher power (smaller fields of view). If you have the Celestron Edge telescope I do not believe the reducer/corrector will work correctly. Hope this helps.
669218
Hi,I am not sure what the difference would be. I originally started out looking for the Buckmaster but it seems like it has been discontinued from what I could see and I looked at a few different vendors. I used this scope this year and it worked great so I don't have any complaints.
1190630
More strength? If you could explain I might be able to answer. This is a standard adapter for your camera-specific T-ring. You need both to mount/use a camera with a telescope (unless you get real lucky shooting through an eyepiece) - I've used them with heavy film cameras with no problem - on a decent telescope. If the 'scope is lightweight it's probably not good for astrophotography anyway. But the "strength" issue is unclear - are you planning on some other kind of use?
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It's your back focus. For starters. You don't need a Barlow to view Jupiter. It is going to be small. You want a big Jupiter spend the cash and get a planetary lens or a nagler. Your looking for the image you see in pictures. You'll need a camera to zoom the image. Even with a 9mm planetary I get about 2 degrees of Jupiter ( aspirin size). Your focus point is minimal with a Barlow and an 8mm eyepiece. Not to mention loss of light and having your scope collimateddamn near perfect. Advice on focusing. Get an electronic focus control from Orion. It's adjustable to a very slow speed which helps. Sorry but the only way to fill Jupiter in your entire eyepiece is using imaging It's your back focus. For starters. You don't need a Barlow to view Jupiter. It is going to be small. You want a big Jupiter spend the cash and get a planetary lens or a nagler. Your looking for the image you see in pictures. You'll need a camera to zoom the image. Even with a 9mm planetary I get about 2 degrees of Jupiter ( aspirin size). Your focus point is minimal with a Barlow and an 8mm eyepiece. Not to mention loss of light and having your scope collimateddamn near perfect. Advice on focusing. Get an electronic focus control from Orion. It's adjustable to a very slow speed which... » Read More It's your back focus. For starters. You don't need a Barlow to view Jupiter. It is going to be small. You want a big Jupiter spend the cash and get a planetary lens or a nagler. Your looking for the image you see in pictures. You'll need a camera to zoom the image. Even with a 9mm planetary I get about 2 degrees of Jupiter ( aspirin size). Your focus point is minimal with a Barlow and an 8mm eyepiece. Not to mention loss of light and having your scope collimateddamn near perfect. Advice on focusing. Get an electronic focus control from Orion. It's adjustable to a very slow speed which helps. Sorry but the only way to fill Jupiter in your entire eyepiece is using imaging « Show Less
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The scope itself or optical tube assembly (OTA) is 20 lbs. The dobsonian base is about 40 lbs. It stands maybe short off 5 foot when upright. I dont know how strong your dad is but its quite hefty and ungainly to move in 1 piece. As a rule, you are more likely to use it if it isn't too much of a hassle to bring out in the backyard. But the good thing is you can separate the base from the OTA quite easily, but you'll just have to make 2 trips :) There is also the issue of bending a lot to use the EZ starfinder. Some people readily upgrade to a finder scope that is angled so you don't need to crane your neck or even get down on your knees to align with your target. Its a good beginner scope, but you have to put in the effort, time and money (for upgrades).
1782227
It appears that the 102 utilizes 1.25" eyepieces. If that is the case, then the Barlow lens should work well.
1269773
If your telescope uses 1.25" eye piece then yes. The quality of the barlow is very good so I like to use it whenever I can. I enjoy looking at the moon with it because you see a lot more detail including seeing the shadows of the mountains when you vewing a partial moon.
85767
I'm pretty sure they are the same...the X2 "Shorty" Barlow...def worth it. The XT8 is a GREAT telescope.
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Saturn's rings are always a treat! Glad you saw them. A 2x barlow and 4mm eyepiece will give you 200x on this scope, which is about the theoretical maximum usable magnification for a 100mm aperture scope like this one (about 50x/25mm). But in my experience with these smaller scopes, the image is rather poor at maximum magnification; you can see something, but very dim and very grainy, for instance. For my eyes, the max usable magnification is closer to 40x/25mm..... I think it's fun to use the max magnification (esp. on the Moon!) But I usually get the most satisfactory viewing at a lower power. Enjoy your telescope! Saturn's rings are always a treat! Glad you saw them. A 2x barlow and 4mm eyepiece will give you 200x on this scope, which is about the theoretical maximum usable magnification for a 100mm aperture scope like this one (about 50x/25mm). But in my experience with these smaller scopes, the image is rather poor at maximum magnification; you can see something, but very dim and very grainy, for instance. For my eyes, the max usable magnification is closer to 40x/25mm..... I think it's fun to use the max magnification (esp. on the Moon!) But I usually get the most satisfactory viewing at a lower... » Read More Saturn's rings are always a treat! Glad you saw them. A 2x barlow and 4mm eyepiece will give you 200x on this scope, which is about the theoretical maximum usable magnification for a 100mm aperture scope like this one (about 50x/25mm). But in my experience with these smaller scopes, the image is rather poor at maximum magnification; you can see something, but very dim and very grainy, for instance. For my eyes, the max usable magnification is closer to 40x/25mm..... I think it's fun to use the max magnification (esp. on the Moon!) But I usually get the most satisfactory viewing at a lower power. Enjoy your telescope! « Show Less
1469255
A 3 or 5x might be a bit much for that scope. A smaller 1.5 or 2x would be a better fit. All a Barlow does is increase your magnification. A 2x would double the magnification of whatever eye piece you use. Rule of thumb for maximum useable mag is 50 times the aperture. The aperture of the 127 is 5 inches. So the highest useable mag would be around 250x and that would be with perfect viewing conditions.
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The corrector is a "reducer" which means it's purpose is to take in more of the sky.The barlow's purpose is to magnify the portion of sky.So putting them both on the scope is defeating each of their purposes.Use only the barlow if you want GREATER magnificationand use the reducer/corrector when you want more light (for dim objects) and less magnification
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I purchased an Orion Paragon-Plus XHD Extra Heavy-Duty Tripod, which I have found to be entirely adequate. It is in fact probably more tripod than needed, but I purchased it so that it could be used for astronomy binoculars in the future, and for other items that can be handled by a camera-type mount head. My answer assumes that you are not concerned with weight as the tripod is heavy for a small tripod, but so is the spotting scope you have presumably already purchased. It is not a lightweight carbon fiber tripod by any means. Sorry, but at $150 the price is up there too. The link to Amazon is Orion Paragon-Plus XHD Extra Heavy-Duty Tripod Stand for Binoculars (Black) I purchased an Orion Paragon-Plus XHD Extra Heavy-Duty Tripod, which I have found to be entirely adequate. It is in fact probably more tripod than needed, but I purchased it so that it could be used for astronomy binoculars in the future, and for other items that can be handled by a camera-type mount head. My answer assumes that you are not concerned with weight as the tripod is heavy for a small tripod, but so is the spotting scope you have presumably already purchased. It is not a lightweight carbon fiber tripod by any means. Sorry, but at $150 the price is up there too. The link to... » Read More I purchased an Orion Paragon-Plus XHD Extra Heavy-Duty Tripod, which I have found to be entirely adequate. It is in fact probably more tripod than needed, but I purchased it so that it could be used for astronomy binoculars in the future, and for other items that can be handled by a camera-type mount head. My answer assumes that you are not concerned with weight as the tripod is heavy for a small tripod, but so is the spotting scope you have presumably already purchased. It is not a lightweight carbon fiber tripod by any means. Sorry, but at $150 the price is up there too. The link to Amazon is Orion Paragon-Plus XHD Extra Heavy-Duty Tripod Stand for Binoculars (Black) « Show Less
597755
Definitely. It's much heavier and beefier than the Nexstar mount. It's also much bigger and heavier. It's a bigger pita to carry around.
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Same one that came with my Nexstar 6. Rather flimsy my original one cracked when i tightened it onto the mounting rail. I was not able to adjust it so that scope and finder were both aligned. Probably due to the cracked base. I will have to get a replacement though for $16 thats no problem.
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You can download the nikon "spot on" app and check out how different loads match up using the BDC....its great and printable. I love that scope and utilizing the "spot on" app really helps better dial it in based on ammo using or if you ever decided to put it on a different rifle. But realistically depending on the ammo use its all about the fps as well as bullet weight and coeffocient, but download the app first and you will see what I mean. Enjoy
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If you're referring to the Orion 80mm tabletop refractor scope, that accepts 1.25 inch eyepieces then yes it should. Since the camera is akin to a 5mm eyepiece and the focal length of the Orion 80mm tabletop is 350mm, the camera will produce a 70 power image. Which is what the stock 10mm eyepiece combined with 2X barlow would produce. This camera should only work on brighter objects, such as the moon, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn perhaps. I'm not sure how tracking objects would work with such a scope, I use and equatorial mount. Anyways should work. I prefer the steady pics smartphone adapter for my astro-photography however, but that is me. If you're referring to the Orion 80mm tabletop refractor scope, that accepts 1.25 inch eyepieces then yes it should. Since the camera is akin to a 5mm eyepiece and the focal length of the Orion 80mm tabletop is 350mm, the camera will produce a 70 power image. Which is what the stock 10mm eyepiece combined with 2X barlow would produce. This camera should only work on brighter objects, such as the moon, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn perhaps. I'm not sure how tracking objects would work with such a scope, I use and equatorial mount. Anyways should work. I prefer the steady pics smartphone adapter for... » Read More If you're referring to the Orion 80mm tabletop refractor scope, that accepts 1.25 inch eyepieces then yes it should. Since the camera is akin to a 5mm eyepiece and the focal length of the Orion 80mm tabletop is 350mm, the camera will produce a 70 power image. Which is what the stock 10mm eyepiece combined with 2X barlow would produce. This camera should only work on brighter objects, such as the moon, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn perhaps. I'm not sure how tracking objects would work with such a scope, I use and equatorial mount. Anyways should work. I prefer the steady pics smartphone adapter for my astro-photography however, but that is me. « Show Less