which comes first

[Oldboy]

Having just aquired a cheap refracting scope (yes I know, don't say it) which has the worst Jinglish manual I've seen I have a question re the position/order of eye pieces.

Which should be attached first; the right angle adaptor, Barlow, or erecting lens AND can the Barlow and erecting be used together?? :confused:

[janoskiss]

You should insert the right angle adaptor in the focuser and then the lowest power (longest focal length, probably around 20mm) eyepiece. Then point and look through the eyepiece. :)

[astroron]

The erecting prism is used for daylight only as there is no up and down in the night sky,you can use the barlow with the right angle adapter and the erecting prism.
the barlow goes in first then the right angle adapter then the eyepiece, the same procedure with the erecting prism.
Dont use highpower eyepieces use only low power such as the above post says, I presume it is a 60mm refractor and has a long barlow :thumbsup:

[janoskiss]

Orion has a good, freely available, English language users' guide for a 60mm alt-az mounted scope. Here is a link to it:

http://www.telescope.com/text/content/pdf/IN_194_Observer_60mm_AZ.pdf

Although there is no mention of Barlows or other accessories in that guide, the Orion website (http://www.oriontel.com) is a good resource for astro gear documentation in general.

[square_peg114GT]

A shorty balrow can be used either before or after the diagonal. It's location will determine it's magnification. A typical 2x barlow may produce 3x-5x if placed before the diagonal. This will probably be too much power for that little refractor.

[acropolite]

With regard to your cheapo refractor, in some cases anything's better than nothing at all, unless you're looking at terrestrial (landbased) targets, don't worry about the erecting lens. The barlow, if useable at all, will only be useful when the atmospheric conditions are suitable. i.e. no jetstream, (see http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html) clear skies and no wind. Even with modest magnification (say 25x or greater) you should be able to make out Jupiters disk and 4 of the moons and see saturn complete with rings. The moon is also a great target at almost any time of the month.

[Oldboy]

Thanks for the pointer towards Orion, have downloaded the 60mm refractor and the 6/8" dobs manuals; they are excellent :cool:
Is there an Oz Orion dealer?????

[janoskiss]

Yes there is Orion dealers in Oz, but the Orion Dobs are just repainted and rebadged GSO scopes. Unless you're interested in the "Intelliscopes" with a Push-To computer, you can consider noname GSO (aka Andrews, Bintel ...) and Orion GSO Dobs to be the same thing. I can't remember who sells the Orion Dobs, but I've seen them on at least one local dealer's site.

[norm]

Astro-Opticals in St Leonards stock Orion OTA's and Dobs. Be advised the Orion Dobs aren't cheap. $1700 for a 10" Dob, $300 for the optional intelliscope computer. Quote price Late August 2005.

[ballaratdragons]

I remember reading a U.S. review about Orions. The review said "they are just GS scopes! Although of excellent quality they are still just GS scopes."

Except, in the review, the reviewer kept refering to them as Guan Sheng scopes rather than the more common name 'GS'.

[Starkler]

That review must be old. A few years ago Orion were selling GS dobs as their own. They then sourced their scopes from Synta which is their current supplier.

Its been something like three years since Orion sold GS dobs.

[janoskiss]

All this branding confusion. :doh: I wish suppliers would just state up-front what they're selling and where it comes from.

Aren't Synta Dobs the same as Saxon & Celestron Dobs with Pyrex mirrors in the 10 & 12" sizes? Orion and GSO are both BK7s.. :shrug:

[iceman]

Orion are good, but they are much more expensive than the GS counterparts - i'd go for the GS and spend the savings on eyepieces and accessories!

[janoskiss]

BTW Oldboy, Who's on second! :lol:
...
get it? Which comes first, Who's on ... aah, forget it. :rolleyes: :ashamed:

[ving]

hiya old boy :)
so how your going with that refractor now?
any more questions? :)

[ausastronomer]

Peg,

Correct but won't work with that scope IMO. Putting the barlow before the diagonal will produce nothing but "fuzzballs" as the scope will be unlikely to handle the higher magnification produced by using the barlow before the diagonal. To be honest its unlikely that the barlow will do much good after the diagonal with anything other than the lowest power eyepieces either.

CS-John B

[Oldboy]

all is well at the moment, less clouds and more time would help things though.......................
must get a dobs, haven't got the quote back from the local seller yet

[ballaratdragons]

Who is the local seller in Launceston? I didn't know there was a scope shop in Tassie!

[ballaratdragons]

David Pretorius, shame on you!! Why haven't you helped out our new member 'Oldboy'? He is in Lonnie.

[Oldboy]

sorry should elaborate, its just the local camera shop but he can access scopes - little knowledge but he seems keen to help (and get a sale)
bit slow at getting the quote prepared

[ballaratdragons]

Definately get a price comparison between him and the other dealers on the big island. Don't forget to get quotes including 'delivery' to the small island.

[davidpretorius]

I have been a good boy, I have invited Old boy out to my place to check the 10" dob via PM and he has also been invited to the new moon local get together.

I am going to sulk in my washing up dishes water!

[ballaratdragons]

sowwy Dave. Don't sulk, I didn't mean it!

[davidpretorius]

thats it, i am going to take up a new hobby......knitting!

[ballaratdragons]

"Where can I get good knitting needles. I don't want to knit DSO's, just Planetary stuff. I would like knitting needles with tracking though!"

[davidpretorius]

whats a dso? daily shopping outing?

[ballaratdragons]

Oops sorry. Off topic!

As I said earlier do a good comparison on prices including delivery.
David Pretorius had his scope delivered from Sydney. He can tell you how much the delivery fee to Tassie is from Andrews. I think he knows Bintels fee too. David?.

[davidpretorius]

Back on topic->>>>>$75 for andrews, $200 for bintel

[janoskiss]

Why so much more for delivery with Bintel???

[davidpretorius]

andrews have sourced a good freight company, maybe also an insurance thing??

[Oldboy]

David has offered a visit to check his scope and an invite to a northern gathering happening soon :poke:

[Oldboy]

Had an email at work this afternoon from the local camera shop. He wasn't able to get pricing on all the items I asked about (nod access to GS dobs)but he did give me some on Skywatcher refractors. Sydney pricing without freight in brackets.........

SW675 70 x 900 EQ1 $419.00 ($249.00)
705AZ3 70 x 500 AZ3 not available offered SW709 as a replacement (705AZ3 ex Sydney $249.00 assuming there's still stock)
709AZ3 70 x 900 AZ3 $440.00 ($299.00)
very interseting, it does pay to check pricing and shop around :scared:

[Oldboy]

Bintel quoted $50.00 last week on an 8" dobs while Andrew's wanted $100.00 for the same size beast. Speaking to Lee he did mention using Patrick's into Tassie due to problems with previous rough handling from other companies.

[davidpretorius]

yes, i would suggest he will be buying from the same guys as you are!