no venus

[cosmo58]

hi, i'm new to these pages.i have 5" starview newtonian reflector scope and my issue is like chino i can'nt see anything close up.i've purchased an accessory kit the cesletron kit $169 worth to beef up some of the power.it says in the documentation that the max available power is up to 300x.so with the barlow 2x inserted and the 6mm attempted to line up venus and saw nothing.well, actually i did,but only the two stars.no matter what power i used i still saw the same thing,no venus.what is happening and what am i doing wrong?i tried a less powerfull eyepiece to get a far off image.i also own the the heritage series reflector scope with 10 and 25 mm focal length which i had no problem with and also jupiter and it's 4 moons.i noticed that i get a lot of double reflection as well.thanks in advance.

[StuTodd]

Cosmo,
Try a larger eyepiece and no Barlow to start with. Find your target that way and then introduce the Barlow. You will find the focus to be well out as you have doubled (or whatever "times" barlow you use) the focal length.
Once you have your target focussed, then go for the 6mm and refocus.

You will have to work to keep your target in the eyepiece though! 6mm plus a Barlow is perhaps too zoomy for Venus...

Stu