Sorry to trouble you all, but I recently purchased a Meade telescope (the ETX125EC). I was looking at Saturn last night and I could just make out the rings. Realistically it appeared as one ring circling a dot. I was just wondering what eyepiece I need to make Saturn look bigger? Is it the barlow lenses that magnify? Sorry for such a beginner question but I couldn't find a "newbie" guide to lenses and what they do (especially one with pictures that demonstrate the differences)
What eyepieces do you have? Unless you wear glasses, you probably don't need a barlow for your scope. A 9mm plossl should give you heaps of magnification.
Magnification = focal length of scope / focal length of eyepiece.
What focal length eyepiece do you have already? I'd guess it is probably around 25mm. Magnification = focal length of scope / focal length of eyepiece. Ideal magnification for any scope is roughly the same as the diameter of the objective measured in mm - the "sweet spot" (i.e. roughly 125x for your ETX), although of course you can go higher. I'm not sure what the focal length of the ETX125 is, but you should choose your eyepieces (and more importantly, your targets) accordingly.
The second eyepiece suggestion is usually somewhere around 10mm. A 2x barlow doubles the magnification of any eyepiece you use with it. With your 25mm it would give you equivalent of a 12.5mm focal length eyepiece, and with a 10mm the equivalent of a 5mm (which is pushing it, IMO, for your scope). Beware that eyepieces that are physically short (even such as a 10mm plossl) might get buried between the ETX's fork arms when you are looking at objects that are near zenith. This is an advantage of the barlow. (You can buy extension tubes for eyepieces, so the problem is not insuperable. Buy a Flexifocus to replace that tiny focusing knob while you're at it.)
Thanks for the replies fellas. Here is the link to my model: http://www.meade.com/etx/etx_specs.html I have only a Super Plossl 26mm lends by the looks of it. I hope the specs assist, as a lot of what you have told me in the above posts kind of goes over my head.
A 26mm Plossl in a 2x barlow is likely to be prone to blackouts making it very awkward to use. Acc to the Meade page linked above, the scope has a long focal length of 1900mm, so you will not have much use for a barlow (because it will give too much power with most eyepieces).
If you are looking for an inexpensive solution, you could pick up some plossls: 9, 12 and 15mm GS. $39 a pop from Andrews. These will cover the mid-to-high power range of the scope, giving 211x, 158x and 127x. Don't believe Meade that the scope can usefully do 500x. There is no way with 125mm aperture! At the low power end you might also consider a 32mm Plossl for the widest possible true field of view.
