Newbie With Celestron 130 SLT Questions

[steverandell]

Hi im relatively new to using a telescope..ive used a small celestron for a while and this week ive upgraded to a celestron nexstar 130SLT.. It was seond hand but i thought id take a chance.. there were no eye pieces with it but i had two i can use from the other telescope i have.. also on the 130slt there is a 2x doubler.. when i put the eye pieces into it ( a 20mm and a 10mm) i just cannot see anything .. if i look at the moon its just a completed out of focus white light , and if i try and look at any stars all i can see is the plastic cross piece at the top of the tube if tht makes sense.. do i need to use a different size eye piece or do you think there could be something wrong with the setup of the telescope... if i use the two eyepieces without the doubler the images are nice and clear.. but im eager to see smaller objects bigger and clearer..
Also i would really love to be able to take photos,, i have a dslr type camera how do i attach it to get photos ive tried just holding the camera close to the eyepiece but thats nigh on impossible to get a picture.
any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
cheers steve

[JayTee]

Hi Steve,

I moved your post over to the beginner's forum so it would get more responses. Your new title is Newbie With Celestron 130 SLT Questions

Cheers,
JT

[Lady Fraktor]

Hello and welcome Steve, the first question.
Are the secondary mirror and primary collimated?

[Graeme1858]

if i use the two eyepieces without the doubler the images are nice and clear.. but im eager to see smaller objects bigger and clearer..

Hello Steve

I would get used to using your new telescope without the Barlow (doubler) for a while and you will start to get used to seeing where it comes into focus etc.

Welcome to the forum.

Regards

Graeme

[steverandell]

I think I know what the problem is.. the Barlow doesn't have any glass lens in it ..it's just a hollow tube..or is this how it's meant to be?

[Graeme1858]

I think I know what the problem is.. the Barlow doesn't have any glass lens in it ..it's just a hollow tube..or is this how it's meant to be?

Not normally! Either the lens is missing or it's an extension tube. Is there any text printed on it?

[Richard]

Lots of people remove the lens on these cheap barlows to make an extension tube for close up views , so try looking at something close like a lamp post and it should work, however with the extension in place the telescope will not focus on distant objects ,like the moon , stars etc.
If you want you could get a shorter eyepiece for more magnification , but dont get shorter than 5mm as your scope is a F5

[Juno16]

Hi Steve and welcome to TSS!

I also have a 130 SLT and had a great time with it. Still pull it out occasionally.

Optically, it is pretty good. Quite shaky too, but some of that can be helped with a few tweaks. GOTO works pretty well.

Photography with a dslr will be quite challenging. Prime focus by mounting the camera directly to the focuser is pretty much out unless you modify the scope by moving the primary mirror up the tube. Eyepiece projection method works, but the quality it low. If you are trying to get “something”, a cell phone with adapter will get you that.

The 10mm and 20 mm eyepieces are just about what you need. You can get down to a 5 mm for high magnification views (130x), but I was only able to use it mine only a few nights a year when the seeing was exceptional. A small and clear view beats a close up fuzzy view.

Get out and enjoy! Let us know how it goes and good luck!

Overall, for the money, it is a nice fun scope and you should get lots of enjoyment from is.

[steverandell]

Thanks For the advice everyone..the 2x doubler must have been used as you say for an extension...the moon last night on the 10mm was incredible detail.. I was just so disappointed I couldn't get a photo of it... So the general consensus is to get a phone mount rather than a camera mount

[Richard]

For the moon and planets you can get a cheap camera/web cam type eyepiece they fit into the focuser same as an eyepiece and are light so will work on the scope , they really only work for the moon despite the adds stating its good for the major planets , my Avatar is with one

[John Baars]

Adding a barlow ( with a lens) in the light path means more in-travel of the focusser. If it is a real barlow and you can't reach focus not much can be done about it exept ( and you don't want to do this, exept being ATM) moving the mirror upwards in the tube. Extra short barlows are specially made for Newtons. Such a barlow doesn't come with the standard accessoires though.