Barlow advice?

[§AB]

Hi
I''m looking for a high quality 2x Barlow to replace my existing no-name one. Currently I am leaning towards the Televue 2x model. Any suggestions/advice welcome :)

[wasyoungonce]

Today (the 28th) is the last day for the TV sale...so you have to be quick;)

[Starkler]

The Orion deluxe is a good performer at a mid level price.

[§AB]

goddamnit :mad2:


Sounds good, the internal baffling would help for planets and for maximising image quality of DSos at high power.
At $215 vs $169 for the TV barlow, is the Orion a better choice - Ill be using it on planets and at very high magnification DSO observing.

[Alchemy]

prior to making my choice i searched a whole bunch of reports.... powermates pretty much topped the list.


it seems 714x is just not enough :eyepop: be interested to see how high you can go

[§AB]

I've decided I'll settle on the 2.5x Powermate and a Televue 2x Barlow. LoL the 714x was a 3.5mm Vixen barlowed using a crappy old no name 2x barlow with a single layer coated lens covered in dust! So in theory, a shiny new televue barlow will provide an even better image than what I had!

This will be my new extreme magnification regime, assuming 7/10 or better seeing:

892x - very tight doubles.

714x - very tight doubles, globulars, maybe Planetary nebulae. Tried this mag on M42, intricate detail resolved.

625x - same, Possible planetary work in the best possible conditions, when planet is near zenith.

568x - Most small planetaries, globulars.

500x - Planetaries, small diffuse nebs, globulars. Planets in very good conditions, when at high altitude.

[Stephen65]

I have both of these and though I only use them for imaging they are both excellent products.

[goober]

Settling on TeleVue - love it :)

I've owned the 2.5 Powermate for a month and it's been great on splitting tight doubles (in the 2" range - tight for me). Requires a bit of scope rebalancing, though, which I was trying to avoid (my eyepieces are all the same weight, give or take 10g - K.I.S.S. principle).

I hope you catch/caught the end of the TeleVue sale, I think it ends around now. I'm driving past Bintel this afternoon - I'll probably pop in and sniff around :)

[§AB]

Sadly I missed out n the sale but then again it doesnt really help when the stores don't put the freakin dates on their sites grrrr

can't wait to get ma hands on the powermate and the new 2x barlow :D

[§AB]

Actually the normal prices are now lower than before :D Eg. the powermate was $299 now is $249 and the barlow has gone form $169 to $145 :D

I've also decided to purchase the 3x Televue barlow, as it'll give me gfreater flexibilty and nicely fill the gaps in the high mag end of the spectrum. So thats the 2x, 3x barlows and 2.5x powermate I'll settle on.

I found the following mags to be spaced the best. Ofcourse, some eyepiec+barlow combos will yield near-duplicate mags (i havent listed those) but here's the mags I plan to use with my Vixen LVWs and Meade 5000 plossl:
(black=eyepiece alone, blue=2x barlow, green=2.5x powrmate, red=3x barlow)

39x
56x
73x
96x
156x
192x
227x
250x
288x
312x
357x
390x
454x
468x
500x
567x
625x
681x
714x
750x
892x
1071x < bring those 0.5" doubles :lol:

[wasyoungonce]

Jeez, I'm lucky to use anything above 250X power even with good viewing...300x that's out of my ability...too much mount wobble.:mad2:

I've found the TV 2x barlow a good cheapish unit.

[§AB]

Well I got all 3 TV barlows, all we need now is the seeing to cooperate...

This is how the nights are shaping up since I got em...

night 1: seeing so poor, anything above 200x was just a mess
night 2: clear all day, promising seeing, overcast stratus after sunset
night 3 (today): clear, but the wind is picking up...

looks like for now I'll have to make do with admiring my case of vixen LVWs and the new TV additions...

[goober]

Picking up... it's a south easterly gale at my place. Just put the bins out - Sirius and Betelgeuse were swimming.

[doug mc]

Buy yourself the best quality shorty you can afford.You can fit focal extenders and boost its magnification range. Doug mc.

[ausastronomer]

Doug,

Why would you recommend any shorty barlow over a full length barlow, unless it was a mechanical necessity to have a short barlow.

Notwithstanding the top grade shortys like the Celestron Ultima and the Orion Shorty Plus are good barlows and a quantum leap ahead of the cheap stuff, they cannot quite equal a full size barlow optically. This is pure physics due to the shorter focal length of the barlow.

Cheers,
John B