Meade Series 5000 TeleXtender Question

[Titan]

Hi all,

I have been browsing Bintel’s site this today looking for a reasonably high power Barlow or equivalent. I notice they have a special on the Meade Series 5000 TeleXtenders which is rather tempting. However after digging through some older threads on this site I noticed a lot of comments relating Meade’s products in general which are less then positive. Has anyone used these barlows and what are their opinions? Or am I wasting my time and should I pay a bit more and instead get a Tele Vue Powermate?

Thanks in advance.

[Fox]

Hi Titan

First of all, I have not tried a Meade Telextender, but I did seriously consider it before I replaced my Meade 140 2x Barlow with a TV 2.5x Powermate. I won’t rant about the Powermate, except to say it is outstanding, and a comparison to my old Meade 140 barlow seems rather unfair.

There a few user review/threads about the Meade TE’s at CloudyNights you might find informative. Overall I get the impression that the Meade Telextenders compare well with the TV’s. The Telextenders look and feel nice I must say. However, when you consider the price, I think TV is the better choice. Currently at Bintel, the Meade TE’s are listed at $199, but the Powermate 2.5x is only $50 more (confining to the 1.25 inch range). Unless money is limiting, I would advise the Powermate. But keep in mind, I have no direct experience in comparing the TE’s to the Powermates.

When it came down to it, I chose the Powermate because (a) the 2.5x factor is exactly what I wanted for my scope and EP range (the Meade TE 2x was not high enough, and 3x would be too high), and (b) the reviews and user reports for the TV are just so glowing, whilst reports on the Meades were few (at present). John B provided me with some great advice on the Powermate.:)

A final thing that swayed me was that Televue at least gives us some worthwhile ‘consumer info’ about how/why the Powermate works and improves performance, whereas Meade pretty much say next to nothing about the internal workings of the Telextenders; and I don’t like it when manufacturers deliberately seem to keep consumers in the dark and uninformed like this. I can understand manufacturers needing to guard secrets/intellectual property etc. but I am one (like most others around here I imagine) like to know at least something worthwhile about the optics I am deciding to buy.

Fox

[Titan]

Thanks Fox, like you said there doesn't appear to be as much information available on the Meade product. The more I think about it the more I believe I will go with a powermate. The price difference isn't too dramatic and might just be worth it for the added piece of mind.

[rumples riot]

Direct experience.

The Meade product is ok, but in reality is not up to par with the powermate or in fact any of the TV products.

[Titan]

Thanks rumples riot, I have decided to go with the Powermate. Can't wait to get it and give it a go!

[Starkler]

If you just want a 2" 2x barlow, the Orion deluxe comes highly recommended at the mid priced level.