Any good 1.5x 2" barlows ?

[astropolak]

Hi
I am looking for a good 1.5x 2" barlow that will work well with 21mm Ethos.
I have worked out that this barlow will give me 14mm FL and 178 magnification which is a sweet number for some objects on my scope (10" SCT).

Any recommendations?

[JethroB76]

The Antares 1.6x 2" barlow is highly rated and is used alot with the Ethos line. You'll find alot of comments about such usage on CN.
I think Scopestuff carries them.

ps do you have a 21mm Ethos already?

[astropolak]

Thank you for the reply.
I will check out the Antares 1.6x but really want 1.5x.
Yes, I've had the Ethos 21 since Christmas - Amazing eyepiece.

[JethroB76]

There is the Proxima 1.5X 2" barlow which I think I read somehow uses the same optics as the Antares 1.6

...and according to this thread http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbarchive/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Eyepieces&Number=1963950&Forum=f75&Words=antares%20GTO&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=1958050&Search=true&where=sub&Name=&daterange=1&newerval=4&newertype=y&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=
probably is still 1.6x

[astropolak]

I went with the 1.5 Proxima from Hands on Optics in US
They were nice to deal with and offered me $30.00 shipping as well as reduced price on the Barlow..., without me even asking for it.

Barlow is nicely built and works great, I see no deterioration of the view at all when the Barlow is in use.
One problem though - no compression ring, two set screws used instead.

[JethroB76]

How long did they take to send it?
I ordered the Antares 1.6. They also offered to refund the shipping to equal $30 rather than the ~$42 estimated by their shipping calculator. But they dont seem to want to answer my emails at the moment.

[astropolak]

Hmmm
There was a day or two delay in email turn around...
It took almost 2 weeks to get to me.

[JethroB76]

Well, Ok, the Antares has arrived today, yay. But I still need to see if I can resolve the shipping charge.

The Antares also has two set screws, rather than a compression ring. I think these are often replaced with nylon screws to help prevent marring the EP barrels. I wonder how firm they hold?

Interesting that more recent CN posts suggest that the Antares (and probably the Proxima) actually provides magnification factors of between 1.4 and 1.6 depending on which fl Ethos you are barlowing