Barlows

[iceman]

I think I need a new (good quality) barlow.. the one that came with the scope (bintel branded) seems to degrade quality quite a bit when using it, especially with the 15mm or 9mm eyepiece. It really seems to darken the image.

I've read good things about the Orion Shorty Plus or Celestron Ultima barlow..

Do you concur that these would be a good choice?
Where do you get them from locally and how much are they?

Thanks for your help.

[mch62]

I would agree with the Teleview as I have a 4x Powermate and find it an excelent but heavy attachment for planetary and double star observing . It's also great for planetary CCd without going for eyepiece projection

[Saturn%5]

Hi Iceman, I have the 2' GSO barlow and use it with my 20mm GSO superview eyepiece and never had a problem,But my freinds barlow is the same and you wouldnt give him 2 cents for it maybe they were both made on the same day.:rolleyes:

[iceman]

I'm hoping to start doing webcam imaging of the planets and the moon soonish, so I really do want a good quality barlow but I don't know if I can justify the cost of the Televue powermates.. :/

I've heard other people say that their GSO barlows are great, so I don't know why mine seems so bad.. I guess I need to compare it against some others.. maybe it's just my expectations. I'll try and get down my club's next meet and do some comparisons.

There must be cheaper places to get Televue's from than Bintel, isn't there?

[mch62]

I imported mine from scopetronixs in the states 18 months back .
At that time it was worth doing it in savings ($60 I think) but you would have to check prices and exchange rates to see for your self . Importing from the states is quite strate forward for items under $500 . Just stick to the larger well known stores over there and you should not have problems. I buy from the states and UK all the time.

[iceman]

What's the difference between the Televue barlows?

On bintel's site, they've got listed:
1.25" 2.5x barlow powermate: $310
1.25" 2x barlow: $180
1.25" 3x barlow: $180
1.25" 5x barlow powermate: $310

What's the difference between their normal barlow and the "powermate"? Is it really worth that much extra?

[iceman]

Scopetronix has the powermates listed at these prices (US$):

Powermate™ 2" 48mm TVPM2 $280.00
2.5x Powermate™ 1¼" No TVPM25 $190.00
4x Powermate™ 2" 48mm TVPM4 $295.00
5x Powermate™ 1¼" 1¼" TVPM5 $190.00


US$190 is about AU$250, so by the time you throw postage onto that (probably another US$40), it's around the same cost as buying direct from bintel and going to pick it up.

Dang so expensive just for 1 barlow.

[mch62]

As I said it was 18 months ago Bintel has dropped there prices and at the time there was a big wait until there next shipment so that's why I went over seas. At the moment you most probably won't save a lot on one especially the cheaper 11/4" units .
As far as the difference between them go to the Teleview site as the explanation there , it is self explanatory.
If you want to do CCD or web cam imaging of the planets there are well suited to it as this is why I got the 4x . No need to use eyepiece projection but that depends on your F/R . I have a couple of other brands of barlows and the power mate ( which is not called a barlow) is far superior.