Quote:
Originally Posted by Leo.G
Has anyone heard of the Astromania TeleXtender?
I saw a manufacturers site (I think) where it had 287 x 5 star reviews, all left on the same day by the same bot with the same identification.
I tried to leave a review stating the reviews are fake but it didn't save, oh well.
I want a 5 times extender, preferably a Powermate but finances dictate I'll take anything remotely usable and reasonably priced <b>since my 8" telescopes can only produce grain of sand size images of planets.</b>
I've read the reviews on the Tele-vue items an am aware of their quality however I've seen mention there's good items coming from Meade and Explore Scientific at lower prices, I just came across the Astromania on Amazon Aus. Not that I ever buy anything from Amazon.
Yes, it's cheap and I know the old adage, "if it seems too good to be true it probably is"
Any recommendations would be appreciated!
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Jupiter varies from 35" to 50" in size.
At 100x, that is about 58' to 83' wide in apparent size, or 2-3x the size of the full moon to the naked eye! At 200x, the apparent size is 4-6x the size of the full moon to the naked eye.
In other words, it's HUGE.
If your scope is an 8" f/4, that means an eyepiece of 4mm will yield that huge image. If your scope is an f/6, a 6mm eyepiece will yield the same size image.
You can get there with a 2X Barlow on a mid-focal length eyepiece.
Astromania is a seller of inexpensive Chinese goods made by many other companies under private label. As such, they are far from unique, though, like Svbony, they have a number of interesting products.
I guess the point here is that a 5x Barlow isn't going to very useful for visual astronomy. It's primary intent is to expand the image scale for prime focus imaging of planets, and, in that purpose, it should work fine.
Though be forewarned, the mount has to be ultra stable to handle a 4000-6000mm focal length created by a 5X Barlow.
I would recommend the 5X ES Focal Extender if you can't afford the 5x TeleVue PowerMate.