Do Hyperions Barlow well?

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Hey

Just wondering if the Hyperions barlow well or not? As Im thinking of getting the 13mm and 21mm, and getting a 2x televue barlow. Help would be greatly appreciated thankyou.

Regards,
Mo.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Hi,

The Hyperions are Chinese manufactured clones of the Vixen LVW's, which are a superb eyepiece.

These and many other high end eyepieces (Pentax XW, Naglers, Radians etc) use a telenegative lens set (barlow) inbuilt into the base of the eyepiece in front of the field lens group. This gives some people the impression they will not barlow well because in essence the eyepiece is being "double barlowed". It will give a miniscule drop in light throughput compared to a high grade specialist planetary eyepiece like an orthoscopic or plossl because you now have 10 lens elements (8 in the eyepiece, 2 in the barlow) compared to 4. Most people would never detect this light drop. Keep in mind that the Hyperion, or any 7 or 8 element eyepiece for that matter, is down marginally on an ortho or plossl in any case because of the extra lens elements.

In practice I have found that if you use a good quality barlow, these eyepieces barlow very well. The Televue 2X barlow is an excellent barlow and the combination will barlow very well. Just be aware that any "standard" barlow, including the Televue 2X, extends the eye relief of the native eyepiece a bit. The Hyperions starting with 20mm of eye relief will be pushed out to about 23mm or 24mm and you may take a few minutes or a bit longer, to get accustomed to putting your head and eye in the right place to hold the exit pupil and avoid blackouts. The Televue Powermate series preserve the eye relief of the native eyepiece and avoid this issue.

The Hyperions are the best value for money eyepieces currently available, offering performance just behind the premium eyepieces and the Televue 2X is one of the best barlows on the market.

I think you have come up with an excellent solution.

Cheers,
John B

[UniPol]

I can vouch for the quality of the Hyperions after owning a set for 18 months. I use mine on the Tak TOA-130 and they perform very well compared to some Televue's and Tak EP's I have owned. They also work extremely well on small scopes such as the ED80/100's. I use a Televue 2.5X Powermate which works brilliantly, the only drawback being the combined weight and overall length of the two together. Definitely excellent eyepieces for people who wear glasses as well.

As an aside, if you screw the 1.25" negative element off the EP, be careful not to get dirt or dust inside as it really shows up badly in the field of view, particularly on the moon. I think that the blackening material/paint used on the inside flakes off when you unscrew the bottom element and it seems to stick to the field lens in an instant and is very hard to blow off or remove.

Cheers,

Steve B

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Thanks guys for your input was exactly what i was looking for. I'll most likely get the 2x televue barlow, possibly the 2.5x powermate

[Kokatha man]

Thanks for starting this topic mbaddah: and thanks for your inputs John and Steve - I'm still equivocating re a Vixen LVW 17mm but at 2/3's the price the Baader is looking better all the time.

Regards, Darryl.

[§AB]

I'm using Vixen LVWs with the 2x TV barlow and the 2.5x powermate. These combos work very well but the Powermate is truly superb optically. For example I have had nights when the image quality using the 5mm Vixen in the powermate matched that of the Barlow, despite putting out 625x as opposed to 500!

So basically you won't have any problems barlowing or Powermating Hyperions.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Darryl,

What scope(s) do you own?

The main difference between the Vixen LVW's and the Hyperions/Stratus is in regard to the EOF performance. In a fast scope the Vixens are somewhat better in the last 20% of the FOV. This isn't implying that the Hyperions are in any way bad. The Vixens are about as good as it gets and just a bit better that is all. The EOF performance differential is a lot less noticeable in medium to slow F-ratio scopes.

Cheers,
John B

[Kokatha man]

Hi John - pretty basic stuff really: GSO 10 inch f5 dob (on Round Table) and a 6 inch f8 achro that I've "pimped" (according to my youngest son!) in my w/shop with compression ring electric focusser, quartz dielectric prism and a scope axis sliding counterweight to assist with ergonomics. It's the "plonk and go" scope that we take on our regular bush trips: I realized long ago that a decent apo (5 inch plus) was never going to happen but I have to confess that it's not too darn foul. Use a Baader filter for CA and it seems to work pretty well.

I responded to the thread after seeing your's and Steve's responses: mbaddah's obviously looking for quality ep's (I think we both put in unsuccessful offers on a 14mm Pentax!) I'd been interested in the Hyperions: only recently purchasing an 11mm T6 Nagler plus TV 2x barlow and opening my eyes a bit to what good quality ep's can do to even "fair" instruments. Mainly obsessed with the vicarious pleasures of just observing, but have thought of photograhy down the ways.

Cheers, Darryl.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Darryl,

The Hyperions do a pretty good job down to F5. I don't think I would like them in anything much faster than F5 without a paracorr.

I have tried several different focal length versions in my 10"/F5 and they were quite good, but I sensed it was as fast as they wanted to go. I haven't tried them in the 18"/F4.5 Obsession. I am sure in those two scopes you would like the Hyperions.

Cheers,
John B

[Astro78]

Spend the extra and get the LVW, you wont be disappointed. Chinese best vs Japanese best (or close to) - you take the pick.

[Kokatha man]

Thanks for everyone's input fellas - I'd already made my mind up before I logged on this evening: and the winner was.......Vixen LVW 17mm!

My rationale was ultimately summed up by Astro78's comment (to an oldie like me your nickname sounds like some sort of fusion between really old vinyls with new-age tech there Trav!) but JB's posts weren't at variance with this view - he was just making an in-depth assessment/appraisal factoring price relativity into the equation.

But seeing that I'm only in the market to purchase 1 ep, and being the compulsive-obsessive I am, I've chosen the Vixen: this with the Nagler 11mm and TV 2x will give me what I consider a good "spread" of powers through(approx) 70x - 110x - 140/150x - 220x with both scopes: I'll use the GSO 2" 26mm wide view for any initial slewing around/"scoping out." Being able to "plug" the Vixen into the 2" socket as the next mag up before going to the inch & a 1/4 adaptor for the Nagler and the barlowed powers also fits with my ob/comp disorder! (though the Baader most probably has this feature too.....)

Meaning I'll have a few chinese plossls to "retire." (you know, the *** ones; or should I re-phrase that for an upcoming trader ad!!!)

Thanks once again for all the input, cheers, Darryl.

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Originally Posted by Astro78

Spend the extra and get the LVW, you wont be disappointed. Chinese best vs Japanese best (or close to) - you take the pick.

Based on the reviews I've read the only real difference between the Hyperions/Stratus and the LVW is edge performance, sharpness and color in the centre seem to be almost identical.

As I'm still a beginner in this field I don't mind saving a bit of cash and learning with the Hyperions before upgrading to some premium eyepieces.

Thanks all for your help though, much appreciated.

[Kokatha man]

Just to throw another (absurd?) element into the equation - has anyone any experience with the (new?) Vixen NLV ep's?

I understand they have a lesser field than the LVW's but similar eye-relief - what other aspects are there to a comparison? Haven't found out their lens element make-up, though they use the Lanthanum glass of the LVW's: considerably less expensive but are still Japanese manufactured - not the case obviously with some of the other (newer) Vixen ep's: not that this is necessarily any indictment of those that are not Japanese manufactured.....

Cheers, Darryl.

[Outbackmanyep]

Anything Jap made is nothing short of quality!

[mrsnipey]

Got my Hyperion Zoom yesterday and I concur. It is a fabulous eyepiece.