Barlow needed any suggestions

[proflight2000]

After Bunking oops I mean leaving work a little early last night, so I could take in what was a really nice dark sky, I have now realised that I am in dire need of a good Barlow, the one that came with my skywatcher is not very good at all. Im looking for some help on if I shold get a x2, x3, or something else. Thanks.

[Chubster]

The Celestron Ultima's seem to be the top choice

[John]

The Celestron Ultima's seem to be the top choice

I agree 100% with Chubster - the Ultima is a great barlow. I was using one tonight to look at Saturn with my C8 SCT - I could not see any difference in image quality between a barlowed 20mm Tele Vue Plossl and an 11mm used without the barlow - except for the nicer eye relief on the 20mm / barlow combination that is !.

John

[russ]

I agree, the Celestron Ultima or the Orion Shorty Plus. Both the same barlow, just comes down to which you can find cheaper. Or if you have the cash to blow, then go the whole hog and get a TV Powermate.

Russ

[Kai]

I have a Orion shorty (ex rus) and it works well.

But i am toying with a 2.5/3 TV barlow /powermate for a bit more image size when using the toucam

[moondog]

Don't know if the Skywatcher 200 has a 2 ins focusser, but if it has I would suggest the 2 ins Revelation 2x ED Barlow. At less than £50 it's a bargain. Used with a 2 ins nosepiece for the T adaptor on the Canon it reduces vignetting when imaging.

For a 1 1/4 ins Barlow I'd go with the other suggestions ( You need deep pockets for the Powermate though !)

MD

[FLO]

Best budget barlow is the Tal 2x and 3x. Next up is the Celestron Ultima 2x barlow and for top-end, the Meade Series 5000 TeleXtender and the Televue Powermates.

Best unsung hero is the GSO 2x ED 2" barlow that Moondog mentions (available under a number of guises - PM if interested). I have one and am very pleased with it for visual and look forward to using it for imaging.

[MartinB]

I can second Steve's recommendation of the Tal x3. I use an Ultima x2 imaging with my SCT but the Tal x3 surprised me with it's performance imaging Saturn with an ED120. Excellet value for money.

[blinky]

I dont know about the quality etc of these but I have a spare Meade X2 Barlow, Brand new never been used. It is the #126 Short focus barlow lens. PM me if you are interested!

[Merlin]

Is a Barlow really necessary? Patrick Moore,an observer with many years of experience behind him,doesn't like Barlows.

Does introducing more glass into the optical train really improve matters?

[themos]

Is a Barlow really necessary? Patrick Moore,an observer with many years of experience behind him,doesn't like Barlows.

Does introducing more glass into the optical train really improve matters?

I guess not strictly necessary if you have a dedicated scope for each kind of target, with different apertures and focal lengths. I only have the one!

[solo]

I agree that the Celestron ultima takes some beating.I find the main advantage of the barlow is eye relief. To illustrate my point, try scratching your eyeball using a 5mm ep and then a barlow with a 10mm ep.Which do you find more comfortable?.Ok you are introducing more glass into the system but I think it's a small price to pay - especially if you wear glasses.

[FLO]

A barlow also goes some way to correcting the light cone before it reaches the eyepiece. So, eyepieces that might normally struggle can actually produce a better corrected image when barlowed.

[Brass n glass]

I bought a 4X Powermate recently with about a third knocked off the price and it is a superb performer - far better than my Meade 126 2X Barlow even though it stretches the objective and eyepiece much more. Beautifully made but heavy enough (more than 500gm) to cause trouble if your mount is only just up to carrying your scope.

[proflight2000]

Thats my problem at the moment, I have reasonable eypeices but they are not as good it seems as the meade ones I had before. I seriously need to get a couple of decent eyepieces, I have primed the wife to be ready by my birthday