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What Barlow

Beeford Mick

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Beeford Mick

Beeford Mick

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Hi guys we have a bog standard Barlow that costs around £15 I understand a good quality Barlow can vastly improve the image if this is so what make of barlow lens would be good for around £40/£50 mark.

The scope is a Jessops 114mm
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JamesF

JamesF

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Of the 2x barlows in roughly that price range the Tal has a good reputation, I think the GSO/Revelation is not at all bad and you might be able to pick up an Orion Shorty or Celestron Ultima second hand. Both are well regarded. The Ultima (and presumably the Shorty as I believe they're actually the same optics) is nearer 2.3x or 2.4x, but if you want that little bit more magnification there's also the GSO/Revelation 2.5x. I wouldn't go overboard with your scope though.

I use both the GSO/Revelation models and the Ultima for planetary imaging and have always been happy with the results.

James

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John

John

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As James says, the TAL 2x and Revelation 2.5x barlows are good for their cost. Don't overdo the magnification though - I would think that 100x would be around the limit for your scope, while retaining reasonable image quality.

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JamesF

JamesF

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I'm not sure the Tal barlows are marked with their name at all. They're an unusual shape as far as I'm aware, so someone would have to be specifically copying them rather than passing any old rubbish off as a Tal.

The Tal is probably fairly close to as good as you're going to get for a 1.25" barlow. ISTR someone saying they're a little prone to vignetting and if that's the case then perhaps the Ultima would be better, but from what others have said I don't believe there's a great deal of difference otherwise. If you really want to go mad there's always a Tele Vue, but at that point you might be better off buying more eyepieces unless you wanted it specifically for imaging and I'm not sure you'd consider any improvement over the cheaper ones worth the money. (I don't have the Tele Vue 2x barlow to compare my others with, but I do have the 3x.)

James

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Uplooker

Uplooker

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Of the 2x barlows in roughly that price range the Tal has a good reputation, I think the GSO/Revelation is not at all bad and you might be able to pick up an Orion Shorty or Celestron Ultima second hand. Both are well regarded. The Ultima (and presumably the Shorty as I believe they're actually the same optics)

James

I have the Orion Shorty Plus and I am very happy with it

If going for the Orion Shorty - make sure it is the Orion Shorty Plus, if you want the same performance as the Ultima. The Ultima costs £100+, the Orion Shorty Plus is shown as being around the £80 mark. It does however seem to be out of stock / discontinued

Ian

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jimmyjamjoejoe

jimmyjamjoejoe

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i bought a Tal 2x but it dont say tal on it so i was thinking maybe i was ripped off, is there a way of telling ?

so what is best 2x for a skywatcher scope

They dont have TAL written on them. Mine has "x2" on one side, and on the other side has a small symbol with three russian looking letters underneath. It has a small black thumbscrew, and the barrel is very tight, you can feel the suction as you pull an eyepiece out of it.

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Welrod50

Welrod50

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I got a Tal x2 from Sherwoods a couple of weeks ago and posted a 'heads up' here. It was one of the last ones I believe and the website stated it would be the last remaining shipment. Whether that's the last for Sherwoods, or the last in general anywhere I don't know. But I did look at various other retailers and could not find any listed, so good luck! However, if you do find one, the TAL is a superb optic for the price. Made the stock Skywatcher barlow look like a cheap toy from a Christmas cracker, both in weight and performance.

Keep an eye out maybe second hand. Failing that, I believe the Celestron Ultima is also a good piece, albeit more pricey but you do get what you pay for, unless its a Tal barlow in which case you get a bit more ;)

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Kevin C

Kevin C

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They dont have TAL written on them. Mine has "x2" on one side, and on the other side has a small symbol with three russian looking letters underneath. It has a small black thumbscrew, and the barrel is very tight, you can feel the suction as you pull an eyepiece out of it.

Mine is the same - 2x on one side and some Russian looking lettering under a triangle 'thing' with an 'R' in a circle (registered copyright mark?) to the right. Got mine from FLO earlier this year and I'm very pleased with it.
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brantuk

brantuk

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Hey Andy - which barlow did you use to magnify the markings - that's the one I want lol :)

@OP - As per above Tal 2x or Celestron Ultima or Orion Shorty plus are the best vfm under a hundred quid. I had the Tal and still have the Ultima and they work very well in all my scopes. :)

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Solar_observer

Solar_observer

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I have a skywatcher 130 newt and thinking of buying a 200p in March, next year. The thing is I'm still looking for a decent Barlow. The tals have all but dryed up, so I was thinking of a x2 Celestron omni Barlow. Would this be a decent choice with these two scopes? Thanks

tony

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