Televue 2x Barlow - worth it?

[McMoon]

Is this 1.25" barlow really worth its price tag?

I know it is rated but is it value?

[Stardust]

I've had one for a long time and think it's worth having, but look out for a secondhand one, around £50-60 usually

[John]

How do you define "value" ?.

It's about as good as a barlow can get. Whether that is worth the purchase price is up to the individual I guess.

Used ones do crop up on the UK Astro Buy & Sell website. A "wanted" advert can reap dividends too.

[McMoon]

How do you define "value" ?.

Suppose you have me there...what you rate for your £ spent I might not and vice versa.

[Pig]

McMoon

I had 2 previous Barlows.

(the combined cost of both was £55, one could argue, this was wasted money as I made a loss when I sold them)

I finally settled on the X-CEL LX x2. Quite expensive at £89 but it was well worth it.

If you want theTelevue go for it, especially if you can afford it.

Shaun

[John]

Suppose you have me there...what you rate for your £ spent I might not and vice versa.

Quite true - thats why the "is the differance worth it ?" questions are so hard to answer

The other hard one is "will I notice the difference ?". I guess the truth there is that some will and some won't.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I never liked barlows until I got the MEade S5K TeleXtenders. Great stuff. My TV PowerMate 2.5x is similar. It just "gets out of the way."

John's remark on seeing the difference is important. I only upgraded my kit when I saw its limitations. I still abide by that rule.

[rowan46]

I never liked barlows until I got the MEade S5K TeleXtenders. Great stuff. My TV PowerMate 2.5x is similar. It just "gets out of the way."

John's remark on seeing the difference is important. I only upgraded my kit when I saw its limitations. I still abide by that rule.

Good rule that. it's a rule I only recently learned and If I had learned that a while ago I could have saved a bit of cash.

[Naemeth]

Just remember that even the best Barlow or Powermate can only deteriorate or keep the image the same quality (obviously good quality Barlows will not deteriorate the image). The image you will get at the eyepiece is only as good as the weakest component in the optical train will allow.

Remember also, Barlows increase eye relief, Powermates keep the same eye relief.

Shorter barlows increase eye relief more than longer barlows.

HTH.

[McMoon]

Just remember that even the best Barlow or Powermate can only deteriorate or keep the image the same quality (obviously good quality Barlows will not deteriorate the image). The image you will get at the eyepiece is only as good as the weakest component in the optical train will allow.

Remember also, Barlows increase eye relief, Powermates keep the same eye relief.

Shorter barlows increase eye relief more than longer barlows.

HTH.

Obvious now you say but was well worth you saying.

[rory]

is there much between the televue x2 barlow and the now discontinued celestron ultima x2 barlow ? i here the ultima is well regarded, but is the televue any better ?

(sorry for thread poaching )

[alan potts]

Try to get a secondhand one, I have the Ppowermate and to me it is excellent but whether it is worth the new price is a question you can really only answer yourself. The Meade/Exsc tele-extender is as close as you can get to the Ppowermate, that would be a good second best. As the question was about a Barlow I would just say there will not be many on the market as good but the same point applies, is it worth it to you.

Alan

[John]

is there much between the televue x2 barlow and the now discontinued celestron ultima x2 barlow ? i here the ultima is well regarded, but is the televue any better ?

(sorry for thread poaching )

I've owned a couple of both and there is not much difference optically although the Tele Vue is a longer format barlow and lends itself to use in newtonains wheras the "shorty" format of the Ultima sits in diagonals much better.

I've also owned a couple of Powermates and they are a step up again in performance (and price !).

The Meade TeleXtenders and Explore Scientific Focal Extenders (same thing) are very like Powermates but at a lower price. Having used one of the ES's now (thanks for the loan Russell ) I'd prefer one to a Tele Vue or Ultima barlow I think.

[emadmoussa]

I recently bought a 2" Skywatcher ED 2x barlow. Couldn't be happier, crisp and sharp like hell. I also got an unbranded 3x ED barlow off ebay, even though not as well built and packaged like the SW, it still functions really excellently. I don't see a point of going for the TV barlow if you can get a similar quality for less money.

[John]

I recently bought a 2" Skywatcher ED 2x barlow. Couldn't be happier, crisp and sharp like hell. I also got an unbranded 3x ED barlow off ebay, even though not as well built and packaged like the SW, it still functions really excellently. I don't see a point of going for the TV barlow if you can get a similar quality for less money.

I had one of those recently. They are good for their price but not as good as the Powermates or Meade / ES Extenders.

[emadmoussa]

I had one of those recently. They are good for their price but not as good as the Powermates or Meade / ES Extenders.

You mean the Skywatcher or the Ebay one?

[John]

You mean the Skywatcher or the Ebay one?

I've used the Skywatcher one, an unbranded one and one branded Moonfish. They all looked the same to me and seemed to perform the same as well. The Revelation / GSO 2" 2x ED is another I've tried which was similar in performance. These are all decent barlows and very good value for money.

[emadmoussa]

I've used the Skywatcher one, an unbranded one and one branded Moonfish. They all looked the same to me and seemed to perform the same as well. The Revelation / GSO 2" 2x ED is another I've tried which was similar in performance. These are all decent barlows and very good value for money.

Yes, I see. I really don't see I will ever need a better quality. Then again, the more experienced you get the more the differences in quality and performance start to stand out

[knobby]

Old thread hijack !

does anyone know if the televue 1.25" 2 x barlow allows the bottom section to be fitted to a webcam to acheive 1.5 ish x mag ?

had a google but no definitive answers

Cheers all.

Is it too early to say Merry Christmas yet