Cracked my 2x barlow...

[emadmoussa]

Once again I have proved my genius for unintentional damage never fails...so I cracked my Skywatcher 2x barlow..OK, it was a rubbish one anyway and now I can justify to myself finding a good 2x or 3x barlow lens. Any suggetions? FYI, will be using it in AP as well...

[faulksy]

the meade telextenders are great, the barlow should add only magnification and these do also and obviosly the power mates

[emadmoussa]

Thanks! Powermates are out of the question for the time being. I just don't know what the advantage they give anyway. Meade seems like a good option. I happened to have a 'very dusty' 4x tal barlow...found it sunk in the middle of accessories last time...I never used any Tal products before, so I'm yet to put it to the text even though 4x is too much magnification.

[russ.will]

The TV Powermates, ES Focal Extenders and Meade Telextenders are all basically 4-element barlows. In a normal barlow, a negative doublet causes the light rays passing through it to diverge, magnifying the image and at the same time increasing the eye relief of the EP inserted in it. It the 4-element design the diverging light rays are brought back to telecentric by a positive doublet. This means eye relief is unaltered, colour is better corrected and the field is more evenly illuminated.

The Meade and ES items share a common manufacturer (JOC) and is likely they are therefore very similar, individual manufacturers specifications on coatings and the like not withstanding. I have the ES FE and like it very much indeed, as the experience of viewing through a PM/FE/TE is much like using a shorter focal length version of the same eyepiece. The (limited number of) barlows I've tried always put me off, as they change the way you have to view through the EP. If your EPs have ample eye relief like mine, the barlow increased this to too much, which bothers some people more than others.

Russell

[SnakeyJ]

At least the broken barlow will be useful as an extension tube.

The revelations, baader q 2.25x are reasonable low-mid range. ES have a good range at around half the powermate prices.

[tom33pr]

I used to use the standard 2x TeleVue barlow and was very happy with it. It's affordable s/h and I would consider it a big upgrade to the one you broke

Good luck.

[jambouk]

There's a 3x tal barlow on ebay for £50