advice for good allrounder barlow for planets ect

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

hi

im thinking of getting a 3x barlow soon

now i have a 8inch skywatcher dob so which barlow would be best suited for planets ect just for

viewing

im looking at the meade make

maybe meade 128 x 3 short focus barlow 1.25

or the

 meade 127 2x-3x varible barlow 1.25

which do you think would be the best or can someone else advise something equaly as good

many thanks

steve

[NGC 1502]

Hi Steve. If you are willing to pay a bit extra, then TeleView barlows are tough to beat.

Not sure at all how well the variable barlows work, maybe someone else on here can advise ?

But looking at your equipment list, you already have a 6mm EP, that would give 200x with your 200p, and your 10mm with your current 2x barlow would give 240x.

It's quite rare for the seeing to be good enough for higher mags to be worthwhile.

Regards, Ed.

[John]

Neither of the Meade units is particularly good I feel. On a budget the Revelation Astro 2.5x barlow is pretty good. Telescope House have it at £32 at the moment.

As Ed says though, bear in mind the useful magnification limits for the scope / UK conditions. You have a 6mm eyepiece which gives 200x so the barlow will only be useful with the 10mm eyepiece really and then only under really good conditions. 

[rwilkey]

Hi Steve, I agree with Ed, the 6mm should do you fine, that's as high as I can go on my 200P (with a William Optics SPL) = 166x, doubt if you will get better than 200x as 200x is the optimum (not maximum) for the 200P and UK seeing conditions.

[houston]

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

[houston]

I have the same scope and use skywatcher ed 2x barlow. Cant fault it and its 2" with adapter for the smaller eyepieces.

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

[BillP]

I recommend the APM 2.7x ED "Düring" Barlow.  It is the best Barlow I have tested short of the Zeiss, particularly for planetary.  It also provides a small amount of coma correction (built into the design) with Newts which I tested and verified.  I extended this Barlow to match the 3x of the TV 3x and did a detailed examination and it did a better job than the TV giving a crisper view on-axis, more neutral tone, and much less lateral color in the far off-axis than the TV Barlow was generating. 

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/Optical-Accessories/Barlow-Lenses/1.25-Barlow-Lenses/TMB-Barlow-1.8-x-ED-Barlow.html

[Reeny]

.....................On a budget the Revelation Astro 2.5x barlow is pretty good. Telescope House have it at £32 at the moment...............

I am happy to recomend the 3-element Revelation 2.5x barlow as well (but not the 2x single element achromatic)

I still need to test it out properly on my 200P dob when the clear skies arrive.

But on the previous scope, it was head & shoulders above what was needed.

Prices have just dropped by 20% this week.

I paid £39 for the 2.5x Barlow, so £32 is a bargain.

[Lee M]

I've got both the Revelation 2.5x and a Televue 2x. The quality of the Televue is very obvious when you use the two.

[Pig]

I thought anything above 2 x was more suited to AP  and not visual observing

[ScottS]

Another thumbs up for the Revelation 2.5x. Works great with my scope and EP's.

[John]

I've got both the Revelation 2.5x and a Televue 2x. The quality of the Televue is very obvious when you use the two.

I'd agree with that but the Tele Vue does cost nearly 3x as much as the Revelation. Given the options the OP was originally considering I assumed that £90 might be a bit over budget.

[russ.will]

I have the Revelation 2.5x and although I'm not generally a fan of Barlows (I have an ES Focal Extender) it's a pretty crisp little device. Blinding value for £32 for sure.

Do take note of the comments above regarding maximum magnification though. I had a night where the 2x ES FE with the 8.8mm ES82 delivered staggering 340x views of Jupiter that left me slack jawed. The important part of that statement was 'a' as in singular. I've only been at this three years and that was the one night, where pushing significantly above 200x was worth it.

Russell

[JamesF]

I'm another happy Revelation 2.5x user.  At £32 it would be rude not to.  Really.

James

[BillP]

Is the Revelation 2.5 the same as the GSO 3 element Barlow?  If so, and FWIW, when I had the GSO 2.5x and tested it, its magnification was really 2.1x as it was set up in the GSO housing.

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

good morning

firstly a big thankyou for all the advice

from your input im going to go for the

revelation astro 2.5 x barlow

once again thankyou

steve

[John]

Is the Revelation 2.5 the same as the GSO 3 element Barlow?  If so, and FWIW, when I had the GSO 2.5x and tested it, its magnification was really 2.1x as it was set up in the GSO housing.

Yes, I think it's the same item Bill. It reminded me a bit of the Celestron Ultima 2x, which was closer to a 2.2x than 2x I seem to recall.

Decent barlow for the price though, all the same.