Barlow for Heritage 130P

[Okeydokey]

From what I have read some work some don't re, focussing... not entirely sure why that should be the case but can anyone recommend a sub-£70.00 barlow.  Can't quite work out what the Astro-zoom products are up to, or indeed what a powermate is.  I'm guessing though that a 2X could work if it carries the right brand?

[Big_Daz]

Hi Okeydokey, I have a cheap Sky-Watcher 2x barlow and works fine with my 32mm, 25mm and 7.5mm-22.5mm zoom eyepiece but does not have enough inward focus with the 10mm EP. A way around this is to not fully extend the truss by around 5-10mm before the stops but I got the zoom EP to replace the poor quality 10mm anyway. Some members have used barlows with no problems so I think its trial and error.

[Okeydokey]

Thanks Daz, I am looking at extending the range of the EP collection by one more, plus the barlow.  So along side the supplied 10 and 25mm I would hope to add a 15 or 16mm, so your advice is just what I needed, like your thinking, thanks again!

[happy-kat]

I have a 1.6 barlow by AE and it requires I drop the trusses down about 1 inch to reach focus.

[happy-kat]

Reach focus with my 16mm maxvision by dropping trusses about 1 inch, not tried it with other eyepieces.

[Okeydokey]

Thanks happy-kat,  I was just looking at the AE barlow, by my calculations it would make the 15/16mm EP I was thinking about buying redundant.  Probably more to do with my frugality or maths... not sure which

[AlexB67]

FWIW. The skywatcher barlow I have I my sig work with the eyepieces I have in the Heritage in 2x mode.  The 20mm Maxvision is untested though, so not sure since I got that recently.  The 1.5x adapter,  that is, by removing the barlow element at the end of the barrel and attach it to the eyepiece directly will not reach focus on the skywatcher eyepieces.  Coming to think of it, not sure if it does with my other eyepieces like the BSTs, but I highly doubt it,   seeing I find I just do not need it on the heritage, focal lengths I have are close enough with the eyepieces I own now, so  I find it remains untested, compared to the bigger scope where I have used the 1.5x adapter a few times. 

That said, I would not recommend the barlow I have that highly, except for some of the brighter targets I used it on it is okay, but it is well below your budget,  so something at the price you mention would offer better performance no doubt.

I can't suggest anything with any great authority to help out,I know a powermate would be the bees knees, but well above budget. The televue barlow is a bit above your budget but do turn up second hand sometimes, and is very good by all accounts

http://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/Products/2_0x_Barlow_1_25.html

No doubt there are plenty others. You may want to do some reading/googling how the eyepieces work with a type of barlow you get, sometimes there are issues to consider, such as vignetting or other side effects that may or may not come into play, depending on the design of the eyepiece you use with it.  Such issues may not be serious, but compromises  that you may or may not like to live with.  As an example,  I recall reading a detailed review one time pointing out the fact that plossls ( including televue plossls) due to their design are not ideal for the Televue barlow in some respects, so you never know what you may be up against.

Good luck

[Schorhr]

For that amount of money rather get a decent overview eyepiece (30/32mm Plössl) and a 6mm wide angle eyepiece for ~27gbp.

A expensive barlow may be good, but a waste of money on the cheap kit eyepieces.

As budget solution, the seben / ts / sw achromatic barlows work.

The astrozoom (perhaps mail them in english) offer adapters or modified eyepieces.

Eyepieces such as the HR planetary have a barlow element, by changing the distance it changes the magnification/fl without changing the aparent field of view (as with many zoom eyepieces, but the range is smaller).

[happy-kat]

I got this one as I can screw it in the bottom of my webcam eyepeice when I finally get to use it.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/astro-engineering/barlow/astrophotography/AC555.html

[happy-kat]

I need to make a correction.

The stock eyepiece requires the truss to be dropped slightly.

The maxvision needs more out focus with my barlow so right now it has not worked I will try next time with the eyepiece not fully seated and see if get focus then. Currently the focuser is right at the end of travel as focus is starting to be reached so need maybe at least a cm. Perhaps I need to instead fudge a mini extension tube for the barlow which has just given me an idea.

[AndyWB]

I have the skywatcher one - it works with my 5 and 8mm BSTs without any problems. It's not something I use often - star splitting, and rare good nights on planets. If I'd a budget of £70, I'd consider trying to find both a 5-8mm and a 30-32mm - or get one and wait (and if you get one, the 30-32mm would be most useful - my 30mm Vixen is my most used eyepiece by far)