WHICH BARLOW?

[Markinaboat]

Hi,

Have recently acquired a SW 100ED DS PRO. Have only used it twice and apart from the 28mm LET that came with it, I have a Hyperion 8mm and a Televue 20mm Plossl. Bought both used to experiment etc. 

I'm considering getting a barlow and then of course another ep that would sit comfortably within what I have (yep, I know the 20mm barlowed  will be close to the 8mm Hyperion but how interesting it will be to see any difference in the quality of the view). I have read somewhere that not all Barlows will suit all focusers/scopes etc. I think I need a 'shorty' but not a clue what to look for.

Any tips and constructive criticisms would be most welcome!

Thanks!

[brantuk]

The Celestron 2x Shorty Plus and the Celestron 2x Ultima are both the same 1.25" barlows and both out of production last I heard. They are good though - used to cost around £80 new so s/h can be between £45 - £55. If you're after a good vfm budget barlow the 2x Tal 1.25" is popular - but again they stopped making them - around £35 s/h if you can find 'em.

The 1.6x Antares is also a good example of a 2" barlow around £60 s/h. But if you want the best and have £200 to spare - it's hard to beat a TV 2" Powermate. Hth

[Joe G]

I got the Revelation 2.5x barlow for my ED100, which was recommended on this forum by another more experienced member & it works great. The only drawback is the endpiece cannot be attached to another eyepiece to give say 1.6x, which some other barlows can.

I got it to replace a Tal x2, which worked great with a Dob but not so good with the refractor. Hope this helps.

[Markinaboat]

Thanks guys. Something's to consider there although 200 just ain't gonna happen!

Cheers

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CumbrianGadgey]

If it helps and you can wait, I'm going to try the starguider x2 apochromatic 3 element Barlow and should have it in a few days. i'll be comparing it using my existing BST Starguider EPs plus Barlow and some Planetary II EPs of comparable magnification.

Weather permitting, I should have an assessment of it shortly.

It's priced at around £55 so that should be in your budget. I am also awaiting a reply about whether or not the lens assembly can be attached directly to my EPs to give 1.5 to 1.6 magnification and I'll let you know about that, too, because it's a useful feature.

If I'm right and your scope is F9, the following is what you get with your lenses and Barlow:

EPs: x32, x45, x112

EPs + x2 Barlow: x64, x90, x224

EPs + x1.6 Barlow: x51, x72, x179

Screwing it directly onto your existing EPs doesn't give you much more useful choice, except for the x179 option with the 8mm, so it may not be too important. On the face of it, if you only want around the x200 mark, have you considered simply buying a good 4.5mm EP? It could work out cheaper.

[estwing]

Power mates aren't cheap but that's because there fantastic...

[rob0971]

Yep, can vouch for power mates. They are worth it.

[Markinaboat]

Hmmm, interesting. I must admit, maybe just two more ep's and I could be sorted. However, with this weather I'm in no rush!