To Barlow or not to Barlow?

[maxheadroom]

I'm in need of a wide fov ep in the range of the mid teens. I own an MV 68deg ocular 28mm and panaview 32mm both 2" and I love to use them. Rather than buying a new eyepiece would I be as well getting a nice 2" Barlow in 2 or maybe 2.25 x?

My scope is an F10 SCT

Would there be any advantages over a Barlow in getting a dedicated fixed focal length ep?

Many thanks!

Max

[maxheadroom]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I'd like to restrict this purchase to £60-£100

Thanks

[sbooder]

I might be wrong but I think a barlow in any situation is going to narrow the FOV?  I would go for a 17 or 18mm 2" if you want as much FOV but higher mag.

[sbooder]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I'd like to restrict this purchase to £60-£100

Thanks

In that case what about one of the Baader Hyperion EPs, you get the best of both worlds, the 8mm goes to a 22mm 2" with the front element removed.

[Moonshane]

one effect of a barlow is that it can often increase eye relief to an unusable level. it approximately doubles it so if you have long eye relief on your two eyepieces mentioned this might be an issue. weight is another issue but perhaps not so much with a SCT although could it create more wear than necessary in the gears?

I went the more eyepieces route and have never regretted it.

[maxheadroom]

Sweet guys thanks, I understand. My scope is quite loaded as it is and I'm a bit of a baader fanboy hehe. I own a Hyperion zoom and like it a lot. I'll look at the Hyperion range I think as you suggest.

Thanks and regards

Max

[rwilkey]

Hi Max, I have never had any success at barlowing widefield 2" ep's esp. the PanaView.  I therefore sold my SW 2" ED Barlow.  Plus its a lot to hang off the focuser.  Barlowing low power widefield ep's rather defeats the object of using them I have found.  So go for a higher power ep, after my experience I went for the Vixen 13mm LVW which I got for £99 at the SW Astronomy Fair a couple of years ago.  I suggest you do something similar.

[M4lcs67]

Interesting that I have just found this post. I am in the process of adding some extra bits of 2" gear to my set-up which includes the Celestron Luminos 2.5x barlow and also the Baader Hyperion mkIII Clickstop Zoom. Not necessarily to use with the barlow (I too am a massive fan of the Hyperions) and I love the modular design . No. I was looking at different options when using my gear and the flexibility of certain bits working with other bits appeals to me as long as it works. 

[Charic]

Hi Max, I have never had any success at barlowing widefield 2" ep's esp. the PanaView.  I therefore sold my SW 2" ED Barlow.  Plus its a lot to hang off the focuser.  Barlowing low power widefield ep's rather defeats the object of using them I have found.  So go for a higher power ep, after my experience I went for the Vixen 13mm LVW which I got for £99 at the SW Astronomy Fair a couple of years ago.  I suggest you do something similar.

That settles a question I have on another thread (along with Johns comments) cheers Robin. Ive just sold my Revealation 2.5 thinking it was too much power on my system for Jupiter(and probably the other planets, except the Moon which is awesome at 375x power with an 8mm or lower) But instead of trying first, I've sold on, and now left without a Barlow and a small dilema of choosing the next Barlow.

Should I buy a newer 2"(1.25" adaptable) to give me best of both worlds, and primarily to Barlow my laser for final primary mirror adjustments.

Looks like a standard 2x Barlow, possibly with screw-in lens to adapt EP to 1.5x

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

You can "Barlow" wide-field EPs, but you need a tele-centric lens, like a PowerMate or TeleXtender. These preserve both apparent FOV as eye relief. They are not cheap, however. TeleXtenders are now sold as Bresser SA Barlows.

[M4lcs67]

I am close to hitting the button on buying the Celestron Luminos 2.5 barlow along with the Baader Hyperion 8-24 mkIII Clickstop zoom. A few things I was wondering however. As I posted earlier, I want flexibility with all my eyepieces as much as possible. With my 36mm Hyperion Aspheric I wouldn't be barlowing that any way. It is a 2" ep and even though the Luminos barlow has 2" capability it would be pointless to have a 36mm ep and the wide vistas it would give to then barlow it and restrict it's capability.

No, I was thinking of using the Luminos in 2" form with the Hyperion zoom in 2" mode. The Luminos barlow does come supplied with a 1.25 converter, so I could still use my existing fixed focal Hyperions. They can be used in either 1.25 or 2" mode. Does this require the removal of the front element, so you have the full 2" worth of vision through the scope???? Obviously I made the decision to switch to a 2" diagonal as having a 9.25 apeture scope I didn't want to restrict it's capability by using a 1.25 diagonal.

[John]

The Hyperions up to 24mm are 1.25" eyepieces. Remove the 1.25" barrel and you get a somewhat poorly corrected 22mm eyepiece so they are much better used with the 1.25" barrel in place and as 1.25" eyepieces using the adapter that comes with the 2" barlow.

Using a Barlow / Powermate with 2" eyepieces can get daunting !:

[M4lcs67]

Thanks John. I knew I could rely on your help. Blimey. Just look at that little lot in your picture. Huge.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The Hyperions up to 24mm are 1.25" eyepieces. Remove the 1.25" barrel and you get a somewhat poorly corrected 22mm eyepiece so they are much better used with the 1.25" barrel in place and as 1.25" eyepieces using the adapter that comes with the 2" barlow.

Using a Barlow / Powermate with 2" eyepieces can get daunting !:

Place the 31T5 in that PowerMate and you know why I call it the Panzerfaust