Eyepiece v Barlow?

[Dave In Vermont]

Of the barlows I've owned, the Tele Vue, Celestron Ultima and Baader Q-Turret 2.25x have been the best of the 1.25" types, in optical terms. In the 2" fitting the Antares 1.6x is optically excellent.

Of the budget ones I've owned I think the Revelation 2.5x 1.25" was one of the better ones.

Powermate, TeleXtenders and Focal Extenders perform better again and don't have the impact on the focal position of the eyepiece thats being used or the eye relief that barlow lenses do. More £'s needed for these devices though.

I just noticed you're saluting the Antares 1.6X Barlow for the win in the 2" class. Antares has many excellent products - and they usually cost less than their bigger-name cousins. But they are often nowhere to be found over here in the US. The best source for Antares products, in the US, is ScopeStuff.com. They're a funky company out of Texas with gear you never knew even existed. They do ship internationally. Here's the aforementioned Barlow:

http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_eba2.htm

Thanks, John. Now I know what I'm getting for Christmas!

Enjoy all!

Dave

[Quacker64]

Barlows are a good way to expand an eyepiece set with a single purchase and also for finding out which eyepiece focal lengths / magnifications work well for you and your scope. If you find a couple of focal lengths become real "bread and butter" ones that are frequently used you could then plan to get dedicated eyepieces of those focal lengths in due course.

Thanks John. I'm thinking this is where pooled knowledge and resources can come in handy my scope can be used with EP's belonging to others once I've established with my local group. To date I've been advised a nice wide 32mm plössl for viewing with the Mak 127 - this Barlows nicely to 16mm - an EP between 10mm and 25mm as supplied with the scope.

That might seem an overly simplistic view (seems logic to my inexperienced mind) but I'm sure there will be plenty to advise and keep me on the straight and narrowl

Steve

[John]

Steve - I'd not try barlowing a 32mm plossl to be honest with you. The eye relief of the plossl will be lengthened by the barlow meaning that your eye will need to "hover" someway off the top of the eye cup which i) is not comfortable and ii) lets light get on to the top of the eyepiece reducing contrast and creating reflections.

I'd keep using the barlow to eyepieces of 20mm or less focal length.

[Quacker64]

Steve - I'd not try barlowing a 32mm plossl to be honest with you. The eye relief of the plossl will be lengthened by the barlow meaning that your eye will need to "hover" someway off the top of the eye cup which i) is not comfortable and ii) lets light get on to the top of the eyepiece reducing contrast and creating reflections.

I'd keep using the barlow to eyepieces of 20mm or less focal length.

I never knew or realised that. Assuming it is all down to eye relief. Aside from the "BRlow effect" you'd agree the 32mm is a possible purchase in its own right?

[John]

A 32mm plossl is a very useful lowest power eyepiece in most scopes.