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Which upgrade barlow?

Jamie16v

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Jamie16v

Jamie16v

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Hi guys, I'm slowly upgrading my collection of eyepiece and have gone with a celestron x-cel lx 7mm and 25mm so far. I would like to keep with the theme but if I would benefit with other brands within the same price range then I don't mind mixing them up. 

I am after a 2x barlow but I'm unsure if I may want to go down the AP path a x-cel would be the best choice to go with. 

Is there anything you guys can suggest?

Thanks, Jamie.

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Piero

Piero

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I had a Bresser SA 2x Barlow which is actually a tele-extender (4 lenses, parfocal). That is very good and very close to the TV Powermate 2.5x that I also owned, but much cheaper. 

The Explore Scientific tele-extender 2x is also said to be very close to the Powermate. 

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Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

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As a Barlow magnifies any flaw in the glass in the optical-pathway itself, I usually suggest the TeleVue® 2X or 3X. I rarely suggest TeleVue® anything due to cost for new people, I make this suggestion as it's for something where you can't really afford to introduce problems - magnified problems! :p

And the TV Barlow's aren't really that much more $$££.

IMHO,

Dave

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John

John

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I find the Baader Q-Turret 2.25x barlow pretty good quality optically for a low price but with your 25mm X-Cell I think a TeleXtender / Focal Extender / Powermate will give you more comfortable viewing because they won't be pushing out the already generous eye relief as a barlow lens does.

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Louis D

Louis D

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7 hours ago, Jamie16v said:

Hi guys, I'm slowly upgrading my collection of eyepiece and have gone with a celestron x-cel lx 7mm and 25mm so far. I would like to keep with the theme but if I would benefit with other brands within the same price range then I don't mind mixing them up. 

I am after a 2x barlow but I'm unsure if I may want to go down the AP path a x-cel would be the best choice to go with. 

Is there anything you guys can suggest?

Thanks, Jamie.

  • Since you didn't specify your scope, it's a little hard to make recommendations.  I have 6 different barlows and rarely use them.  When I do, I just leave them in the focuser because they're such a pain to swap in and out.  If you had a 2" focuser, I would recommend a GSO 2" 2x ED barlow coupled with a TV PBI to make a low cost, high performing telecentric barlow.  It's my favorite magnifier, and I paid only $110 for the whole thing partially new and partially used.
  • For 1.25", the TV 2x is good, but not perfect.  It's certainly better than most of the shorties out there.  My personal 1.25" favorite is the vintage, Japanese made Meade 140 APO barlow from the 90s.  It's very sharp, mid length like the TV, and the nosepiece is 1.25" filter threaded unlike the TV's nosepiece, so it can be screwed onto the front of a diagonal for about 3x magnification, the front of a binoviewer to reach focus at about 2.2x to 2.5x, or onto an eyepiece for about 1.5x.  They come up used here in the states every few months for $40 to $50 and are vastly undervalued.  I've got two so I can dedicate one to my binoviewer.
  • If you've got a refractor, you might not be able to come to focus with anything but a parfocal telecentric magnifier unless you can do the diagonal trick above or reach focus with a shorty barlow.  It's the one place shorty barlows really make sense.
  • If you've got a Newtonian, there shouldn't be any issue coming to focus because you usually have to back it out of the focuser before locking it in place or crank the focus tube out quite a bit to reach focus.  If you've got a long focal length CAT, there's little reason to boost magnification further.
  • If I were you, and you want to stick with the Celestron Xcel LX, I'd get the 12mm as a nice mid-power eyepiece for clusters and nebula.  If you have a 2" focuser, I'd then get a widest field 38mm to 42mm 2" eyepiece to maximize your true field of view, something like the SkyWatcher Aero 40mm.
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Ricochet

Ricochet

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It looks like you've got a SW Explorer 130m. If so I wouldn't buy a barlow. I don't think you want to go shorter than 5-6mm with that scope so the barlow will only be of use with your 25mm, in which case you might as well just buy a 12mm eyepiece instead.

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Louis D

Louis D

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7 hours ago, Merlin66 said:

Hmmm

The Televue Panoptic Barlow interface hasn't been available for a while.....

(Edit) I see that TS still show them.....http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p8409_TeleVue-EPO-INT---Panoptik-Barlow-Interface---optimiert-Abstand.html)

 

 

I know.  I picked mine up for $62 just before they were discontinued.  They come up used for $60 or less here in the states every few months.  They're not very well known, so they don't get snatched up very quickly.  They interface well with any 2" barlow of approximately the same focal length as the TV Big Barlow they were designed for.  The GSO 2" ED 2x is one such barlow.

I have a long, Japanese made 2" Orion Deluxe 2x barlow that it doesn't work at all well with.  The combo yields really funky edge distortions.  By itself, that Orion barlow is actually sharper than the GSO 2" or 1.25" TV 2x when used with shorter focal length eyepieces.  However, it can only be used with Newts because it's 6" or 7" long.  They were only $69 new 20 years ago, and go for about $60 used today.  They come up very rarely.  I've seen maybe two or three in the last 10 years in the various astro classifieds.  I know I won't be selling mine.

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spaceman_spiff

spaceman_spiff

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On 18/09/2017 at 22:57, Dave In Vermont said:

As a Barlow magnifies any flaw in the glass in the optical-pathway itself, I usually suggest the TeleVue® 2X or 3X. I rarely suggest TeleVue® anything due to cost for new people, I make this suggestion as it's for something where you can't really afford to introduce problems - magnified problems! :p

And the TV Barlow's aren't really that much more $$££.

IMHO,

Dave

I have to agree with Dave here. I picked up a TeleVue 2x Barlow for planetary imaging and it just works (I.e. it adds no aberrations of its own). It is a bit expensive but you never have to worry about it messing things up. I remember a good comparison between different Barlow lenses, here's the link...http://astro.ecuadors.net/barlow-shootout-skywatcher-celestron-high-point-televue-powermate-and-more/

Dan.

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