Antares 2" 1.6x Barlow

[25585]

For less extreme magnification than 2x but which would take 2 inch eps, I was considering the Antares 1.6x Barlow. 

Using it in my 500mm refractor and 1260mm dob the latter with a Paracorr 2. 

Is this a good Barlow to get?

[Macavity]

Pretty good when I last had one... Japanese Optics? I used it with my Baader Hyperions?
One of my first ever SGL sales (to DAZ maybe)? I often wonder what became of stuff... 

[25585]

24 minutes ago, Macavity said:

Pretty good when I last had one... Japanese Optics? I used it with my Baader Hyperions?
One of my first ever SGL sales (to DAZ maybe)? I often wonder what became of stuff... 

What made you decide to sell it please?

[Macavity]

18 minutes ago, 25585 said:

What made you decide to sell it please?

A need for basic funds mostly? But <bumping> the thread anyway... 

I think it reasonable to await a better review. lol. But I do recall it came
recommended on the wider internet. I found little to fault it anyway?  

[LightBucket]

Yes it is a very good barlow, the newer ones with the twist lock even better....

[Pig]

I owned one for quite a while and found it very useful, I only sold it because I upgraded to the Baader VIP Barlow  ? the VIP starts at about 1.7X also.

[spaceboy]

I had one and can't say I was all that impressed TBH but many sing high praise of them. It is worth noting that the newer ones use up more back focus than the earlier thumb screw ones so something to consider if you don't have much inward focus travel. I believe there were 3 different versions in total with the one with white lettering and thumbscrew to be the best of the bunch. 

[John]

I've owned 2 of the Antares 1.6x barlows. The first one was the older type with set screws in the 2" eyepiece holder and no filter thread. The 2nd one was the newer type with a twist lock 2" fitting at the top end and a filter thread cut into the 2" barrel below the barlow lens element.

I used the older one for some months to barlow my 13mm Ethos eyepiece. It worked pretty well with those eyepieces - the optics seemed a good match. I didn't notice any vignetting and the results of combining the two was a pretty true 8.1mm 100 degree eyepiece with a bit more eye relief than the original 13mm Ethos has.

The newer one was bought on a bit of a whim but, alas, I found that the re-positioning of the optical elements that had been undertaken to fit the twist lock and the 2" filter thread meant that I could not bring eyepieces to focus in my ED120 refractor or the 10" OO newtonian I had at the time because the point of focus was moved too far inwards for the travel of the focuser to reach