New Tak Orthobarlow coming

[John]

The Baader Click Lock that I use is the T2 - 1.25" Baader one and it works brilliantly IMHO. It uses a different gripping system to most adapters with longitudinal rods that press against the whole length of the eyepiece barrel. No snagging on undercuts.

I have used the 2 inch Click Locks but also felt they were rather bulky although they worked well enough for me.

[Mr Spock]

I find them just fine - as long as you're not ham-fisted they work as they should 

[Franklin]

Just now, Mr Spock said:

I find them just fine - as long as you're not ham-fisted they work as they should 

Agree- Don't overtighten your clicklocks!

[John]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Agree- Don't overtighten your clicklocks!

The Svbony 3-8mm zoom does need to be held slightly more firmly than some zooms though because the zoom action click stops are quite "hard". I wonder if that was why @JeremyS had the issue with his Baader Clickstop 🤔

[JeremyS]

3 minutes ago, John said:

The Svbony 3-8mm zoom does need to be held slightly more firmly than some zooms though because the zoom action click stops are quite "hard". I wonder if that was why @JeremyS had the issue with his Baader Clickstop 🤔

No, I was using my Leica Zoom in 2-inch mode. The motion is quite smooth, but you are right: avoiding rotation might have been a factor

Edited December 30, 2023 by JeremyS

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

I find them just fine - as long as you're not ham-fisted they work as they should 

Thanks

[Highburymark]

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Not sure what the angst over retaining screws is about. Tak uses them on quite a few accessories, like the extenders. When the accessory is well engineered to tight tolerances, they work well.

Whilst I use the Baaader clicklock system a lot, it’s pretty ugly and last night one of mine seized while holding an EP as I commented on another thread.

I also agree with this Jeremy - in fact the screws on my Tak extender 1.5x have soft ends - not sure if the same rubber-like substance is used on the new barlow or not, but it works well. Afraid I can’t get too worked up about the issue.

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, John said:

The Svbony 3-8mm zoom does need to be held slightly more firmly than some zooms though because the zoom action click stops are quite "hard".

I had a similar problem when using a pair of zooms in the binoviewers, changing the power on them would also turn the eyepiece diopter focuser. 

[Don Pensack]

5 hours ago, John said:

The Baader Click Lock that I use is the T2 - 1.25" Baader one and it works brilliantly IMHO. It uses a different gripping system to most adapters with longitudinal rods that press against the whole length of the eyepiece barrel. No snagging on undercuts.

I have used the 2 inch Click Locks but also felt they were rather bulky although they worked well enough for me.

Do not use this type on an eyepiece with a conically tapered undercut--the rods will bend out of their holders and it will ruin the binding system.

At worst, they will catch, making the eyepiece extremely difficult to remove.

[John]

1 hour ago, Don Pensack said:

Do not use this type on an eyepiece with a conically tapered undercut--the rods will bend out of their holders and it will ruin the binding system.

At worst, they will catch, making the eyepiece extremely difficult to remove.

Thanks for the warning. I don't think any of my current 1.25 inch eyepieces have such barrels but I'm sure to have used some that do have conical barrels in this adapter at some time over the 7+ years I've owned it. I don't recall any problems but I am be forewarned now and aware 🙂

It seems to me that practically all ways yet devised to hold an eyepiece into a focuser tube have some drawback or other. Or is there a perfect design that few know of ?

 

[Mr Spock]

I have all kinds - smooth, undercut, tapered - they all work perfectly. I am careful not to overtighten though 

[Louis D]

I thought the Baader ClickLock system used a torque mechanism preventing over tightening.  I thought that was the point of the clicking.  Once you reach that point, it won't tighten any further.  I've never actually used one, so I'm totally guessing here based on my experience with torque wrenches.

[Don Pensack]

2 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I thought the Baader ClickLock system used a torque mechanism preventing over tightening.  I thought that was the point of the clicking.  Once you reach that point, it won't tighten any further.  I've never actually used one, so I'm totally guessing here based on my experience with torque wrenches.

No, it clicks as you tighten it.  You can super tighten it--to the point it is hard to unscrew.

[Don Pensack]

5 hours ago, John said:

Thanks for the warning. I don't think any of my current 1.25 inch eyepieces have such barrels but I'm sure to have used some that do have conical barrels in this adapter at some time over the 7+ years I've owned it. I don't recall any problems but I am be forewarned now and aware 🙂

It seems to me that practically all ways yet devised to hold an eyepiece into a focuser tube have some drawback or other. Or is there a perfect design that few know of ?

 

Possible the best I've found to hold 1.25" eyepieces is the Twist-Lock adapters.

They are not all the same.  The best ones tighten with the least rotation and have internal compression rings (they truly are compression rings as they compress all the way around simultaneously)

that extend all the way to the opening of the adapter (so they grab that short section of 1.25" barrel above the undercut), have smooth sides with no undercuts, and are threaded for 2" filters.

Example: Olivon Twist-Lock adapter.  I retouched this image to see the length of the internal 'collet'.

This is not the only such adapter, but it is one of the best.  I added an extension on the bottom so a Barlow wouldn't hit the 2" filter.

Forgot: I painted the inside with Black 3.0 paint to eliminate reflections.  In the picture, you can see the bottom, where the filter has removed the paint, 

but the area above that is very very black.

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Don Pensack

[Sunshine]

How would this orthobarlow compare to a TV 2x powermate? or is this basically Tak’s answer to the powermate? 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Sunshine

[Don Pensack]

9 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

How would this orthobarlow compare to a TV 2x powermate? or is this basically Tak’s answer to the powermate? 

I don't believe the Takahashi Barlow is telecentric.  I think it is a standard telenegative design, which means the magnification will vary with distance from the lens.

So I don't think it is Takahashi's answer to the PowerMate.

I've seen telecentric Barlows from TeleVue, Explore Scientific, Harry Siebert, and Astrotech.  JOC, who makes the ES stuff, also makes the same telecentric Barlows for other brands, like Bresser, et.al.

 

[Voxish]

I read somewhere that ES eyepieces wreck Baader click-locks over time. I don’t know if anyone can confirm that or not

[Don Pensack]

4 hours ago, Voxish said:

I read somewhere that ES eyepieces wreck Baader click-locks over time. I don’t know if anyone can confirm that or not

It has been the source of more than one call, over the years I was in business, of how to remove an eyepiece stuck inside a Click-lock.

In every case, it was an eyepiece with a conically-tapered undercut, like the ES.

[Voxish]

5 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

It has been the source of more than one call, over the years I was in business, of how to remove an eyepiece stuck inside a Click-lock.

In every case, it was an eyepiece with a conically-tapered undercut, like the ES.

There you go then, tis true. Thanks Don.