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Good, Cheap Barlow Lens

lighty89

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lighty89

lighty89

Posted
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Just bought a good EP off Step_Hen on here.

Now looking for a Barlow Lens.

I had one that came with the Scope, but, it cant fit 1.25" EP's in it, and it was really bad, Cant see hardly anything through it at all.

Recommend me a good, cheap Barlow please?

What do you think of this?

Meade Meade 1.25" 2x Barlow lens (plastic body)

Or this

http://www.telescopeplanet.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?prod_code=PON08A000043

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Chris H

Chris H

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Before you are tempted to buy anything from telescope planet do a search for them on the forum and see what people have to say about them.

How cheap is cheap? A good barlow does not cost a huge amount and you usually get what you pay for in this hobby.

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johnkirkpatrick

johnkirkpatrick

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Before you are tempted to buy anything from telescope planet do a search for them on the forum and see what people have to say about them.

How cheap is cheap? A good barlow does not cost a huge amount and you usually get what you pay for in this hobby.

Good advice, tread with care there!

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John

John

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I spoke to FLO this afternoon and their advice for a Barlow in the "under £100" range was the Tal x2 (or x3) at £36 or so.

Under £50 and I'd agree. Under £100 it would have to be the Celestron Ultima (£87).

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Breakintheclouds

Breakintheclouds

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Do you know, I have two cheapish barlows, a Tal 2x and the Skywatcher 2x deluxe barlow which came with my scope (also costs about £30 new, I think). I actually find the SW barlow considerably better most of the time. I know everyone else won't agree, and perhaps I have a particularly bad Tal, or a particularly good SW, but the difference is notable.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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hi all

I have a smart astronomy 2.5x ED 1.25" barlow. I 'think' it's a decent one but often forget that using it takes me above the mag that I get decent images (visually).

I have a 120mm refractor which according to what I read (assuming 30x per inch of aperture for average conditions) should give me a maximum mag of 142x with a 7mm eyepiece. I cannot get this magnification with my current eyepieces (although the 18x and barlow is close at 7.2). I have never got anything better than the 8mm alone on the my refractor which gives 125x and above that it starts to get blurry and dim.

I have bought a televue zoom to see if this will improve my control over mag and exit pupil and maybe I can also barlow this.

my point is don't forget that barlows can quickly take you over the reasonable magnification for conditions and your scope so just because it does not look good in the eyepiece does not mean you have got a duff barlow (or maybe I have a duff scope :) )

happens to me all the time.

If anyone wants an excel file that calculates the above figures I can send it to them - just PM me and let me have your email address - you just fill in the details of your scope/lenses and barlow and it calculates the mags etc as described above.

cheers

Shane

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John

John

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... I have never got anything better than the 8mm alone on the my refractor which gives 125x and above that it starts to get blurry and dim....

Frankly I'm rather suprised to read this. I've used one of the 120mm refractors (a Skywatcher) and found it very good optically - it should be able to quite comfortably use, say, 180x, and a bit more even on really good nights.

I wonder if all is well with your 120 ?

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pvaz

pvaz

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Theres a nice Orion Shorty x2 barlow in the for sale section. I think its about £25 delivered, oh, its mine!!!! ( shameless plug!)

Allan

I noticed it. If I didn't need a 2" 2x barlow to complete my set it would be mine already! :)

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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Frankly I'm rather suprised to read this. I've used one of the 120mm refractors (a Skywatcher) and found it very good optically - it should be able to quite comfortably use, say, 180x, and a bit more even on really good nights.

I wonder if all is well with your 120 ?

sorry John

I probably should explain what I meant more fully. I meant with Mars recently. I have used it on doubles and what have you at higher mags. I'll do some more objective tests and confirm next chance I get. I could possibly be the eyepieces I use but probably not as they are not bad really. hopefully the Televue zoom will prove conclusive.

I'll report back in due course.

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