Hyperion + FTR's or Barlow?

[Ronseal]

I've currently got 2 hyperions, an 8mm and 24mm with SW150 F5 scope.

I also have the standard SW x2 barlow, but its not great on the end of the hyperions.

With these 2 i have x33 and x94 magnification and want to get a good spread as this is only low to medium mag. at a stretch.

My question is should I try the Fine Tuning rings for the 8mm hyperion (cannot use them on the 24mm) to get x94 x125 x150 and x174 magnification for £15, or should I get a quality x2 Barlow such as the SW ED 2" - this would give me x31 x62 x94 x188 for around £60.

I have read you can't use a barlow with Hyperions?? Is this why the standard SW x2 isn't that good??

My other alternative is to get a 4mm aswell

Any advice appreciated,

Thanks

Chris

[GazOC]

I'd get the Barlow (I've not heard anything about Hyperions not being able to be Barlowed). The fine tuning rings are a bit fiddly to swap over and I usually put them in if needed before I start observing so they don't give me 2 eyepieces, they give me the choice of 2 eyepieces. The Barlow would give you 2 eyepieces.

[CGolder]

I did some testing out last night on this, i found the barlow to be ok but it seemed to alter the eye relief and the eye position becomes more vital. I have some TMB clones for when i want to really push the mags without buying hyperions i hardly use.

[brianb]

I also have the standard SW x2 barlow, but its not great on the end of the hyperions.

Let's face it, the standard SW 2x barlow isn't anywhere near great on anything. Try a good barlow - Celestron Ultima SV 2x is the cheapest that is worth considering.

[GazOC]

The Hyperions are pretty heavy, I'd think about getting a 2" Barlow for stability.

[jgs001]

I've also read you're not supposed to barlow Hyperions, but it's never worried me... The Talx2 does a pretty good job with them, but I now use a Celestron Ultima barlow and that's even better. I don't have much in the way of 2" fittings, so use the 1.25" fits, the only issue is the thumb lock screws often catch on the bottom of the hyperions. 2" fittings would not suffer from that of course...

I also have a set of the FTR's and they do work well, but as Gaz said, they are a bit of a fiddle changing them around in the dark... so I only ever used them on the 17mm, if I wanted something a bit longer than the 5mm.

The other thing I'd suggest if you're planning on sticking to 1.25" fittings, is upgrade the diagonal to a decent one, I never felt the stock diagonal gave my Hyperions proper support and was always a little wary.

[Ronseal]

Thanks for the advice, I think I will go down the quality 2" x2 barlow route as I can use the 24mm to get an interim x66 mag

Chris

[brantuk]

If you are restricted to buying just one more ep then the Celestron Ultima barlow is your only choice imho. Personally though I would look to building up a range of good quality ep's over time - maybe start with a decent 16mm and go for a wider 33mm or 40mm, or high power 5/6mm later on when funds are a tad more relaxed.

You can get great bargains s/h cos not a lot can go wrong with an ep unless you take a hammer to it. At f5 though stick with quality makes for best performance

[Macavity]

For modest 1.6x barlow-ing (ISTR?) the following worked well with Hyperions:

Antares 2inch 1.6x Barlow | Telescope Accessories | Rother Valley Optics

Handily, it also fits in with the series scaling: 5, 8, 13, 21 etc.

(Low enough profile, to work in refractor diagonals too).