Televue 2x Barlow..Whats better for the price?

[HarryBnBad]

I see the televue 2x goes for about 100 bucks or so. Seems every where I check they say the ep's with the green lettering is one of the best. So, is this true for this barlow...."lay to rest the popular myth of the "degrading Barlow." comes from thier web site. My problem is I hardly ever believe what web sites say. I look for real reviews....

[Bob327]

LOL.... I do admit that I do in fact have a 2x Televue barlow in my eyepiece case that I use for my 4 and 5 inch refractors....

BUT to be honest the only reason I have it in the case is for what I guess could be called "snob" appeal ...

I've been in this hobby now for over 50 years and during that time I;ve owned quite a few barlows and to frank I never noticed any "real" difference between any named brand barlow I have ever owned...Celestron, Meade, Orion, etc...

Everything Televue makes is top notch and will work in fast as well as slow scopes... just kind of hard to go wrong with any of their products BUT they are living on their reputation...which is fine

Bob G

[HarryBnBad]

I like that. "snob appeal"..

Ok then. What about what they call powermates. What I read on thier web site, seem to take barlows to the next level...

[astronut]

I gotta agree with Bob mostly,
The TV stuff is designed to work especially well with fast focal ratio scopes, not all eyepieces &/or barlows can state that, so they do have their importaint nitch with guys who have HUGE reflectors running at f/4 etc. I do think however IF you own a real APO refractor that one should use a triplet barlow or a Powermate to keep color correction perfect if your into looking at star color differences in doubles & for hi end Planetary colors "especially if doing AP" etc... In regular reflectors & achros eh,............a regular 2 lens barlow is more then sufficient for visual.
I do get no blackouts or kidneybeaning with my Powermate which I have seen on cheap barlows used with cheap plossels so its a keeper.
To answer your question tho, Powermates are basicly mostly used for AP but are also fantastic used as a barlow. I had a triplet barlow & tested against my Powermate the Powermate was better in some areas, mainy the eyerelief stayed better & no blackouts at hi mag etc...The Powermate retains the full FOV & eye relief of whatever eyepiece you use, not all regular barlows can state that.......................... so you get what you pay for its true.
I bought mine at 1/2 price so it was a no brainer decision that I don't regret.
If you go to the TV website they can explain the difference between a barlow & a powermate they aren't the same animal. The powermate restores what a barlow can take away from an eyepiece.


Dave

[Johann von Hesse]

I see the televue 2x goes for about 100 bucks or so. Seems every where I check they say the ep's with the green lettering is one of the best. So, is this true for this barlow...."lay to rest the popular myth of the "degrading Barlow." comes from thier web site. My problem is I hardly ever believe what web sites say. I look for real reviews....

TeleVue is one of the top optics companies. Is TeleVue the best optics company out there ? No. There are many good barlows out on the market today that are as good as TeleVues.

With a Telecentric 2x Powermate, you maintain the FOV and ER characteristics of your EP's. A powermate, being a telecentric optical design, will also work as a field flattener for fast Newts.

[HarryBnBad]

sounds to me that the powermate would be the way to go then. Thanks for the fast replies...

[wallcreeper]

I have the 2x televue barlow and like it a lot. Got it used for $70. My not so great eyes can not tell that there are extra lenses in the light path, when I use it.