I'd appreciate hearing about anyones' experiences with powermates, specifically, is there a significant improvement over a barlow's performance? Also, does anyone have experience with the 5X powermate? The thought of doing hihg power planetary viewing with a 25 mm eyepiece is really intriguing! Thanks for any insights. Larry Seguin.
Powermates or barlows?
Started by Larry Seguin, 10/30/2003 06:24AM
Posted 10/30/2003 06:24AM
Opening Post
Posted 10/30/2003 09:06AM
#1
I think the main improvement of PowerMate
vs. Barlow is freedom from vignetting
(or edge-darkening) with long focal length
eyepieces.
For planetary viewing I personally prefer
a simple 2-element Barlow like the TeleVue 3x.
Less glass; less chance for reflections,
mis-alignments, etc. How about a 15mm eyepiece
with a 3x Barlow to get your 5mm?
vs. Barlow is freedom from vignetting
(or edge-darkening) with long focal length
eyepieces.
For planetary viewing I personally prefer
a simple 2-element Barlow like the TeleVue 3x.
Less glass; less chance for reflections,
mis-alignments, etc. How about a 15mm eyepiece
with a 3x Barlow to get your 5mm?
Posted 10/30/2003 09:42AM
#2
That's what I'm doing now. After struggling w/ numerous short FL eyepieces and the large increments of magnification they produce in my TV 102 I'm now using a 5x powermate with TV 15 Plossl, 18 Celestron Ultima, TV 20 Plossl, and Edmund 21.5 RKE. I like this setup alot. Very comfortable with excellent eye relief and no kidney beaning. I now get usable increments of magnification that eluded me with the short eyepieces. The 5x has threads for filters- very handy! I've also owned a 2.5 P'mate and I'm quite a fan of both. Amazing optical integrity. I can't give you any feeback as to how they compare to barlows however as I've had limited experience w/ them but I hardily endorse the powermates.
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