re:ATM Barlow Question

[Howard.Banich@nike.com]

A good barlow is a real convenience and should not contribute to a noticeably 
dimmer image. It will allow you to preserve the comfortable eye relief of your 
existing eyepieces (that higher power eyepieces won't have), a real plus. 
Assuming your optics are sharp, you may be pleasantly surprised at how high a 
power you can use on a steady night. IMHO, push your magnification as high as 
conditions allow, especially on the planets - I use 344x with my 8" f/4 quite 
often...

----------------------[Reply - Original Message]----------------------

Sent by:Matt Devine <mdevine@nuera.com>
 For my 6" F/8, I have considered using a 25 and a 16mm eyepiece.  I had 
planned
on buying either a Meade 2X shorty or Celestron Ultima 2X Barlow to obtain two
additional magnifications. 
I was told that Barlows in general add to a dimmer image, (light traveling
through more glass)and would probably be better off just using eyepieces of 
the
desired F/L.  Is this the case, or only the case with inexpensive Barlows?
Also is 160X pretty good for planetary viewing, or should I push it higher.  I
don't think I should go higher  than 200X with a scope this size even though 
in
theory 300X is the max useful power.  Thanks again...

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