Televue Powermate help

[Allan the Plumber]

Hi just a quick one

 

Been toying with the idea of getting rid of my Barlow and go to a Televue Powermate to use with my Philips SPC 900 webcam.

 

Not sure if its my scope Skywatcher  Explorer 200DPS or my lack of a real full understanding of image processing software that is the issue but both my images of Jupiter and Saturn haven't been up to much!  not after seeing what  Red Dwalf  (Rob) showed us at the last quarterly meet. Rob said that using a Barlow will increase the magnification and depending on seeing conditions an increase in image size and detail should be observed

 

All I have found is the image is darker ( a usual issue with Barlows) and increasing either the gain or exposure length tends to wash out any detail on object.

 

Having read what some people have said it appears I either invest in a better CCD camera that will do both DSO and the Planets £500 plus, or look at the Powermates with the possibility that I can use it with both my modded DLSR ( with correct attachment) and with my EP's

 

I know I'm new to this game and with Astrophotography time, education, patience and a lack of any spare cash tend to go hand in hand. I am watching and reading every tutorial I can find as well as every clear night getting out setting up systems and practicing imaging.

 

I'm looking at the 2" x 4 mag powermate, Will this increase magnification too much for the Philips?  I am still trying to get my head around f/stops increase aperture sizing. I know the Scope is an f/5 how will the powermate effect this ie image exposure length etc

 

Thanks for help

 

Allan

[andyboy1970]

You want 3x or more for planetary with the 200p.

Powermates don't tend to dim the image like Barlows do.

DSLR and planetary is tricky as the image is tiny.

With barlows the exposure increases to compensate therefore the amount of frames captured starts to be limited.

I have imaged with my 200p at 6000mm f/l (F30) and it is very tricky but atmospherics dictate what you can capture.

[red dwalf]

hi Allan,

it`s true that when you barlow too much the image gets darker and some detail can be lost, i`ve got a couple of what they call image amplifiers, i`ve a 4x imagemate which will give you F20 with your scope or a meade telextender which is either a 2x or 3x, can`t remember without looking in my boxes, only used it once so far, but your more than welcome to try them out before you purchase something for yourself.

i`ll be going to Belper this Friday so i can bring them along if you fancy trying them out. 

[dawson]

A powermate will still dim the subject, but possibly less so than a standard Barlow.

 

You should be able to achieve reasonable images with your current camera; this is the same camera that Felix has and he has some great footage of Jupiter and Saturn, though I think he has a bit more aperture than you. You might want to find out how he captures his planetary data.

 

James

[Allan the Plumber]

Cheers Guys sorry didn't reply sooner Thanks James I will as Felix (can you point him out if he's about Friday). Thanks Andy with that in mind anything greater than 3X would be suitable and yeah thanks Rob would love to give those image amplifiers a go,  was going to ask if you wanted a lift Friday Rob  as I'll have to go past your place on the way to Belper plus not 100% sure of location

 

Thanks again

[Guest speed]

Hi I have a Barlow (celestron ultima 2x) the image is a little dim. Would a power mate be a better option ? I am using an Intes micro nm 76 and a televue plossl 20mm and a burgess tmb planetary 8mm

Cheers

[catman161]

Having used both a powermate and Barlow I would not go back to the Barlow. The image is much brighter using a powermate. Can't beat good old televue stuff

[Guest speed]

Thanks for that ,if there's a meet I'd like to see the difference as there is a large difference in price but if the difference is worth it then....

[Daz Type-R]

A powermate will still dim the subject, but possibly less so than a standard Barlow.

James

I would have to disagree with that.

A Powermate was designed to have all the benefits of a Barlow but with none of the drawbacks.

Putting a Powermate into the mix should mean you loose none of the light entering the FOV (well pherhaps a little but it won't be noticeable).

Hence their price tag over standard barlows.

[Brantuk]

Yup the Powermate is clear as a bell - it won't dim the object at all - it just magnifies and gets out of the way. But of course it can't do anything about the "seeing" conditions - so if there's a haze in the atmosphere or a lot of moisture or light pollution - then any atmospheric imperfections will be magnified as well. The effect is that (depending on eyepiece) you may get a "grainy" view (or picture) if you've ramped it up too much.

[Guest speed]

Thanks for the feed back ..may sell my celestron Barlow to fund one O:-)

[Brantuk]

If it's the Celestron Ultima 2x barlow then hang on to it - it's one of the best in it's price range and even with a Powermate you'll regret selling it. I've kept mine and it comes in dead handy sometimes.

 

(They're very rare being out of production and hard to come by s/h)

[Guest speed]

Hi

It is an ultra and it is a good bit of kit ...may just hang onto it until I get to look through a powermate

Thanks