TeleVue Powermate 4x

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Barlows:TeleVue Powermate 4x

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Brand and Model:TeleVue Powermate 4x
Price ($USD):$265
Magnification:4.0x
Barrel Size:2"
Description:

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TeleVue Powermate 4x
I utilize this Powermate and find it to be transparent in use on all of my scopes: f5 reflector, f6.8 refractor and f10 SCT. It increases the power of your eyepieces as advertised and adds no color, reflections, etc. As advertised, it also does not seem to increase eye relief.

The 4X is heavy so be prepared for potential balance issues.

This is a very welcome enhancement to my eyepiece collection.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Optics:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=67544

TeleVue Powermate 4x
TeleVue Powermate 4x is a huge improvement over standard Barlow. It introduces no colour, and at high power, produces an image equivalent to any of the Nagler of a similar magnification. I have compared both the 5x Powermate and 4x Powermate and apart from the magnification I can’t see any difference in the optical quality.
However there are a couple of irritations, they are:
Although the end of the Powermate 4x is small enough to be covered by 1.25 inch filter it has only facilities for fitting the 2inch filters.
When used with a 31mm Nagler and looking at the moon, the 31mm Nagler poduces a horrable yellow glow around the edge of the EP. And last of all, it is heavy and causes the shaft in move focuses to misalign. But overall it is well worth having although it can be a bit fiddly when changing EP’s constantly.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=166445

TeleVue Powermate 4x
Optics: Absolutely amazing! Grab that comfortable low power, high eye-relief 2 inch lens and turn it instantly into a comfortable high power, high eye-relief 2 inch lens. The 1.5 to 2 inch adapter is very nicely executed and the fit, finish and heft make you want to hold it.

Drawbacks:
1. Due to its length, this eyepiece is very sensitive to focuser/tube alignment--if you have good collimation and focuser is square, the field lens for both the powermate and eyepiece will be illuminated fully. If not, you won't see too much. This is doubly true if you are using the powermate with an eyepiece with a small field lens. Moral: Shim that focuser and align thine telescope!
2. VERY HEAVY. With another 2 inch eyepiece, the combo will put a lot of torque on both focuser and telescope tube. Dob owners might find their FOV sliding rapidly toward the horizon as their telescope takes a nose dive.

Value: Barlows double your eyepiece collection. This one turns those comfortable long focal length lenses into premium moderate or high-power lenses. That sounds like a bargain to me. The performance is so good it is startling.

IF you have a stout focuser that can support the weight, I give this lens my highest recommendation. If you have any doubts about the stability of your focuser or tube with a heavy lens, you will not be happy with this eyepiece.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=133923

TeleVue Powermate 4x
I tried this on my TV 85 with a Nagler 9. The results were perfect. There was not break down of the image. Edge sharpness is retained. No chromatic abberation with a flat field. This is a large and heavy addition (tricky to balance on a TV 85), but its performance is flawless. It gives added use to my longer f.l. Naglers.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44229

TeleVue Powermate 4x
While this thing is pretty huge it works as advertised and it provides terrific images. I use it mostly with my short focus AP Traveler to get high power. On nights of great seeing I am blown away by the combination of the 8mm Brandon EP with the 4x Powermate. It provides sharper, contrastier views than any other of my EP or EP/Barlow combinations. Except for the size/weight (nad cost I guess) I comletely recommend it.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44228

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