They say all things come to those who wait. I don’t know who ‘they’ are, but they may actually have a good argument. I still required a relatively lightweight, uncomplicated 3x Barlow for my ST80 grab and go kit bag. My Tele Vue 3x is a little weighty for the ST80’s aftermarket
The incredibly shiny SvBony 3x Barlow looked promising and actually performed well. I wasn’t entirely confident its seemingly delicate and lightweight housing would take the leverage strain of a zoom. Furthermore its lack of internal blacking was similarly disconcerting. The
According to Orion Telescopes & Binoculars the ‘Tri-Mag’ is a multicoated two element lens with a clear
Like the ‘Shorty’ it is internally baffled and there is no compression ring. There are two screws allocated to hold the eyepiece. Daylight trials seemed promising with clear, bright, and contrasted views. I briefly experimented with nylon screws to hold eyepieces. Eventually I returned to the original metal screws.
I got first light with the Tri-Mag on a cold night in of January. The target was the Orion Nebula and the eyepiece placed in the Orion Barlow was an Orion 7~21mm zoom. Which I considered pretty apposite. Combined with the Tri-Mag the zoom gave a magnification range between about 57x to 171x. I could easily make out the four main Trapezium stars at about 100x. After a while I removed the Tri-Mag and used the zoom on its own. After a further period of rich field observing with 30mm and 15mm
First up was the Pole star. At around 150x I could only just about see the companion, Polaris B, eighteen arc seconds away from the primary star. Although this was undoubtedly due to the poor transparency. After it rained on me for a while the sky cleared somewhat. I turned to Iota Cassiopeiae. Although seeing the individual stars that constitute the triple system required some concentration.
I switched back to the 30mm SuperView for a while, fairly convinced the overall humidity, poor transparency and dodgy seeing were the main culprits for any observing difficulties. Eventually I decided to give the Orion zoom/Barlow combination a third try. Now the doubles split much more clearly with superb acuity, excellent contrast and colour separation. The clear, well defined, small blue point of Polaris B was easily perceived without a hint of any aberrations, chromatic or otherwise.
On a later January night I had a second session with the Tri-Mag. The seeing was a little better and Iota Cassiopeiae was much easier to split. I observed more doubles including Eta Cassiopeiae and Gamma Andromedae. When M42 was high enough for me to observe comfortably I viewed the nebula at a variety of magnifications. I experimented with different eyepieces inserted into the Barlow. A 15mm
In my opinion the Orion Tri-Mag 3x Barlow is definitely worth its retail price. Especially considering it is only a few quid more than the optically challenged
Obviously the overall build quality of the Tri-Mag isn’t the same as the Tele Vue 3x. Having said that though the Orion Barlow is solidly built and has a chromed-brass barrel. Its two piece element seems exceptionally good and may even contain ED glass. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me if it did. I waited a long time to find a suitable 3x Barlow for my ST80 grab and go kit. Finally it came.