34 replies to this topic

[telesonic]

Interesting. I have a yellow-lettered Meade 140 that lives in my EP case... and out of curiousity, I did a look over on it tonight.

 

Mine has no definitive markings on the housing or barrel to indicate where it was manufactured (either Japan / Taiwan  - etc.) though it looks exactly like BillP's one.

 

This one has threads in the upper part of the lens housing and barrel, and the lens assembly is it's own contained unit and removable. The inside thread diameter on the chrome barlow tube is larger than a 1.25" filter by a a bit, so a 1.25" filter will not fit at all. Also, there is a retaining ring on the lower portion of the lens cell, so it cannot accept filters.

 

From what I can tell with the reflection test, it appears to be a 3 element  - but I will need more time to definitely confirm that. Strange. It's a great barlow though, all that said.

 

 

T-

[Mike B]

Interesting. I have a yellow-lettered Meade 140 that lives in my EP case... and out of curiousity, I did a look over on it tonight.

 

Mine has no definitive markings on the housing or barrel to indicate where it was manufactured (either Japan / Taiwan  - etc.) though it looks exactly like BillP's one.

 

This one has threads in the upper part of the lens housing and barrel, and the lens assembly is it's own contained unit and removable. The inside thread diameter on the chrome barlow tube is larger than a 1.25" filter by a a bit, so a 1.25" filter will not fit at all. Also, there is a retaining ring on the lower portion of the lens cell, so it cannot accept filters.

 

From what I can tell with the reflection test, it appears to be a 3 element  - but I will need more time to definitely confirm that. Strange. It's a great barlow though, all that said.

 

 

T-

Always good to hear confirmation of that! Seems to be a common evaluation…. 

[AstroBound]

Interesting. I have a yellow-lettered Meade 140 that lives in my EP case... and out of curiousity, I did a look over on it tonight.

 

Mine has no definitive markings on the housing or barrel to indicate where it was manufactured (either Japan / Taiwan  - etc.) though it looks exactly like BillP's one.

 

This one has threads in the upper part of the lens housing and barrel, and the lens assembly is it's own contained unit and removable. The inside thread diameter on the chrome barlow tube is larger than a 1.25" filter by a a bit, so a 1.25" filter will not fit at all. Also, there is a retaining ring on the lower portion of the lens cell, so it cannot accept filters.

 

From what I can tell with the reflection test, it appears to be a 3 element  - but I will need more time to definitely confirm that. Strange. It's a great barlow though, all that said.

 

 

T-

This does seem to fit the same description as my Meade 2x barlow also. Bought new in the early 90s. Mine is made in Japan. But the stamp for origin is on the original box it came, its not anywhere on the chrome barrel or body at all. No threads for 1.25" filters. Green Coatings. Also, it seems to be giving me the full 2x expected. See pics below. 

 

 

P.S. - I really like this barlows performance and won't be parting with it any time soon...

Edited by AstroBound, 03 September 2023 - 03:50 PM.

[Mike B]

I’m going from memory, but I believe my yeller-label Meade 140 Barlow is “Japan” stamped near the upper edge on the chrome sleeve. In digging thru the CN archives I found an old thread that was looking at a few Barlow’s, and got into evaluating their interior architecture- particularly in regards to stray-light control. My suspicion is that part of the 140’s excellent optical performance stems from this area, where it appears to present a black-hole for the optics to work within! Pics were posted on this thread, clearly depicting this!

 

edit: rereading this “current” thread, I see in post #18 above CrazyPanda posts pics on the 140’s stray-light control build/design quality.

Edited by Mike B, 07 September 2023 - 12:04 PM.

[jpineirov]

That Barlow is made for DSLR cameras with greater backfocus than a CMOS/CCD planetary camera. I use that same model with extenders and I can take it up to 3.25X without problems and a lot of resolution. It is a Barlow APO made in Japan optics  

 

 

 

Edited by jpineirov, 10 September 2023 - 12:22 PM.

[Universe XY]

It's an old thread but the 140 mystery goes on. I have one stamped Japan on the top chrome barrel under the black.

 

My research has suggested Japan on black is older.

 

Not sure what the difference is. Have not had a chance to use it as Fed Ex is holding my ETX 90 hostage. 

 

I'll take better photos.

 

 

So this is for a telescope??? Someone said it's for DSL cameras???

 

The one shown that's early 90's marked Japan on box but not on ep shows a deeper green than mine.

I can get a green purple. 

 

https://www.cloudyni...ion/?p=13945603

Edited by Universe XY, 01 February 2025 - 06:12 PM.

[doug mc]

Without a doubt, the best barlow I've purchased. Early Meade long 2x. The only alteration was to insert some flocking to the internal surface. Doesn't seem to vignet my long focal length eyepieces. 

Attached Thumbnails

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[Universe XY]

I know of at least 3. I had a Chinese one That was significantly larger than any others I have seen.  Recently got a Chinese or other wise not origin stamped one with a scope that was the "normal" size because I bought a Japan chrome stamped one here shortly after and they were identical in proportions (but not optics or coatings) . I also had acquired a normal sides chrome stamp japan in the past. So at least 4 of them have gone through my hands, and none stood out as being so low of a power. And ALL of them had lenses that went to the edge unlike what BillP has pictired, though it is possible that that funky oversized one had the smaller lenses, it was a long time ago.

 

and I have not seen the earlier Japan ones with the Japan stamp in the black body. So there are several versions of this Barlow, and probably more than one version of the chrome Japan stamped one, as mine has yellow-orange lettering, not as orange as some Taiwan series 4000 plossls, but definitely more orange'y than my other series 4000 Japan stuff, or the Chinese 140 that came with my scope package, that I sold to a friend after getting the Japan one.

 

That front lens does not look like a normal 140 as volvonium just pictured. 

 

And my previous chrome stamp Japan 140 did not best my TV 2x when I had both (sold the 140 with my smoothie set long ago and the TV barlows were stolen out of my car June 2018 along with most of my premium 1.25 stuff that was in a doskocil XL case with my pronto). So I can't compare now.  

 

But I did compare my current one to a 2x parks Japan (pre GS3) and did not see any drastic power difference for sure.

 

I also remember my 140 threads not being compatible with eyepiece threads hence no 1.5x trick, but that could be mixed with my televue memories as they were definitely not compatible with filter threads. It was a long time ago.

 

But I just tested My current one and it is compatible for the 1.5 trick....

 

Meade 140 has too many iterations to keep track of lol

 

Is yours stamped in the chrome or the black?

 

We should compare ours sometime

Mine is stamped on the chrome barrel right under the black top.

I just got it. Have no idea if the top screws off. The lens is near the bottom with a thin retainer ring. There are no threads on the bottom black part

& I'm unsure if I want to try to unscrew anything. I briefly tried but things are tight & not moving easily & don't want to force.

Not sure how it's assembled & don't want to wreck it.

[Universe XY]

This is what my 140 looks like as well. Got in the mid 90s. "Japan" is stamped on the chrome barrel.

 

One thing that stands out is how good the blackening/baffling is in the Meade #140.

I recently got an APM 2.7x Coma Correcting barlow to replace my Meade #140 binoviewer setup. I was just going to use the T-2 threaded portion of the APM barlow when I noticed how much better the Meade was. Here's a comparison:

 

APM barrel - poor stray light control:

 

IMG_2936.jpg

 

Meade #140 barrel - outstanding stray light control:

 

IMG_2935.jpg

 

As such, my APM lens cell is living in the Meade #140 barrel.

I wonder if a similar situation happened with Bill's #140, where someone used the #140 just for its excellent blackening/baffling, but wanted a different cell in it for whatever reason.

 

Also, I know for a fact that the Meade 2x barlow is definitely at least 2x.

 

I've done planetary imaging with both a 2x PowerMate, and the #140. When I use the #140 like a normal barlow and my planetary camera (whose sensor is 12mm back from the shoulder), the multiplication factor is much higher than my 2x PowerMate. I would estimate that for a standard eyepiece inserted into the barlow, the multiplication factor would be very close to 2x.

I took a look at mine today & not sure if mine is as black coated as yours.

Is that portion the bottom unscrewed?

This is what I get while looking through my tube that is not dissembled.

 

The metal barrel has japan but no idea if someone could have unscrewed & replace it though mine does look like most here.

 

Does my version look ok? Have not tested it yet.

 

Tube through bottom

 

Tube looking through top

 

Different colors of lens coating.

[abNormL]

Hi everyone.  I'm new here and stumbled across this thread because I was curious about my own Meade 140.  I bought mine back in the late 90's to compliment my Meade 4000 18mm SWA to give me 9mm with good eye relief.  Anyway, I can confirm that my barlow is indeed a 2x air spaced triplet as advertised by the yellow printing on the black eyepiece holder.  "JAPAN" is stamped into the silver barrell which has the matte black interior.  Can make out green or purple colors of the coating.  No threads to accept a filter at the bottom (however, I can unscrew the lens cell from the silver barrel, screw a filter in there, and then gently screw the lens cell into the filter).  I also find that screwing the lens cell into an eyepiece yields about 1.5x'ish? (never measured).

 

Because of that, I think the OP's barlow must have a lens cell from something else.  The bottom end has a sopped down apeture and not the full apeture that mine and the others pictured here show.

 

@Universe XY - Your version looks just fine and you should be able to safely unscrew the components of your barlow.  As I recall, mine was quite tight the first time I tried.

 

Clear Skies,

-Norm