Eyepieces for binoviewer

[Tris]

I am looking for a pair of 1.25" barrel eyepieces for a denk binoviewer. Ideally 26mm, but a minimum of 24mm. (the highest of 3 powerswitch magnifications will be a bit too high at 22mm or less).

I'd like a FOV of 65 deg plus.

Televue Panoptic 24 mm look good except for the price at £520 or so the pair. I wonder about the Baader Hyperion 24mm's at less than half that.

Can anyone comment on either or both from personal experience? Or, better still, does anyone know of a good quality 26 or 27 mm 1.25" barrel eyepiece? because I can't find one!

[Space Dragon]

Hi

The Denks have an aperture of 26mm, as I'm sure you're aware and the field stop on the 24mm Pans is 27mm so you may notice some vignetting. Are you using the powerswitch with the Denks ?

I use the 24mm Pans with an Earthwin Bino, which is the same as the Denks and notice the vignetting on the reducer but the other settings are ok.

The stars are pinpoint to the edge and the field is nice and wide.

The Hyperions are an alternative but are big, heavy and wide,[though you can get the rubber off at the shoulder] you should check your IPD and ergonomics but I think they do fine in a big SCT at F10. Good at the price if they'll fit your IPD.

Have a look on CN, there are some posts about the Hyperion.

Pairs of 24mm Pans often come up on CN classifieds and some sellers will send to the UK.

A pair of 32mm TV plossls might also be a good option, bigger exit pupil, brighter image......all down to personal preference really.

Good Luck !

[Tris]

Hi

The Denks have an aperture of 26mm, as I'm sure you're aware and the field stop on the 24mm Pans is 27mm so you may notice some vignetting. Are you using the powerswitch with the Denks ?

I use the 24mm Pans with an Earthwin Bino, which is the same as the Denks and notice the vignetting on the reducer but the other settings are ok.

The stars are pinpoint to the edge and the field is nice and wide.

The Hyperions are an alternative but are big, heavy and wide,[though you can get the rubber off at the shoulder] you should check your IPD and ergonomics but I think they do fine in a big SCT at F10. Good at the price if they'll fit your IPD.

Have a look on CN, there are some posts about the Hyperion.

Pairs of 24mm Pans often come up on CN classifieds and some sellers will send to the UK.

A pair of 32mm TV plossls might also be a good option, bigger exit pupil, brighter image......all down to personal preference really.

Good Luck !

Hi

The Denks have an aperture of 26mm, as I'm sure you're aware and the field stop on the 24mm Pans is 27mm so you may notice some vignetting. Are you using the powerswitch with the Denks ?

I use the 24mm Pans with an Earthwin Bino, which is the same as the Denks and notice the vignetting on the reducer but the other settings are ok.

The stars are pinpoint to the edge and the field is nice and wide.

The Hyperions are an alternative but are big, heavy and wide,[though you can get the rubber off at the shoulder] you should check your IPD and ergonomics but I think they do fine in a big SCT at F10. Good at the price if they'll fit your IPD.

Have a look on CN, there are some posts about the Hyperion.

Pairs of 24mm Pans often come up on CN classifieds and some sellers will send to the UK.

A pair of 32mm TV plossls might also be a good option, bigger exit pupil, brighter image......all down to personal preference really.

Good Luck !

Thanks that's really helpful. Yes I will use the power switch I don't have the Denk yet - it's on its way. It's the Binotron 27, which has 27mm prisms - so I guess it would fit the Pans well? I had considered the TV plossl as well, and may go that way - I do like TV eyepieces. But I hadn't thought of going out as far a 32mm. I've just tried that on my little spreadsheet and the mags work out very well.

I'd never heard of Earthwin - something new every day... Thanks again.

[Space Dragon]

I think the Binotron has been made 1mm bigger to accommodate the 24mm Pans as up to now the only Binos with <27mm aperture were the TV Bino Vue and the Baader Mark V.[and the massive Seibert 2" Black Nights]

The user collimation of the Binotron looks great. Let us know how you get on with it.

I appreciate how much you've already shelled out but if you can stretch to the Pans, look at it as an investment and they hold their value very well. Telescope Service are slightly cheaper.

Another option would be ES 68º 24mm. I haven't looked through one but lots of people say they are comparable to the Pans and are on sale in the USA at the moment for less than half of the Pans. They have been back-ordered for a while though and they are a bit bigger.

Earthwin is run by Bill Denkmeyer who founded Denkmeier with Russ Lederman, they parted ways a few years ago but both hold the patent on the Powerswitch.

Whatever you choose, the views will be fantastic.

[Tris]

I think the Binotron has been made 1mm bigger to accommodate the 24mm Pans as up to now the only Binos with <27mm aperture were the TV Bino Vue and the Baader Mark V.[and the massive Seibert 2" Black Nights]

The user collimation of the Binotron looks great. Let us know how you get on with it.

I appreciate how much you've already shelled out but if you can stretch to the Pans, look at it as an investment and they hold their value very well. Telescope Service are slightly cheaper.

Another option would be ES 68º 24mm. I haven't looked through one but lots of people say they are comparable to the Pans and are on sale in the USA at the moment for less than half of the Pans. They have been back-ordered for a while though and they are a bit bigger.

Earthwin is run by Bill Denkmeyer who founded Denkmeier with Russ Lederman, they parted ways a few years ago but both hold the patent on the Powerswitch.

Whatever you choose, the views will be fantastic.

I think the Binotron has been made 1mm bigger to accommodate the 24mm Pans as up to now the only Binos with <27mm aperture were the TV Bino Vue and the Baader Mark V.[and the massive Seibert 2" Black Nights]

The user collimation of the Binotron looks great. Let us know how you get on with it.

I appreciate how much you've already shelled out but if you can stretch to the Pans, look at it as an investment and they hold their value very well. Telescope Service are slightly cheaper.

Another option would be ES 68º 24mm. I haven't looked through one but lots of people say they are comparable to the Pans and are on sale in the USA at the moment for less than half of the Pans. They have been back-ordered for a while though and they are a bit bigger.

Earthwin is run by Bill Denkmeyer who founded Denkmeier with Russ Lederman, they parted ways a few years ago but both hold the patent on the Powerswitch.

Whatever you choose, the views will be fantastic.

I couldn't talk myself out of the Pans, and neither can anyone else, it seems. So I went to Astrofest in London today and discussed them with, and bought them from, David Nagler himself!

[Space Dragon]

Nothing like starting at the top eh ?

I think if you have invested in the new Denk and an LX90, then you can't really compromise on the EPs !

If we never get another clear night, you can always sell them to someone in Arizona.

I'd have to leave my Credit Card at home if I went to Astrofest.

Hope you like them.....sure you will.

[Tris]

Well, past experience has almost always shown that economies in matters such as this tend to be regretted. That's my justification anyhow, I do realise that as a purchaser of long awaited astro kit, I get the "free" six weeks of cloud included in the deal. But in due course, I'll report in on the combo.

[Tris]

Nice night tonight, although cold. The Denks have not yet arrived, but I plugged the Panoptics into my tired, dropped, bent, cheap old binoviewer, just to try them out. The views, as two Galilean moons slipped behind Jupiter, and of our own moon, were awesome. My missus came out and had a look and was so impressed that she thought I'd bought a new telescope.

Then... I realized that we'd been looking through quite a mist, which was ringing the moon.

Then... as I lowered the 'scope, I realised that notwithstanding the dew shield, the corrector plate was pretty heavily dewed.

So... Dewed up, through a more than visible mist, better views than I have ever seen. Should be good when the Denks arrive. I'm looking forward to my first warm, dark, Spring all-nighter! So is the Missus, she says - but I don' t think she quite understands what I'm on about...

[Space Dragon]

Same here, out having a look last night, it was very dewy here too, very still with no breeze. The Pans showed the best ever detail I've seen on the moon,

Even though I'm really tired, I'll go out tonight as well, I feel duty bound while we have a clear night, I think it's back to clouds for the rest of the week.

[Tris]

The Binotron arrived (finally). Well worth the wait. The views are staggeringly good and the ease of use with the power and filter switches and the quick collimation facility is remarkable. Just as promised. No eyestrain at all, hour after hour.

Amazing clarity last night with no moon. I can use much higher magnifications than I am used to with the Denkmeier and Panoptic setup before degradation sets in. M13 filling nearly the whole field of view (in a 12" scope).... Bands of colour and shadow on Saturn very visible and the clarity of the ring system was breathtaking.

[Space Dragon]

Sounds excellent........how far have you pushed the mag with the 24mm Pans ?......are you just using the P/switch.....or do you have a barlow as well.

I know people talk about light loss with binos but for me the summation of using two eyes coupled with the comfort and the fact the image simply appears twice as big......outweighs the negatives.

Are you using a 2" diagonal or are there other options to keep the light path shorter ?

Glad they were worth waiting for.

[great_bear]

I think the Binotron has been made 1mm bigger to accommodate the 24mm Pans

Not so. It has 26mm clear aperture - so the name Binotron-27 is somewhat misleading.

[Space Dragon]

Not so. It has 26mm clear aperture - so the name Binotron-27 is somewhat misleading.

Dead right ........as i later discovered.

[Tris]

I am only using the powerswitch. (no barlow). If I'm getting the Maths right, then at focal length 3000mm, with 24 mm Pans, the powerswitch magnifications of .66, 1.15 and 2.0 give me magnifications of x83, x144 and x250. That spread of magnifications is very useful.

Prior to using this setup, tthe highest magnification I could usefully use was 200 (a 15mm eyepiece). But this set-up seems to let me go a bit further. I put that down to the quality of the Pans. But the comfort and ease of use of the binoviewer is the real reward.

I never discern any loss of light through a binoviewer, and the pluses of using both eyes are so great that I would never use one eye again as long as I had the choice.

[jonstarrysky]

I have denk2 supersystem, 19pans and 24pans. Results will be somewhat scope specific. But on my f4.7 newt the 24pans vignette on powerswitch low setting only, which is mildly offputting. other powerswitch settings it is ok. 19 pans never vignette and is my preference unless if you really want max fov. That said optically the Denk bino is best at mid powerswitch setting and 24pans don't vignette there. Ergonomically both eps are a joy to use, happy binoviewing