Bins, another revelation

[bomberbaz]

To a lot of you this might sound like the obvious, to others maybe not so. But after getting a set of the well advertised Lidl bins I went out for a half hour scan around before having to call it a day. Work tomorrow and don't want to push it with the Mrs.

I was amazed by the 10* views you could obtain with the cheapo bins and the detail. I recently made a post about how many big DSO's are they. Well my answer was given tonight, there is no size limit other than the boundaries of your own eye's limits.(named objects excluded, admittedly that's a lot )

I was looking at a star called Mirphak and when I got my eyes in, the detail in the stars surrounding it was to me amazing, it was a fantastic looking cluster to my eyes but obviously not a names cluster at this low mag 10 if you see where I am coming from. Anyway, I think I have finally got the idea behind viewing the cosmos, sorry but I have to say it that size isn't everything!

However I didn't buy this when I first joined the hobby and everything was about magnification. I got obsessed with it and I think tonight I finally realised my own naivety in this.

Be it the Hubble deep space picture of the early universe, a view through a 12" dob of a nebula or simply a garden based view of the moon with nothing other than your eye, the main thing is the pleasure you get from what you are viewing and that's the only thing that matters.

We live and we learn eh

Steve

[Monty]

^{By jove I think he's got it!}

^{Seriously though I don't know any beginners (self included) that didn't get magnification fever. I'm now own a nice 8" SCT that I can handle weight wise for all night viewings of the SSOs and an ST102 that I use for DSOs. I'm still looking for a good set of bins for the grab n go/camping option.}

[Stevie816]

Hi Bomberbaz

Yes Imtook the same step as you and could easily of wriiten the same post as you.

Looking at the milky way through bins is amazing . I have a big scope and a small 70mm one. The large one cost thousands and the small one £65.

and they are both as useful and bring me as much sense of wonder.let others spend thousands but you and me know all you need is a cheap pair of bins. I look for clusters and easy galaxies and have found loads.

Psnstarrs looks muck better though the £65 scope !!

regards Steve

[bomberbaz]

Cheers Steve. Sometimes you can get carried away with things and then end up missing the obvious eh. Same as you in that I have a larger scope, small 80mm frac and set of bins. I am appreciating that each has its place and fits into this wonderful hobby in different ways.

[101nut]

Doesn't matter what price or how good the quality is, as long as what you see makes you smile then the optics are good enough!

AndyG

[adrianelliott]

The S pattern around Mirfak is great, I always take a look at it when I have my bins out. When I first got a scope, I put the bincolars away for a while, but I am finding I use them more and more. They open up a completely different set of targets for me, and are great for touring the sky.

[jonathan]

I really enjoy the occasional night out with bins and my SkyScout, just cruising around looking at tonight's highlights and listening to the soothing voice of the audio tour for many of the objects it lists. Some of the folk law and history surrounding stars and constellations is great, and can easily be overlooked when all we do is go out with a big scope and our co-ordinates just to look at a point of light.

I'm very happy with my 8x42 bins, they are the ones I started out with before owning a telescope and opened my eyes to just how many stars there were in the Milky Way.

[spurius]

Bins, another revelation in waste management.

This was what I thought this thread was about before I read the OP message. I was expecting something along the lines of "should my telescope go in the recycling or the garbage".

[bomberbaz]

Bins, another revelation in waste management.

This was what I thought this thread was about before I read the OP message. I was expecting something along the lines of "should my telescope go in the recycling or the garbage".

Interesting thought you had there, don't know how you came by it however I assure you my equipment is fine spurius.

If however you have issues about your own equipment, please feel free to make a post of your own and express away your concerns........

[Space Dragon]

My wheelie bins are a constant revelation to me. All 4 of them.

I do prefer my 15x70s though.

Binoculars are just most excellent things.

[spurius]

Interesting thought you had there, don't know how you came by it however I assure you my equipment is fine spurius.

If however you have issues about your own equipment, please feel free to make a post of your own and express away your concerns........

Funny you should say that. I went to use my binoculars one night and one eyepiece was out of focus. Tried to adjust it when I noticed a hole where the eye piece joins onto the body of the binoculars. Didnt even have them long and I have no idea how they broke, probably had a bump while being stored.