BinocularSky

Love the idea of the weaver (or is it a picatinny?) rail on the handle!

I don't suppose there's a StellaMira binocular in the pipeline? 🙂

On 01/02/2020 at 08:49, PeterW said:

Where’s this one?

Finder charts, etc:
http://binocularsky.com/binoc_object_file.php?object_id=DavisDog&aperture=50

The latest edition of the Binocular Sky Newsletter is ready. As well as the usual overview of DSOs, variable and double stars, this month we have:

* The what, why & how of "tapping"
* A grazing lunar occultation for southern England
* Vesta occults a 6th mag star for northern UK
* Uranus is still there in the evening

We still have good long nights in the northern hemisphere and I hope this helps you to fill them enjoyably.

To pick up your free copy, just head over to http://binocularsky.com and click on the Newsletter tab, where you can subscribe (also free, of course) to have it emailed each month, and get archived copies.

3 hours ago, Ken82 said:

1790mm high with the central bar extended plus the height of a trigger grip. Would that not be enough ?

That would be, yes, but the one the link pointed to said "Height: 11.5 - 141cm" in the description.

On 27/01/2020 at 13:18, Ken82 said:

Would this be a good option for mounting my 16x70 binos ?

Too short for observing while standing; inevitable territorial dispute between legs (its, yours, and the chair's) if you observe seated.

On 27/01/2020 at 13:13, Ciaran Meier said:

Hello Binocular sky

It's actually from your website that I got the inspiration to adapt an extendable window cleaner as a monopod: image attached.

Seems like you have it cracked. If you want to try a trigger-grip, the Manfrotto 222 is, IMNSVHO, the best option - no longer made, but good condition used ones are frequently available on ebay. Omegon do a clone, and the Weifing-Ningbo version (sold under many brand names) is periodically available and usually cheaper.

HTH

{drool}

14 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

😮

{drool}

Can you be clear what you mean by "head mounting" (the bracket to attach it to a tripod head, or the tripod head itself, or...?), then I can almost certainly help. (links to the stuff you've been looking at will do)

18 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Thanks John..👍

..and they have a nice 4.3mm exit pupil for us oldies (I'm 64 in 3 weeks !!😱)

Dave

Just as a data point, I'm coming to the end of orbit #70, and my pupils are still just over 6mm 🙂

On the binos:

• 12x50 is "iffy" to hand hold, IMO - 10x50 is significantly easier.
• The Pentax has a locking focuser, and internal focusing, which lessens the advantage of IF in the Helios LQ
• The Pentax lens caps are, frankly, not fit for purpose. (Why? for a few pence more you could have decent ones.
• The Helios is, to my mind, brighter.
• The Helios has a larger FoV (but the pinpoint sharp field is pretty much the same in both)
• The Helios eyepieces have bigger barrels - less room for your nose.
• Helios has fold-down rubber eyecups ; conform to your nose contours. The Pentax has rigid twist-up.
• Also consider the Nikon Action EX 10x50. If I was starting again, that's probably the one I'd choose (I compared the Nikon and the Pentax in a S@N comparison: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/binoculars/6-of-the-best-10x50-binoculars-100-200/ )

HTH

19 minutes ago, tingting44 said:

... looking more into this it seems ever so hard, even down the rod you need to bend to a certain degree, just seems very hard for me, any advice or tips would be great...

You don't need a curved rod if you use a double arm device. Even a tangent drive single arm device with a straight rod will track for sufficient time to give you decent images as long as you don't push the focal length up too much; an isosceles drive single arm mount is slightly trickier to make, but will give you longer tracking than will a tangent drive.

HTH

12 mm is pretty touch-and-go, and whether you can see the full field of view with spectacles will depend upon two things:

How close you wear your specs to your eyes.

Any eyepiece recess into the barrel. Eye relief is measured from the lens surface, so any recess will probably make them unusable.

However, there are 10x50s with more eye relief. For example, the Opticron Adventurer T WP, Opticron Adventurer, and Helios LightQuest have eye reliefs of 18, 19 and 20 mm respectively. (Reviews on my website if you want to know more about them)

HTH.

If you keep them in their case when not in use, that's that bit of the protection problem solved. If  they're slung round your neck, the objectives are pointing down, so don't really need caps. You could get a Bino-bandit for the eyepiece end. If you don't know what it is, I did a mini-review of this in the June 2019 Binocular Sky Newsletter (page 9).

On 10/01/2020 at 23:13, mark81 said:

Ideally I would go for an angled set but that's when the price really starts to take off.  Mark

Wex have a (lightly) used Altair with 45* angled EPs for approx the same as the Helios LQ. I reviewed the 90* one for S@N a few years back; pretty good.

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/altair-100mm-45-degree-giant-observation-binoculars-1630073/#product-tab-used-9+

Quote

I just see these as a reasonably priced binocular from a company with a good reputation.... But nobody seems to have a pair...

The Orion 9326 Giant View is the same bino (different livery) - you might find somethign on one of the US forums.

20 hours ago, PeterW said:

Oberwerk seem to be cheaper than APM for the angles bins.

There's a reason for that 🙂

Lecture at Bournemouth Natural Science  Society, by Dr Claire Davies, Sat Jan 11, 14:30

Really looking forward to this. Claire spoke to us (Fordingbridge Astro) a year ago on this topic, and she said she was just about to publish some new stuff on it - which she has (see arXiv).

Details: http://bnss.org.uk/event/lecture-the-formation-of-stars-and-planetary-systems/

Very odd - based on a NELM of +5.0, I would have expected a M(lim) at 50mm of around +9.0 to +9.5, depending on your pupil diameter.

Theoretical formula is [M(lim) at aperture D] = [M(lim) at aperture d] - 5 log d + 5 log D

Based on your 50mm M(lim) being +8.0, M(lim) = 8.0 - 5 log 50 + 5 log D, where D is the binocular aperture

Based on your NELM being +5.0, M(lim) = 5.0 - 5 log d + 5 log D, where d is your pupil diameter and D is the binocular aperture

They will give you different results, but should give you a clue. No formula can do it for you precisely, though  (no such thing as a "normal" observer 🙂).

HTH

The latest edition of the Binocular Sky Newsletter is ready. As well as the usual overview of DSOs, variable and double stars, this month we have:

* The what, why & how of averted vision
* A grazing lunar occultation and two asteroid occultations
* The "extra star" in Cygnus is back
* Appulse of Venus and Neptune

If this dratted cloud ever clears, I hope this will help you to enjoy the winter skies with your binoculars or small telescopes.

To pick up your free copy, just head over to http://binocularsky.com and click on the Newsletter tab, where you can subscribe (also free, of course) to have it emailed each month, and get archived copies.

On 21/12/2019 at 11:38, mark81 said:

Had a go at M101. Easy to find the right location but much harder to spot. [...]

I had the same result with M51 - which I imagine is even tougher to spot

M101: Very difficult unless it's high enough not to suffer from atmospheric extinction and the sky is dark enough that it is distinguishable from the background (but still easier in a 10x50 than a 60mm junkscope!). Use averted vision ans expect to detect a patch of over-so-slightly-brighter sky that will probably disappear with direct vision.

M51: I find this slightly easier to detect, possibly because it is more compact but also because its surface brightness is (from memory, so worth checking) about one mag/sq.arcsec brighter.

21 hours ago, PeterW said:

Most humble apologies!

Thanks, but unnecessary; it was obviously a typo. It amused me. 🙂

No, I don't know, I'm afraid. My friend uses his mainly for butterfly identification, so I guess CA must be acceptable, at least on-axis.

Hi Kev, Not that particular model, but a friend whose opinion I greatly value has the 10x50 for "mostly-garden, bit of astronomy" use and is very pleased with them. The 8x42s focus even closer.

HTH

Also:

Quote

magnification should be at least 15x, 20x or higher [...] the field/angle of view should be high

Oh do make up your mind! 🤣

12 hours ago, PeterW said:

BinocularSlys

What are you implying, sir?! 🤣

20 hours ago, Jarvo said:

I want some good ones with pin point stars. Would ED glass make much difference? I’ve seen a pair from Hawke around £200 for some 10 x 50s which look promising.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone on their experience good or bad and their thoughts and recommendations on their current choice.

I have some reviews on my website (URL in sig); of my current crop of hand-helds, the Helios LightQuest 10x50 are pretty darned good, as are the Vixen SG 6.5x32. For VFM, it's hard to beat the Opticron Adventurer T WP range.