BinocularSky

Thanks, All, very kind of you. 🙏🏼

Not sure I deserve this fuss 🙂 - just an exceptionally nasty cold/cough (which initially, after nearly 3 days of almost non-stop coughing weekend before last, I thought might be Covid, but daily LF tests said otherwise). Just feel wiped out and sore (coughing > what feels like a pulled/torn ab muscle). Slept through the last two nights without being woken by a coughing fit, so things are definitely on the up! 👍🏼

And I've successfully calibrated a CCD camera this morning, so brain must be semi-functioning, at least. 😁 (TL;DR - Atik 414EX Mono has a beautifully linear response)

Ooooh!!

🙂

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

• Harlow Shapley and the structure of our galaxy
• Last gasp Vesta
• First gasp ice giants
• A Jovian riddle/experiment

I hope this helps you to enjoy these short but lengthening nights 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.

2 hours ago, dexter77 said:

Ok, but how to explain that sometimes collimation is perfect and sometimes not? I'm not saying about view merged by brain. 
Like I said, it happens when you adjust distance between eyes. More over, I've notice that after about 10 minutes bino is going to collimate itself well alone.

If your optical axes are not aligned with each other AND with the hinge, when you adjust the IPD, the angle between the optical axes will change. Your eyes detect this change, then adjust to merge the images. This strains your eye muscles and can result in headaches or nausea or both.

To see the effect for yourself, you need to fool your eyes into "thinking" that they are not looking at the same thing, so will not try to merge the images. Defocus one side so the image of a star is a blurry disc. You should see that the other star does not appear to be in the middle of it, and its position changes when you alter the IPD.

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Arne Henden of the AAVSO said years ago that the Sloane filters would become the standard for amateurs, but this hasn’t happened yet. Maybe it will now. I see a few people submitting G band data.

Thanks, Jeremy. ISTR that the AAVSO has a filter code for Sloane filters, but not for Bessel. And I suppose the demise of Baader J-C filters might hasten the change to Sloane.

Another thread-hijack coming in 🙂  (apols, @daz )
@JeremyS Now that it's clear that Baader have stopped doing Johnson-Cousins photometry filters and are moving over to Sloane DSS production (although this is taking its time!) and the only potentially available Johnson-V are from Astrodon with a delay of around 3 months, in your opinion which would be more useful to get in the long term to get: Sloane DSS UGRIZ or Bessell UVBRI, both of which are available (at a price!), or hang on for the Astrodon?

On 14/06/2021 at 21:24, Astroscot2 said:

Would you say the Viper would be as good as the hawke Apo? 

Not having used the Hawke, I couldn't say.

+1 for Vortex. Extremely good VFM; even the "budget" Crossfire are good; the Diamondback are better, and the Viper (just within your budget) better still.

On 26/05/2021 at 22:46, johnbaz said:

No idea why I put Celestron!! 

Oh, they get everywhere... 🙂

As others have said, post-WW2 Japanese manufacture. Welby, Nipole, Zenith: All very similar in appearance; all with "triple tested" on the cover-plate. Decent basic binocular; pretty robust. Your case is in better nick than most!

On 24/05/2021 at 00:00, johnbaz said:

Celestron Polarex II

ITYM Opticron 🙂

Good find; darn good price!

18 hours ago, TheQuietEarth said:

Picked these up for £70 after seeing it on a Warehouse deal. Noticed a defect on the front right objective lens. Tested them last night and everything through that side was blurry. Beyond repair or can anything be done to salvage them?

Return them while they're under warranty. Any attempted repair will void any warranty. The defect is probably the reason they ended up in the Warehouse.

Quote

 

Edit - Previously purchased binos from John at Strathspey and his 20x90s would have been my preferred choice. Has he stopped manufacturing binoculars? Looks like he has no stock of anything at the moment.

 

John never manufactured binoculars; he imported from United Optics in Kunming and had them put the Strathspey brand on them. They were similar to the other UO binoculars that dominate the budget end of the market, although John did specify the top level AR coatings and, if requested, would check collimation before he dispatched.

@Zaphod_Beeblebrox52 If you want to buy, there is always the Astro-devices one, available via eBay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164450963062?hash=item264a0a8e76:g:G4YAAOSw8PpfiUmB

My review of it is at https://binocularsky.com/binoc_reviews.php

I believe that Valentin has tightened up the tolerances, improved the flexibility of the mounting so that longitudinal balance is now possible, and sorted out the shipping (I bought directly from him, not via ebay) in the 3 years since my review. Note that it does not come with counterweights, but is designed to fit the bog-standard Skywatcher/Vixen ones.

On 14/05/2021 at 01:02, Zaphod_Beeblebrox52 said:

I've seen the large Orion USA one on Amazon which would do the job but as I already have 2 suitable tripods I don't really want to have to spend £500 to get another tripod I don't need that comes with the Orion mount.

I believe it's possible to get the Orion Monster without the tripod. (It certainly is with the smaller Paragon). I'd give you my links, but @Tiny Clanger has beaten me to it 🙂

The Vortex Diamondback HDs are very good indeed. I'm told (by the sister of one) that they are favoured by South African game rangers for their optical quality and robustness.

On 30/04/2021 at 10:33, StuartT said:

I can't really think why you'd need instructions.

For when, after a bit of use, things start working loose, perhaps. 🙂

On 06/05/2021 at 17:58, Dave61 said:

I have decided to treat my self to a pair of 10x50 binoculars from the FLO site, I have seen these so what are members thoughts.

 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/all-binoculars/opticron-imagic-tga-wp-50mm-binoculars.html

Reviewed the 8x42 TGA a while back; great binos; my wife liked it so much that we bought the review instrument.

22 hours ago, RobertI said:

Excellent range - they seem to have everything covered.....literally. 🙂

Parallelogram mounts? Really? Where? 😄

Opticron Adventurer T WP - no contest, IMO. My review here and how to hand-hold it steadily here. Re holding: when my son was 8, using 10x50s he independently "discovered" M34 and devised a star-hop to show me what he'd found, using the "triangular arm brace" method that he modeled for me 8 years later 🙂

On 14/04/2021 at 13:21, StuartT said:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001B0C2S6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

By now you'll know that the instructions that come with that are not fit for purpose. So I wrote some: https://binocularsky.com/manuals/TG-manual.pdf

I have the Lunt-branded version of those. I use them on a monopod with a Manfrotto 222 trigger-grip head. Ideal! The monopod does not need to be vertical to work, so you can use it reclined, just by having it go down the side of the recliner. Also a lot less bulk/weight/hassle than a tripod.

Chinon J-B101, I think.. 1970s/early 80s vintage. There would originally have been moulded plastic eyecups that extended when you rotate the rings.

On 08/04/2021 at 23:36, StuartT said:

So I may just send them back.

Yes, do. These are notorious for losing collimation. But then, two objectives, two 80mm eyepieces, two focusing mechanisms, four prisms, and associated housing/tubing all for the cost of a single reasonably good eyepiece: what quality (and, possibly more important, quality control) is it reasonable to expect?  However, the Skymaster Pro are in an altogether different class.

6 hours ago, Nik271 said:

The usual method is to go from Phecda to Dubhe and continue one step but my problem with that is, it's a very long step and hard to keep going straight especially as I'm pointing the heavy bins near the zenith.

Just noticed this bit. That's the method I use but, with binos, the trick is to look at the right place in the sky with your naked eye then, without moving your head, shove the binos in the way. Usually, if the object isn't in view, you're too low.

4 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

it doesnt help that they are now up at the Zenith!

Recliner! Then with hand-held or parallelogram-mounted binos, the zenith poses minimal problems,