Highburymark

I don’t think it makes much difference to the view. You need a B600 if you want to use a binoviewer or image - and it’s easier to sell the scope with a B600 blocking filter. Otherwise a B400 is fine.

Excellent - thanks Steve.

Just picked up a pair of Zeiss Terra 8x25. Fits in work case and great for watching the ring necked parakeets which have taken over London. Very happy with the views - very crisp and clear for such a tiny binocular. Fine control of CA. Comfortable, great eye relief, nice focus, small and light. Pretty much perfect, in fact. But I’m amazed that it comes with no end caps. No rain guard. Not probably big news to those on the forum who are familiar with these compact bins - but I can’t work out why they wouldn’t include some protection for the glass. Not an issue of Brexit-scale importance perhaps, but slightly baffling.

The main benefit of moving up to an LS60 from an LS50 (most of my experience is with double stacked scopes) is the ability to resolve finer detail, and keep views sharp at higher magnifications. Although an aperture jump of 10mm doesn’t sound much, it allows you to take proms up to about 70x in good seeing, whereas 50x was about maximum with the LS50.

To follow on from my last post, Astroshop is still selling new tilt tuned LS60s for £1370. If you can stretch to that, a very good deal.

Thanks for that comprehensive write up Vin. I think that eyepiece preference for binoviewing can be even more personal than single EP viewing. But I don’t think you can get much better than the eyepieces you’ve been testing. I love the 18.2 Delites too, along with pairs of TV Plossls and Fujiyama orthos. Haven’t tried any of the Zeiss microscope eyepieces yet - but SGL member Stu swears by them. Sounds like you may have picked up a bargain there.

Hi Tico. I think it’s a 2011 scope - so coming up to 9 years old. The price depends on a number of factors. Is it pressure tuned or tilt tuned? What size blocking filter does it come with? B600 or B1200? And does it have the standard Crayford focuser, or a Feathertouch? If buying new, a pressure tuned, B1200, Feathertouch version will cost more than 1000 euros more than a tilt, B600, model with the basic focuser. 1200 euros sounds like a lot for a 9 year old Lunt 60, but if it’s well looked after, has the more expensive features, and most importantly, delivers great views, then it may be a good choice. As a possible option, Astroshop (retailer in Germany) has been selling off its tilt tuned LS60s at reduced prices recently. You might be able to pick up a brand new LS60 there for only a couple of hundred euros more.

Very nice images indeed for white light

Think I’d be terrified to use it. Would have nightmares about the first pollen grain appearing on the objective. Or even worse, speck of dust inside.

Nice story Niall - hope your family enjoy the extra space this Christmas. Looking at your signature you might not miss the little 10” anyway.....

And bingo! Woodpecker in garden - never seen one here before. This afternoon was a tough test of CA. Low sunlight streaming through tree branches. Just a touch of purple fringing. But only evident under direct sunlight.

Thanks Ruud, hadn’t seen that review - and it’s probably the most complimentary of all those I’ve read.

Just picked up a nice early Christmas present - Hawke Sapphire 8x42 for birding mainly. Never had a pair of ED binoculars before. Almost £200 off at Birders Store. I believe this model has been discontinued now but I’m very impressed with the views. Super sharp across 80-90% of the field, comfortable, and so far can’t detect any CA. I have no knowledge of this market - have only owned 15x bins in the past, but these strike me as very good value, and might be fun to point them at the night sky too.

Though if it explodes (or should I say if it already exploded 500-600 years ago) it should also be visible during daytime. What a sight that would be.

The only time I saw a really significant difference was replacing a stock Celestron C6 diagonal with one of the dielectrics - WO i think. Huge improvement. Now I tend to use Baaders for T2 connectivity but like others don’t see any major difference. But as mentioned in your report Dave, perhaps Skywatcher is including better diagonals with its larger Maks these days?

Didn’t know that Brian - very useful bit of info. I managed to pick up a 100mm erf cheaply secondhand for my refractor but this sounds like an excellent option

Was referring to the fact that all Quarks/Scouts use mica etalons that have not made the grade for Quantum SE etc. Though I’ve yet to read a report about the Solar Scout which suggests the best examples are as good as the best Quarks. With the Scout coming in at £400 less than a Quark rrp, it wouldn’t be surprising if the better etalons were used for the more expensive product. All idle speculation, I agree. I’m in two minds about my Quark. So far not impressive on surface detail (though with blank sun and so-so seeing, it’s difficult to make a definitive judgement - particularly with the high magnifications that the Quark requires - hoping this may improve with a more active sun and more experience), but it’s fantastic for proms - through 4” frac the views are breathtaking.

For imaging alone you might find the Solar Scout pretty decent, as John says above, though every unit will perform differently. Ideally you’d be able to test the scope before buying, as these are very much entry level products, using filters that didn’t make the grade for Daystar’s more expensive offerings. There are still very few positive Solar Scout owners’ reviews on the web which is puzzling. But the Scout is exceptionally cheap. Buy from a retailer which is happy to exchange if there are any problems. I can recommend the AZ5 for solar observing though - it’s the perfect manual mount in my view.

When Boeing had much of the global aviation market to itself,, European govts created Airbus to provide competition. In practice it didn’t lead to a big drop in aircraft prices, as Boeing was no longer able to achieve the same economies of scale. Can’t win either way! Would be nice to see more competition in the solar market, if someone could invest more in Coronado to really take on Lunt and bring prices down a little. I suspect the Coronado brand might be of more interest to potential investors than Meade. On the subject of Meade quality, the optics of my little ETX-105 (sold to an SGL member a couple of years ago) were absolutely superb. I have a very nice 4” Takahashi refractor now yet the Moon and planets with the ETX were no less sharp - truly apo like. The electronics/focuser/finder/weight etc less impressive but it was a marvellous telescope. Since then I haven’t experienced another Meade product.

These might make very nice night vision eyepieces too. Key attribute is that the XW range takes TV dioptrx, which means they are compatible with the Televue night vision adapter and PVS-14 monocular.

Brilliant Nigella - well done

Hi Peter - yes - fit and comfort good, and blocks all light, so very effective.

Blimey that’s a big picture. Any advice on how to reduce the size?

One of the cheapest ways to improve cyclops observing I find - a decent eyepatch to replace my previous one (which came out of a Christmas cracker). Not just essential for solar, but night time too. Few quid on Amazon

Thanks for posting this. Saw the pup from North Yorkshire once with Tak 4” but still waiting to see it from London after five years of trying. Couple of times thought I might have seen it fleetingly - but without almost perfect seeing it’s almost impossible to be sure