mark81

Thanks Steve, that's real dedication! These newsletters renew my enthusiasm each and every month Mark

@Ships and Stars I have wanted a set of these for a while now and as you said, if you can arrange them to accept filters the wide field of view and immersive bino experience would be great! I recently spent an evening with a set of 100mm APMs - amazing! They were only mounted on a Fotomate tripod but with the 45degree EPs I felt that set up worked fine... Of course, with the option of any EPs things get expensive when you start buying 2 of eveything... I'll look forward to an observing report sometime soon... Mark

Do the EPs you want to use have smooth barrels? This could be the problem, some of those bigger bins don't like the type with that indent half way down the barrel (can't think of the technical term right now) Great set of bins though! Edit: friction fit

Nice one Rob. A monopod would be best if you really want to study objects, but sitting back in a recliner and wedging your elbows can really help. Also have a go at holding the bins either at the end or at the front - see if that helps... Sometimes just sitting down can help... Mark

Rob, I have found 30mm to be a bit on the small side. Although the wider field of view is nice its not quite enough . The 50mm will show you endless faint fuzzies from a dark site and the bigger DSOs will look great... You may want to look at the 7x50s as the slightly lower mag makes the image easier to keep steady... Mark

Ive liked the look of those for a while. I had an opportunity to look through some 100mm APMs a few months back and the viewing experience was fantastic - very immersive. They were mounted on a very heavy duty photo tripod - I think it was the Fotomate 680....many of these bigger bins are over 7kg... So that's one thing to think about. Your right about the money side of things in terms of double EPs but I wouldn't want to push the mags too high as essentially binoculars are more of a widefield instrument - so you would only need two or three sets....I guess you could push the mag up but the image will begin to deteriorate. My friend generally goes up to about x40 with his 100mm - which is not to be sniffed at! Amazing views of the bigger DSOs and of course the rich star fields across the Milky Way would be amazing... Mark

M42. I like the the way you can observe this under many different mags. So much to see at very low and really high powers. also the way this object always seems to look different from one night to the next depending on the conditions. Naked eye if your lucky, binoculars and scopes... And of course it's great to image. This thing has it all.

Baz, +1 for the SW UWA eyepieces - for the price they seem to perform quite well. I use a 6mm and it even Barlow's to an OK standard even on my small 80mm f5... Mark

At 6'5 I mix it up, I stand, sit, kneel on the floor... Even though I have a short refractor, anything higher than 50degrees puts the old back to work.. sometimes I plan a session so I've got the tripod at the right height to sit down comfortably... I think if I had the choice id have a good observing chair....and a bigger scope...but with limited space, a small scope and a case of extreme laziness, it probably won't happen..

Last night I was lucky to have a break in the cloud, but... Anyone who lives by the coast will know that transparency is very hit and miss and plays a big part in what can be seen.... But as they say 'the proof is in the pudding' I could only look to the East as cloud was all over the place, but that was perfect for me because Leo was rising nicely. I could see the dull haze of the Coma cluster with the naked eye and used the NPL 30mm to bring it to life. It's not my favourite cluster but there is so much going on. There doesn't ever seem to be a correct place to start.... A mash of stars of all different mags all over the place, but still great fun to observe. Lots of visual doubles and slight variations in colour (might be a little optimistic there) and even with nearly 4 degrees available in my EP, this thing is huge! 7.5 degrees apparently.. I moved from there to have a go at m65 and 66 which after a few checks with my atlas I confirmed the sighting. I spent a good ten minutes looking straight on and then with a bit of averted vision and then rapid back and forth and slowly but surely they popped out at me as two faint out of focus stars with a slight haze around them.... Maybe my eyes were adapting to the dark - which mustnt be underestimated - as I tried this a few months back with Andromeda... Naked eye as soon as I went out, it was very dim and then every ten minutes or so, it became brighter and brighter.... So patience is sometimes the key.... I finished by having a go at m95 m96 and m105 It took me a while to get my head round this as I've been doing so much with the binoculars lately and with the flipped image your mind can play tricks. M95 was very tough to see - if at all, m96 was very dim but certainly there as a small out of focus star with a glow. M105 was both dim and small and left me wondering whether I'd seen it or not.... But with the ever changing conditions I guess I did OK. Now looking forward to really spending some time locating the galaxies between Leo and Virgo. Thanks for reading Mark

Thanks Steve, another nice edition. Never come across Hinds Crimson star before, so I'll look forward to checking that out...

Ive thought about it many times and keep coming back to the Helios Lightquest. But at about £600 it's quite an investment...

Wow, that is some serious observing there. Sounded like a great night....and to stick to it for three hours is very impressive... Yeah, the optics on more high end bins have their advantages (crisper image across most of FOV and of course full aperture - to mention a few) but you really can't knock these other versions.... For the money you invest you really can't complain and will often be pleasantly surprised... I had a pair of 11x70s (opticrons) last year that a friend lent me and they have now gone back... And I'm seriously considering another set. Reports like this just make my 'buy now' finger get itchy. Mark

@Ciaran Meier @mikeDnight Thanks for the two great posts... I'm the kind of observer that will throw 100% into it night after clear night and love every minute of it. Then after a long period of cloud I lose that feeling and even end up peeling back the curtains and almost hoping for cloud so I can stay in the warm and watch TV. But it's threads like these that really inspire me and bring back the enthusiasm.... I just peeled back the curtain and it's cloudy... ☺️.. but look forward to taking some binoculars out and enjoying... Thanks Mark

I saw the same thing just after Christmas.... Thought it was some sort of Alien Invasion and then I remembered Musk.... Yes, him

Nice one! I've been looking at the Stella ii for a while now .. were you using a tripod or handheld? .. I was looking for the biggest binocular I can hold - even if it's for just a quick sweep of the sky. I enjoy my 10x50s but often want that little bit more..if I have to use a tripod, I may as well take out the scope... Mark

Peter, Can I ask how you would compare the 10x50ed to a standard pair of 10x50s? Thank Mark

Yea Peter, certainly something to think about. I'm sure they would sit well enough on a Fotomate 680 - capable of holding a good 7kg, but of course these are straight through bins - so not great on the old neck. Ideally I would go for an angled set but that's when the price really starts to take off. I just see these as a reasonably priced binocular from a company with a good reputation.... But nobody seems to have a pair... Mark

Hi all, I've been looking at various 100mm bins (just out of interest at the moment) and noticed thar the price of these Helios Stella's have come down even more, making them appear very attractive - I realise that's not the way to go about buying astro equipment - but I couldn't find any real reviews concerning this one and just wondered... Has anyone got any experience with them or opinions of them? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios-binoculars/helios-stellar-ii-100mm-wp-binoculars.html I do keep going back to the 100mm Lightquest - but at double the price you do begin to wonder.... Thanks Mark

Another great sketch Mike, so much detail to take in....

Hi Doug, Happy new you to you. A good start to the year by the sound of it ... Too hazy here for anything, but tackling some doubles with a moon in the sky is a good way to go... Mark

Thanks for the info Steve.. I'll have a go at getting my head round that formula (failed physics at school) Yes, with the 50s I can see dimmer than mag 8 but they do begin to fall into a different bracket which eventually ends up being the 'small grey pixel' bracket.. Mark

Hi All, At my location on nights when naked eye seeing is around mag 5, I can see stars of just about mag 8 as pinpoints of light with my 10x50s. Is there a simple formula to estimate what magnitudes I would see under the same conditions with larger binoculars? Thanks Mark

@Mr_Simnock nice session there. Did you use a tripod or were you doing handheld for this session?

Fantastic technique there and a great result...