PeterW

Watch your back with an eq6… beast of a mount, built like a tank. I’m on the sw edge of London/N surrey, hope your skies are better than me! Peter

I though naked eye novae were fairly rare, we’ve had a handful in a few months… what’s going by on????!!!! Peter

I’ve thought over what I’d bring if/when I can get to such dark skies and for a first trip it would be bins, probably 10d50 and a monopod to steady and the 2x54, with some filters. As noted there is so much of the large stuff - no one has mentioned dark nebulae yet - go find the stuff you’ll never be able to spot from home, bring a scope next time if you feel you’re missing it… or bigger binoculars. Looking forward to the observing report. Peter

If the not cracked one gives nice view then clean it up and enjoy. These are reckoned to be qui the robustly designed, but I guess there is always a limit. They’ve certainly given their past users their money’s worth of use! Peter

Interesting…. bought mine about the millennium and paid £140 from BCF. Nicely balanced in the hand, slightly wobbly eyepieces, otherwise held collimation fine (though they’re not used much now). Good to hear you’re on the mend Steve! Peter

Very sorry to hear, certainly wishing him all the best, his online resource is very useful to point people to for all their binocular questions. Peter

Even sending them off for some clean/collimating would still result in a bargain. Always wondered what a pair of these would be like. Peter

Cleaning optics with eau-du-cologne, must be a first?! Peter

Komz, we’ll though of. What is the view through the lm like, clean/aligned? I’d probably keep them and enjoy them for many more decades. Peter

Wifi update? Have to find somewhere free of too many other wifi networks if that’s the case. Peter

.. or go for the “monk look”…. https://r-sky.org/en/products/observing-hood Peter

Somewhat surprised you’ve got a good pair for that sort of price. There are bargains to be had but the lower price you go the higher the risk of lemons. A good pair of binoculars transforms the view day or night as long as you can keep them stable enough. Do post a review and any observing reports. Peter

Mark, I hold you responsible for me needing to buy this. Many thanks Ken! Solar observers have lacked as many good book as others to date. Peter

I “fixed” some old family 8x40 by unscrewing and reassembling them… didn’t change anything like you did…. The view just was mended on its own. I’ve got a pair of the Audubon 8.5x on my “be interesting my get” list, but the binocular cupboard probably doesn’t have enough space in…. Peter

1.7kg! Made a note, got a birthday in a few months…. 😉 Peter

Didn’t look high res till I zoomed in on the video…. Woah! Scope and filter details please. Peter

I would expect plenty of people have ordered them and will be doing comparisons…. I’ve made a note to see how it performs as it would for my 66mm for more flexibility and “only one eyepiece”, for daytime spotting. Peter

East England is where I got mine fixed. Worked fine, they can also clean things up and repair too if needed. peter

Getting them collimated isn’t hugely costly, if the rest of the optics are OK and you like the views. I got some old 7x35 sorted for about £30 a few years back, subsequently gifted them to a young relative. Old Japanese Porro should give a long service, so the cost per use of fixing them should be minimal. Peter

I fair rubbed the life out of mine to remove the worst of it till the replacement arrived. Obviously the “Bang” works better, though probably when the “crud”‘isn’t quite as well developed as it was on mine. Im pretty sure it’s just just a polished bit of filter glass, so as long as you don’t scratch it you should be fine. Peter

Heads up, seems to be brightening again… much more interesting that the one in Hercules! Peter

The only live eyepiece option for deep sky and nebulae would be night vision and that is somewhat put of the budget. For planets, moon a simple low cost camera would work fine, though tracking would make this easier. Hope you find a solution. Peter

I managed to clean the worst of the grot off my filter… still not perfect and got sent a free replacement as many others have. Peter

You can easily draw a new scale circle on a bit of plastic and use it. Understanding the scale of what you are expecting to see is very handy. Peter

Can we change the post title… 😉 Peter