PeterW

Its now “closed season” (clocks changed), so time to fettle the Astro kit ready for the Milky Way late summer... Peter

They don’t make good wilde angle bins like that anymore. Always fancied a pair of the 8.5x44, but I have a few 7x/8x and the “binocular cupboard” door wouldn’t shut if I got another 😉 Peter

Very nice, Calcium always delivers something. Peter

You can tell it’s a squarish extended object with bins, tracking with 12x36IS is quite fun, watching the other stars fly past. Thinking of using higher power, but it’s going to go right “over the top”, making 45degree-bins-on-a-tripod unpleasant when it’s closest and thus largest. Oh to have a simple Dob! Peter

It’d be great for more people to get SQM and go surveying, only places looking for dark sky status have done any, providing some great places, but not giveing much UK coverage. As more places install lighting with better cut-off, we can hope for the lateral spread of LP from towns to diminish, darkening the dark spots and making darker skies closer. for faintest star you’ll want to stock up on Vitamin A, avoid bright light in the day, wait a good long time to get adapted and maybe use a tube to help shield “straylight” from nearby stars. The eye sensitivity can increase hugely with adaption and training. Peter

You should be, add a jig to hold them, get some narrow hydrogen filters and enjoy the view. 3x multipliers are good too. Milky Way is beginning to move away till autumn. Time to collect all the bits in advance. I guess you’re US based? Peter

For the homemade Nikon’s there is a thread adapter to hold 2” filters on the objective. Reduces the field of view a bit, but more secure than my 3D printed effort. https://www.astroshop.eu/reduction-rings-adaptors/astoptics-62mm-to-m48-2-adapter/p,57821 Peter

Good find. My parents have some 10x50W, lovely bins. Old leather is hard to judge, always check and replace as needed. Nearly lost some 7x35 to a sudden failure. Peter

Have to get some for the cupboard, having fun with contact cement at the moment. What’s the thickness of the top metal ring of the ep, ie above the 2.5mm high gap. With current movement restrictions I’m not sure when I’ll get time to play with the flexi material, though I have a colleague playing with some stuff at home. good to see you’ve sorted this! Peter

http://binocular-repair.co.uk Depends on the value of the binoculars as to whether it’s cost effective. A recollimation is pretty cheap. peter

The III version is even stabler than the II that I’ve had for ages. Snap them up before they vanish. Mine live in a pulse 1150 case to keep them safe. Peter

I am thinking of making push fit holders to take the raw glass filter substrates and hold them close to a range of normal binoculars eye lenses, (where 2” filters can’t cover the objectives). i have tweaked some of these ( ) and need to see how they come out with (allegedly) the most flexible filament I can print with. I have solid printed ones on my 2x54 diy bins and they do a good job. I want to add similar ones to a number of other bins and the ep I use with my APM astro bins. Flexible should allow them to stretch fit rather than my putting a slit in the ring to snap them on. Hoping to make some that rotate round so using them on IF bins is not too annoying. Drop me some “envelope sketches” and I can knock up some simple rings and things (make sure you get accurate measurements). Annoying not taking standard ep though. peter

Explore h-beta... seems to have been shipped by donkey post the time it’s taken to arrive, but all safe and secure. Peter

I have an AZ3 with an added counterweight. 45degree binoculars on a camera tripod can go quite high buy you’re at the mercy of the clutch... 70mm are OK.i al quite impressed by the yoke mounts that mean that the balance poo t is along the centre of the binoculars, avoiding the need for counterweights. Is quite like more bigger, but I’ve pretty much run out of hiding places! looking forward to some observing reports with those things. You could possibly mount filters by disassembling some 1.25” filters if you needed a small diameter thing to pop on the end of the supplied eyepiece. peter

All multilayer filters depend on the layer design that can be tweaked for every batch, no reason people are not improving things if they can ensure the stability and repeatability of the process. Peter

Not sure, was pleasantly surprised the TNVc adapter worked on my Meade 55mm plossl. If I can borrow the adapter again I will test my 20XWA. Peter

With dark enough skies the Denkmeir 3D binocukars (with array of little wedge prisms) can produce an interesting effect. Not so useful under urban skies and not for daytime use! For me I look for >70degree apparent field of view so the binoculars are less visible and you can focus on the thing you’re looking at. Peter

These are wide real field, but not especially wide apparent field, I assume this is why you find them less immersive? What are the best examples of immersive you’ve had? Peter

All should give pretty similar views, differing on the detail on focussing etc. I made some 2x54 but with no focussing and no eye relief they’re not for everyone. I see the new Orion that look interesting, but they haven’t started shipping so I am not surprised they are not available in the U.K. I’d check with companies stocking Orion kit in a few months and ask them what they’d cost. depends on what the ”not great” is about your eyes, astigmatism, excessive diopter issues etc... which might make using these tricky. They give an added 1.5mag or so, making urban skies slightly less rubbish and even more stars when at dark skies. Peter

If you can reach focus by poking them in the hole then you 3D print some sleeves to do the job better than a wrap of duct tape. If the parts were printed with a little slop then a little bit of duct tape could give a nice snug push fit. I’ve made filter holders and binocular caps like this. Peter

24mm... panoptic, ES 68degree, APM UFF all get good reviews, whichever one you already have one of?! Peter

Looks like it’s on the way back up... AAVSO light curve. Well one to tell the kids and show all your friends before normal service is resumed. Peter

The 110mm are going to need a heavy tripod or parallelogram and be hard to get to high altitudes. Bins that take astro eyepieces will give more flexibility , wider fields and enable filters. https://www.altairastro.com/altair-100mm-45-giant-observation-binoculars-with-18mm-uf-eyepieces-16-p.asp Look interesting too, but again a bit over your budget. Buying pairs of eyepieces and filters also attacks your wallet rapidly and you’ll still want a good mount, maybe a hole mount, which seem enable higher altitude viewing. Peter

Expanding the pic they are Kamik, a well known brand for ultra cool situations. Peter

Totally agree, I can just step into mine, pop to the shops and slip them off again, without having to bend down and fiddle with laces... You know you need to do something when you wake up the next morning and your feet are still cold and painful from the night before! PEter