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'Ssshhh...let's wind up the Newbies!'

SwampStar

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SwampStar

SwampStar

Posted
Posted

As it won't take you long to find out, I am one of those newbies and since I got my scope (about 6 weeks ago), and then found this forum, I honestly thought I was in the middle of a massive 'let's get the newbie' joke.

'Get outside with just binoculars,' you all shout, after we've spent hundreds of our hard earned on kit.

I could see you all sniggering from behind your keyboards 'watching' us all blindly wave our binos at some ramdom fuzz 14,000 light years away. :blob10:

Well, there's no way I'm ever falling for that one...until tonight.

Returned from the local hostelry slightly too late to set up (work tomorrow) so as I was letting the dog out I took my quite frankly PATHETIC Praktica Sport 12x25s out and looked up.

WOW!!!

Even at such a low mag my eyes were filled. Thousands more stars, maybe a cluster or two and I could even make out the shape of Saturn! I've no idea what they all were as I didn't have Stellarium with me, but I'm sure it would've been another couple of M's ticked off.

NEWBIES..GET SOME BINOS...IT'S NOT A JOKE!

Anyways...off to scour e-bay. :o

Night.

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SteveWxm

SteveWxm

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I've been outside tonight with just the binos. Got a prakitca w10x50p and could clearly see the shape of saturn. Saw some faint m's too but i need to invest in a tripod as my hands aren't too steady. When i first started i thought it was a wind up too!

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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As a newb myself- its taken a while to recognise that you get as much if not more from lower power magnification than you do from high power. The tendancy when you first start is to think that magnification is everything when its quite clearly not - I quite often sit in the back garden for half an hour or so just looking upwards with my bins .

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kenmyers

kenmyers

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I spend 100% of clear nights looking through my bins. They never let me down.

I have a hefty selection to delight myself with and each shows a different sky. whereas I get my scopes out only around 50% of clear nights.

Last night was awesome and extremely clear, the milky way looked fabulous!

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Bins are also great for when the scope is cooling down. My first look at NGC 7000 (the North America Nebula) was with a cheap pair of 15x70 bins. My best view was through my 80 mm F/6 wide-field scope. Even though I have the wide-field scope now, I still invested in a better pair of 15x70s. They are great tools for stargazing.

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magic612

magic612

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Good original post. I resisted binoculars for years, even after I had purchased several large telescopes. I kept thinking, "I don't need binocs - I have a telescope!" It was only AFTER I got them that I thought, "Geez, why didn't I get these sooner?"

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Probablynot

Probablynot

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Having bought my SW150P just before I departed on a cruise of the Caribbean, I was feeling really miffed that I couldn't take the 'scope and mount within my 25kg fly-there allowance!

So when I got to (er, I think it was St Kitts, but you sort of lose count when it's island after island!) I bought a rather nice pair of Nikon zoom 10-22 bins, which served me extremely well for daytime ogling AND night-time star-watching! Good price too!

Now I'm home (with little-to-nil LP), I'm finding I get great value from the bins. At 22x they do need a tripod, but luckily I'd bought one a while back. Great for the Moon, Jupiter, Venus, Mars! I wonder if I'll see Saturn's rings in due course?

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Jon Sales

Jon Sales

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I first started with some 8x30 rspb birdwatcher bino's years ago when I was about 10 years old. I can still remember gazing at the moon and stars through them.

I've always got some 10x50's in the car and have another pair to hand at home. Love looking through them.

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