New member with bv question

[MikeRB]

Hello,  I'm one of the new guys on the block.  Since I don't own a telescope, I've been observing with a pair of 15 x 70 binoculars by Oberwerk on a parallelogram mount.

 

 

 

Now I'm beginning to get the itch for something a bit bigger.  Recently I was given a William Optics binoviewer.  Can someone recommend a telescope that would work well with the WO bvers.

 

I don't have a lot of money and it would take me many, many months even to save $500-700.

[ronin]

I know I have read of them being used on a reflector but they do not seem to be easy or overly successful on a reflector. That would therefore mean a refractor, which I know they are often used on.

As they are basically a beam splitter you need a reasonable aperture in order to collect enough light for each half, again I have read of them being used on smaller refractors, just not sure how successfully.

Looking around the US retailers there is the Bresser Messier 102 at f/9.8 which is $370 at Agenaastro although they presently say out of stock. I would think they would do the job fairly well.

They do a 90mm 900mm focal length also at $300, just not sure how well a 90mm will work with binoviewers - may be a bit too small in aperture.

They are the options I would suggest you look at. Assumes that you either wait for AA to get them back in stock or locate elsewhere.

You will I expect need an extender to use binoviewers on a scope, so plan on getting one of those as well.

[Space Dragon]

If you have a look on Cloudy Nights forum, you will find a dedicated section for Binoviewers, which is very informative.

One thing to consider is that the FOV will be much smaller with the BV. 15x70 is 4.5 degrees and the BV will be between 1-1.5 degrees depending on scope and set up.

Rule of thumb would be BV for planets and doubles, Binos for all else.

[Avocette]

I enjoy using my WO binoviewers with my 300mm f5 Newtonian Dob. This is a Flextube type so I reduce the truss rod length by 10cm to allow for the extra optical path length through the BVs and avoid using a Barlow to achieve focus. Even then the least magnification I can make full use of is x75 with the 66 degree 20mm eyepieces that come with the BVs.