Greetings from Somerset.

[BlueStinger]

Thanks again for all of the replies. Such a welcoming place

I did manage to get a quick look earlier between clouds before they set in good and proper and the first thing I noticed was just how many stars there are to be seen with just binoculars. I found a star in a gap in the clouds, pointed them at it and was surprised to see 20 or more near it too, and just how pin-pricky they look now. Awesome.  I did get a quick peak at Orion and the nebula and it looked a much nicer, more defined smudge with binoculars. Though I couldn't see any colours other than blue, and the whole area is littered with stars and incredibly bright! This was all handheld and it was difficult to keep everything super steady to make out anything more. Will be much better when I set it on the tripod when it's properly clear. Sadly, when the clouds move on in a few hours from now according to satallite maps Orion will have moved out of view so will have to wait 'till tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to the moon later and maybe get a pic. Which brings me to a question. Which forum would be best to post any images taken with my phone through the binoculars that I deem worthy of showing? The Imaging - Smartphone/Tablet forum, the Observing - with Binoculars, or the the actual specific ones for Nebula, The Planets etc? Thanks again! Cheers.

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by BlueStinger

[rwilkey]

11 hours ago, BlueStinger said:

Which forum would be best to post any images taken with my phone through the binoculars that I deem worthy of showing?

Hi Blue, 'Getting Started With Imaging' would be a good place to start, I think.

[BlueStinger]

24 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Blue, 'Getting Started With Imaging' would be a good place to start, I think.

Hi, perfect thankyou. Oh and regarding your earlier post. I'm from Southampton originally, but we moved to Bridgwater when I was 7, where I lived a big chunk of my life. I know Taunton fairly well, I went to SCAT and worked in and around the town for a good few years. I've been in Yeovil now for around 15 years.

[Frank the Troll]

13 minutes ago, BlueStinger said:

Hi, perfect thankyou. Oh and regarding your earlier post. I'm from Southampton originally, but we moved to Bridgwater when I was 7, where I lived a big chunk of my life. I know Taunton fairly well, I went to SCAT and worked in and around the town for a good few years. I've been in Yeovil now for around 15 years.

And another local, Im nr Somerton

[rwilkey]

6 minutes ago, BlueStinger said:

Hi, perfect thankyou. Oh and regarding your earlier post. I'm from Southampton originally, but we moved to Bridgwater when I was 7, where I lived a big chunk of my life. I know Taunton fairly well, I went to SCAT and worked in and around the town for a good few years. I've been in Yeovil now for around 15 years.

Hi Blue, I was near Yeovil recently visiting with my wife her old college friend in Chilthorne Domer.  I don't know Taunton very well but some years ago spent some study time at the County Records Office researching family history.  I didn't know Taunton had a college of arts & technology!  Take care...

[JamesF]

4 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

I didn't know Taunton had a college of arts & technology!

"had" being the operative word.  These days it's a university, dontchaknow!  (And twenty-odd years back when it still was a tech college my dad used to teach there, as it happens.)

James

[BlueStinger]

After a small trip out with the binoculas to a darker area with a friend the other night has got him hooked now too. Lots of 'wow' moments just panning around the sky. Afterwards he mentioned his dad buying a telescope some years ago so gave him a call and asked him. Sure enough he did but as it was in the loft he didn't know what make it was or any other info other than it cost him a couple hundred. He hardly used it. He went and picked it up tonight and now it's at mine for the time being. It's a virtually brand new Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ-MD. Neither of us know anything about setting up telescopes so it took ages but I think we got there. Just waiting on tomorrow night when it's supposed to be clear from 11pm onwards or so to take it out and give it a whirl. We have also been looking at some light pollution maps and plotting where to go. Talk about addicted!

Sorry to keep posting in here but seems to tie in well with the topic at hand. I will be using the other forums for sure once I've gotten more than one or two nights observing under my belt. Cheers!

 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂

[paul schofield]

Hello and welcome to S.G.L. 

[Chaz2b]

Hi blue,

 

I had a pair of C15x70 that I gave a blog about to Astronomy Now a few years back. I was using a Meade 8” SCT but was not getting what I expected from it, considering it once belonged to the local Dealer.

On getting the binos I had a great time with them, picking out M81/m82 in an instant, I was surprised at the clarity and contrast, and fairly easy to handle.

However, there is one problem to them, if you should drop them on their side they can easily break! My local dealer had four sets delivered broken as there is no support at the objectives that you find in much larger binos. The broken objectives are now used as magnifying glasses.

I’m Somerset too, near to James of Wivvy, with dark skies not too far, a trip to Exmoor with a blanket and flask, and your nights will be rewarded.

 

chaz

[BlueStinger]

4 hours ago, Chaz2b said:

Hi blue,

 

I had a pair of C15x70 that I gave a blog about to Astronomy Now a few years back. I was using a Meade 8” SCT but was not getting what I expected from it, considering it once belonged to the local Dealer.

On getting the binos I had a great time with them, picking out M81/m82 in an instant, I was surprised at the clarity and contrast, and fairly easy to handle.

However, there is one problem to them, if you should drop them on their side they can easily break! My local dealer had four sets delivered broken as there is no support at the objectives that you find in much larger binos. The broken objectives are now used as magnifying glasses.

I’m Somerset too, near to James of Wivvy, with dark skies not too far, a trip to Exmoor with a blanket and flask, and your nights will be rewarded.

 

chaz

 

Hi Chaz,

Though I had no experience whatsoever with quality, features, or issues faced depending on price regarding binoculas, I did do a bit of research into this price range (under £100) so my expectations were quite low but good enough for me considering. It turned out they were actually a fair bit better. A far brighter, crisper image than I expected and much easier to handle I agree. Of course they are much better on a tripod but I can still get some great spotting without for a while, especially if I have something to lean on.  I have read about them being very easy to knock out of collimation (I even half expected them to turn up like it) so I am very, very careful with them. The bag and extras really are as bad as I was expecting. I ordered a metal tripod mount the same time as I ordered the bins as I read multiple times the included one is rubbish, and they were spot on. Any movement meant waiting 10+ secs for the wobbling to calm down. Instant fix for an extra £4.60 from ebay

I'm actually thinking about a bigger pair already. I was looking at the 25x70's initially but the field of view looked too narrow for my liking so that's why I went for the 15's. I would like a nice set 25x100's maybe, to preserve the wider fov, but will do plenty of research beforehand if I do.

I bet that lens is good for frying ants! hehe just joking. Cheers.

Edited March 19, 2020 by BlueStinger

[Chaz2b]

When you decide to go for a bigger pair, take a good look at weight! 25x100s are not easy to handle, you will need a decent tripod or parallel bars. I’ve also had Orion 25x100 and apogee (right angle viewing) ruddy heavy I can tell you! I’m back down to a modest 7x50 Orion Resolux binos, brilliant IMO.

To counteract my large binos deficit, I now have Tele-Vue and William Optics binoviewers for my refractors, with interchangeable eyepieces....noyce!

 

chaz

[BlueStinger]

Yes I'm expecting them to be really heavy and would need a decent tripod for sure. Those swingy arms ones look good. Those image stabilised ones look real nice too. I had to look up what a binoviewer is and didn't even realise they existed. A fantastic idea to be honest. There is so many things I want, and the list gets bigger everyday haha!

[John]

3 hours ago, Chaz2b said:

When you decide to go for a bigger pair, take a good look at weight! 25x100s are not easy to handle, you will need a decent tripod or parallel bars. I’ve also had Orion 25x100 and apogee (right angle viewing) ruddy heavy I can tell you! I’m back down to a modest 7x50 Orion Resolux binos, brilliant IMO.

To counteract my large binos deficit, I now have Tele-Vue and William Optics binoviewers for my refractors, with interchangeable eyepieces....noyce!

 

chaz

Having owned a pair of straight through 25x100's I agree 100% with the above. Even with a tall and sturdy tripod I found them unwieldy and not that easy to use.

My largest binoculars now are 11x70's which can be hand held reasonably well although a tall tripod extends their reach somewhat.

If I owned anything larger I would go for a pair with 45 degree angled eyepieces on a stout, tall, fork mount. Something like this:

 

[des anderson]

 A warm welcome from Essex. Des

[Geoff Lister]

Hello and welcome to SGL.

I use a monopod with my 15x70s. The leg takes most of the weight, and you can use small body movements to scan a small sector of the sky. I find this more useful than the pan-and-tilt head of a tripod. The monopod also works well if I am sitting in a reclining chair - a more natural position for viewing objects well above the horizon.

Geoff