Hand held night vision with PVS-14

[Highburymark]

Have had some lovely views of M42, the Flame and Rosette nebulae in recent evenings with 120mm frac, Chroma 3nm filter and 40mm/32mm TV Plossls, despite the near full Moon, and Orion still quite low in the murk over central London. The magnificence of M42 with night vision never ceases to take my breath away, no matter how familiar. Last night the detail was incredible - I think better than I’ve seen in much darker environments, as the brightness is better controlled. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? I hasten to add it’s the only DSO that could possible benefit from extra light pollution, but last night it was glorious.

The one disadvantage with a PVS-14 set-up is of course lack of flexibility for prime focus use. But I’m thinking about buying a little 60mm frac that I can hand hold for very quick sessions in the garden - or take on walks. Am sure it would work well for powers up to 30-40x. These instruments are so tiny these days I’m hoping it should prove easy to use. 

[Highburymark]

Gavin (Gavstar) has made the point that I’ll need to keep magnification low with any hand held set up for steadiness - fair point. Maybe a monopod might be useful?

[vineyard]

I've used my Evoguide50 (w a flattener inside it) and then a TV40+PVS14 - all on a straight-through basis (takes it to f3).  It does work - is a bit like the old nautical scopes from a form-factor basis.  I want to try one of the 3x lenses at some stage (might be easier form-factor?)

Here's a smartphoneM42 with TV76+TV40+PVS14.  Handheld (hence some trails) & I also shifted the black point rightwards b/c the  low-light std camera takes 3s images so the background looks a lot brighter in the image than the EP.

(PS - I definitely want to try a sped-up 7" on M42 later in the season!)

Edited November 24, 2021 by vineyard
added PS

[Highburymark]

1 hour ago, vineyard said:

I've used my Evoguide50 (w a flattener inside it) and then a TV40+PVS14 - all on a straight-through basis (takes it to f3).  It does work - is a bit like the old nautical scopes from a form-factor basis.  I want to try one of the 3x lenses at some stage (might be easier form-factor?)

Here's a smartphoneM42 with TV76+TV40+PVS14.  Handheld (hence some trails) & I also shifted the black point rightwards b/c the  low-light std camera takes 3s images so the background looks a lot brighter in the image than the EP.

(PS - I definitely want to try a sped-up 7" on M42 later in the season!)

I looked at the Evoguide too - handy option for NV, nice and fast. But get your point about form factor.

The F/6 60EDs are about 5cm shorter (230mm without a diagonal), so might be slightly easier to handle. But will have to add spacer or two to reach focus. Just been looking at cheap monopods - fitted with a small camera ball head, with stabilising legs so self supporting, easy to carry around. Think that’s the direction I’ll take.

 

[PeterW]

3x is super easy to use. What’s wrong with the “pirate scope”look? I have an 80mm and it’s fine to sweep about. You don’t want to make the view too stable, a bit of wobbling  makes the nebulae easier to see.

Peter

[Highburymark]

Little Tecnosky 60ED F/6 ordered for around £300. Dug out Manfrotto ball head mount for camera tripod for when more stability needed, and have a Baader T2 amici prism which will no doubt be useful. 
With TV plossl 67mm, I’ll have a 5x NV monocular. I also have a Baader zoom, which can be used with the PVS-14 with an adapter from RAF Camera, so looking forward to trying that. Am hoping this will be a great way to improve the flexibility of afocal night vision with the PVS-14. Will report back on how things go.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Highburymark

[Trentend]

Looking forward to your report. Had another go attaching my OVNI-B to a comiscar 75mm lens the other day to try handheld. Good views, albeit from a light polluted back garden. Main issue though is I can’t get focus without having the c-mount to lens attachment loose, which doesn’t feel secure and makes it tricky to then adjust the f-stop. I think if the adapter that screw into the c-mount (second picture middle) and on to the lens was say 5mm longer I’d be fine. Not sure if there are any products on the market for this?

[Highburymark]

I wonder if you could get such a part made up for you - Precise Parts in the States would do it if you knew the threads and dimensions, but a one off likely to be pricey. Nice system though!

[Highburymark]

Here’s the 60ED from TS in Germany. Around 1.5kg for just the OTA feels solid but easy to hold steady. Length is absolutely fine, though haven’t sparked it up yet to find out where I’ll reach focus. Nice thing is that bulk of the weight is under the focuser, not at the front. 

[PeterW]

Starting to get a bit long and “pirate like”

 

PEter

[Highburymark]

49 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Starting to get a bit long and “pirate like”

 

PEter

Scurvy knave!
It may not appeal to the aesthete in you Peter, but I’ve just been out for a quick look and it’s a hoot! Scanning the Milky Way at 11x was lovely. M31 bright and nicely framed. I’m off out again.

[Trentend]

Any more thoughts on the TS?

[Highburymark]

On 05/01/2022 at 05:53, Trentend said:

Any more thoughts on the TS?

It’s great! Though hand-holding is so far limited to low magnification of objects like M31. And I’m mostly using a diagonal rather than straight through. This mount-less approach will get easier when I’m able to lie back on a sun lounger on warmer nights and sweep across the sky - at the moment I’m only going out for short, standing sessions. For any more serious observing I am mounting it properly. Able to carry out full set up (tripod/Giro Ercole Mini/60ED) with minimum of faff.

[Deadlake]

Did you consider using telephoto lens instead of buying another scope?