Vixen SG 2.1x constellation binos for Bortle 3

[CraigT82]

Last night I discovered that if I hold the 2x teleconverter up to my eye whilst looking through the RDF I then essentially get a 2x54 finder which for me was very useful, as with LP I struggle to make out stars fainter than mag 3.2 ish with the naked eye. I think with the converter I get another couple of mags maybe which makes star hopping much easier. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by CraigT82

[Peter Drew]

By mags, I presume you mean magnifications rather than magnitudes, if the latter, this could be a game changer!      🙂 

[CraigT82]

37 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

By mags, I presume you mean magnifications rather than magnitudes, if the latter, this could be a game changer!      🙂 

Yes magnitudes, at least that was what I was guessing (there was many more stars visible through the teleconverter). I’ll try to do a more rigorous assessment of what the magnitude gain is next time I’m out.

It certainly was a bit of a eureka moment last night when I was struggling to star hop to Hinds Crimson Star because I couldn’t see Mu Lepus naked eye. 

[markse68]

Yea I think i see twice the number of stars through them than without- twice the mag and twice the mag

Mark

[CraigT82]

So a quick test was just completed, didn’t have much time but I stepped out the house and chose Gemini to look at. The faintest star I could see with direct vision was Mebsuta at mag 3.0 (my eyesight is pretty bad!). Using the Nikon TC-E2 teleconverter the faintest star I could see was then 64 Gem at mag 5.1, again with direct vision. So a little over 2 magnitudes gain. I tried to measure the field of view of the TC-E2 and it was coming out at about 25 degrees give or take. 

[Franklin]

9 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

So a little over 2 magnitudes gain

This sounds about right. The specs of the SG2.1x42 say about a x1.5 magnitude gain.

[CraigT82]

5 minutes ago, Franklin said:

This sounds about right. The specs of the SG2.1x42 say about a x1.5 magnitude 

 

I guess I could have gained some dark adaptation in the 30 secs or so between looking naked eye and using it, so maybe little less gain with the 54mm TC-E2. I should have tried naked eye again after using it. As a ballpark figure though 2 magnitudes is about  right. 

[Ratlet]

Another vote for the DIY tc-e2.  There are a couple of different designs out there for 3D printing frames.  If you are patient you can get the lenses for £25 or so.  The frame I printed doesn't need to have the lenses glued in as the eyecups kind of clip over the lenses.  You need to soften the pla first.  I did get some rubbery plu to try but haven't got round to testing it in the printer yet.

My mate has gone halfway up a mountain in New Zealand for 3 weeks so I loaned them to him.

I Call them bionic eyes.  They're marvelous.  I did think about printing up a bracket to hold one of them up to my quickfinder as they give a really nice boost to your ability to pick up faint stars.

View from the front is.... Well.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Ratlet

[badhex]

Quick update: Got the Vixens! Had hoped to buy them in person from Starbase Tokyo astro shop but they sadly didn't have them in stock, so ordered from Amazon JP instead.

First impressions are very good: Nice heft and solid build quality, although the lanyard clip feels a bit flimsy, so might replace it at some point. Very easy to hold up to the eye, although jamming them into your eye sockets feels a bit wrong knowing that you'll get eyelashes on the lenses. Had a quick go on the hazy moon as it was the only thing visible from Tokyo, didn't get any false colour when the moon was centred. Looking forward to using them under darker skies when we're in the countryside!

[CraigT82]

1 hour ago, badhex said:

Quick update: Got the Vixens! Had hoped to buy them in person from Starbase Tokyo astro shop but they sadly didn't have them in stock, so ordered from Amazon JP instead.

First impressions are very good: Nice heft and solid build quality, although the lanyard clip feels a bit flimsy, so might replace it at some point. Very easy to hold up to the eye, although jamming them into your eye sockets feels a bit wrong knowing that you'll get eyelashes on the lenses. Had a quick go on the hazy moon as it was the only thing visible from Tokyo, didn't get any false colour when the moon was centred. Looking forward to using them under darker skies when we're in the countryside!

Nice! Look forward to first proper light report.  I think Vixen must source their cases from the same factory that Exposure (bike like manufacturer) does as it looks exactly the same as the ones that their lights come in. 

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, badhex said:

Quick update: Got the Vixens! Had hoped to buy them in person from Starbase Tokyo astro shop but they sadly didn't have them in stock, so ordered from Amazon JP instead.

First impressions are very good: Nice heft and solid build quality, although the lanyard clip feels a bit flimsy, so might replace it at some point. Very easy to hold up to the eye, although jamming them into your eye sockets feels a bit wrong knowing that you'll get eyelashes on the lenses. Had a quick go on the hazy moon as it was the only thing visible from Tokyo, didn't get any false colour when the moon was centred. Looking forward to using them under darker skies when we're in the countryside!

Very nice Joe, but where’s your report of your visit to the Tak shop?🤔
 

🤣

[badhex]

36 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Very nice Joe, but where’s your report of your visit to the Tak shop?🤔
 

🤣

I took too many photos to upload them all while I'm on the Shinkansen bullet train! 😂 🚄