Advice on binoviewer and eyepieces

[DrMike]

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about getting a binoviewer and the  associated eyepieces. Nothing too fancy, and crazy expensive, the sky here is heavily light polluted, but just useful enough for casual viewing. 

One question that does come to mind ...is the setup (bino and eyepieces) heavy? 

Any advice very welcome.

Onward and upward

Mike

[Highburymark]

They can be - I had a Baader MkV which was very heavy, but the cheaper pairs (WO/Celestron/OVL/TS etc) and the more expensive Maxbright II are reasonably light - you can compare weights on FLO’s website and those of other retailers. Most people use smaller eyepieces with them to keep the weight down. Having said this, even the lighter units still require a good focuser. I’ve had a couple of scopes with stock focusers that weren’t robust enough for binoviewers. Then there’s the issue of working out which BV/barlow/EP set ups come to focus in your scope. Lots of research to do - but the views are very much worth it. 

[DrMike]

Thanks. I will, as you suggest, do lots of homework.

[Carbon Brush]

Fully agree with @Highburymark comments.

I have an F10 refractor that has met with a hacksaw to shorten the tube, allowing binoviewer (and other) use.

For my first binoviewer I bought a cheapie, not very well made. Badged Astro Engineering, but it must have been near to the bin when it was accidentally shipped.
Poor colour between eyes, one sloppy EP tube, other tight, etc.
Importantly it allowed me to try binoviewing at low cost and establish which scopes could use it.

Later I sold it on (with full quality report of course) and splashed out on WO.

HTH, David.

[Marian M]

Hi!

 

For which scope would you need it?

The whole ensemble can be kept below 1 kg- you can use the shortest possible adapters from the very first unscrewable piece of the focuser (I am using M68 to T2 adapter for my 102 TS APO), T2 Baader prism and Maxbright 2- highly recommended

 

If the target are the planets and moon, I am very happy with SLV 25 and 12 + the 2 GPCs from Baader for more flexibility on choosing right magnification

For wide fields, I prefer Morpheus 17.5 but these are heavier

 

[mikeDnight]

For binoviewing, I fell in love with the old Celestron Ultima eyepieces, a 5 element super Plossl made to a high spec. These were also sold under various other brand names such as Orion Ultrascopic, Baader Eudiascopic, and Parks Gold to name a few. A design based I believe on the Zeiss Astro planar and made in Japan by Masuyama for the aforementioned companies. I generally prefer the longer focal length eyepieces such as 35mm, 25mm, 18mm, & 12.5mm, with a barlow attached to the nose of the binoviewer.  The Baader Maxbright l l  below is heavier than the revelation and some other cheaper models, and may need a rebalance of the tube assembly on some mounts, but the advantages of using a binoviewer greatly outweigh any minor disadvantages. As has already been mentioned, a sturdy focuser would be an advantage as it may be necessary to angle the bv for comfort.

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by mikeDnight