Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Binoviewers - why did i not do this before!


russ

Recommended Posts

A couple of weeks ago i was advised that a pair of binoviewers was a good investment for planetary observing. As this advice came from a few SGL's more prominent planetary observers (Paul G Abel, Towa, Dweller) i thought it would be something worth trying.

So patiently watched all the Buy'n'sell sites for something affordable (cheap). Didn't have to wait long before a pair of Revelation viewers appeared on UK Buy'n'sell. Came with a pair of Antares 19mm W70's and a barlow element plus the aluminium case. The price was good, basically got the eyepieces for free compared to the new price of the basic Revelation viewers.

While i waited for the parcel to arrive i started some research on the web. Normally do it the other way round. As i read from various sources my heart began to sink. The viewers i had bought seemed to be wrong in every way possible, ticking no boxes at all. Small prisms, thumb screw eyepiece locks and users saying they were unable to merge the images. This sounded real bad. I had broken my golden rule of researching first and would now pay the price. The previous owner probably couldn't believe his luck that he had managed to shift the things.

Well they have been sat in my dining room waiting a first light for a week now. I've been dying to try them, if only to see how i had wasted my money.

Well first light finally came tonight. Setup the 8" SCT with the WO crayford and WO dielectric and then the viewers into the diagonal. Looked a lot of kit hanging off the back, i did wonder how the crayford would cope with Mars so far up and so much weight pulling on the focuser. Well the ancient WO came through with flying colours, no slippage at all.

It took a while to get the viewers setup right. Getting the eyes comfy and then adjusting the individual focus. Probably 15mins or so getting that right. But i had already noticed that i had no problem merging the two views into one. The W70's also seemed a very good choice as a binoviewer eyepiece. No ill effect from the thumb screw locking either.

With everything set i took my first proper look at Mars through binoviewers. Without the barlow element i worked out the power to be 136x (ish). Even at this low power i was amazed how much better the view was compared to a single eyepiece. And crikey did it feel natural, just so comfortable. Didn't take long for the detail to pop into view.

Next with the barlow element for approx 270-280x. No beating around the bush, just plain and simple, it was flippin brilliant! I had made myself real comfy now sitting on the ironing chair with a towel over my head. And my eyes just seemed to love the binoviewers. They just relaxed and the detail just came flooding in. By far the best view of Mars i've had this opposition. So so much detail. It was so much easier to spend a long period at the eyepiece(s) without a need for a break.

The Revelation binoviewers are the cheapest on the market at £75 new and i have to say they are staggering value for money. I have not used any other brand binoviewers and i don't really see a need too. I have not encountered a single problem with the Revelations. Perhaps i just adjust to things better than some others, i don't know. But i give these a double thumbs up.

Russ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 33
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Great report Russ ! - I've been wondering (as you have) about these devices for ages - now I can see why those "in the know" rave about them ;)

Where, other than an astro forum, could you get away with a line like this ?:

"I had made myself real comfy now sitting on the ironing chair with a towel over my head" ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great report Russ ! - I've been wondering (as you have) about these devices for ages - now I can see why those "in the know" rave about them ;)

Where, other than an astro forum, could you get away with a line like this ?:

"I had made myself real comfy now sitting on the ironing chair with a towel over my head" :p

hehe I do wonder what the neighbours must think. No wonder we are considered eccentric ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looked at a pair of the celestron version of binoviewers at this years astrofest, 3x the price of the revelation and to be honest the chap on the stall put me off the cheep ones saying exactly what you had read on your research about them being a cheep prism and so on, now someone has used them they sound good enough for me, anyone got any for sale or will you hire them out for the weekends.

and to be honest i like revelation stuff, there i`ve said it, i find them good value for money across there range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Russ

Really great to see you loving the binoviewers. Like yourself, I wish I had done it a couple of years earlier

when these cheaper units started to appear on the market.

I've got a pair of the revelation/Seben ones and they are great. With my Evostar refractors just one pair

of 20mm Antares plossl does the complete magnification range from 150 - 400x for planetary viewing.

So no need to go buying different sets of eyepieces.

The views of the moon in my APO at 28 - 56x are really stunning. Even when its a full moon, the view in the binoviewers

is totally different to one eyed viewing. One of the best investments I've made in this hobby/pastime.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi.

Great report.

I reckon they'll take the strain out of viewing, especially in a long session. Also I get the most awful eye 'floaters', these days. I've read that binoviewing helps alleviate this problem by using two eyes. Any thoughts on that?

Look forward to hearing your impressions in the coming months !!

Cheers,

Andy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i got revelations waite till you see the moon WOW............kev

Can't wait Kev.

I reckon they'll take the strain out of viewing, especially in a long session. Also I get the most awful eye 'floaters', these days. I've read that binoviewing helps alleviate this problem by using two eyes. Any thoughts on that?

Andy, i forgot to mention this in my review. I get some pretty bad eye floaters in my right eye (my normal observing eye). But with the viewers the problem seemed to reduce greatly. I had read about this in other reviews and was amazed to see it first hand.

The benefits from using the viewers are huge. The view of Mars itself was greatly enhanced compared to the single eyepiece view. Also, there's no problem keeping your head still, it just sits comfortably up against the viewers and hold perfect position without trying.

Although i probably looked daft, i found the towel essential to block out stray light.

The reviews were right about the SCT. Moving the focus by such a large amount does indeed alter the focal length of the scope by approx 20%. Image scale was quite a bit larger with the binoviewers compared to just using the same eyepiece alone in the diagonal.

looked at a pair of the celestron version of binoviewers at this years astrofest, 3x the price of the revelation and to be honest the chap on the stall put me off the cheep ones saying exactly what you had read on your research about them being a cheep prism and so on, now someone has used them they sound good enough for me, anyone got any for sale or will you hire them out for the weekends.

and to be honest i like revelation stuff, there i`ve said it, i find them good value for money across there range.

From what i've read, the small prisms really restrict low power views as they cause severe vignetting with low power widefield eyepieces. The 19mm W70 doesn't appear to cause the Revelation's any problems, so i'm guessing it is with lower power 24mm-26mm eyepieces.

Russ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looked at a pair of the celestron version of binoviewers at this years astrofest, 3x the price of the revelation and to be honest the chap on the stall put me off the cheep ones saying exactly what you had read on your research about them being a cheep prism and so on, now someone has used them they sound good enough for me, anyone got any for sale or will you hire them out for the weekends.

and to be honest i like revelation stuff, there i`ve said it, i find them good value for money across there range.

Hi Red you can borrow my reverlation binos for a while.............kev

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Russ, a question - I have been trying binoviewers too and last night I had fantastic views of Mars through them - there is definitely a serious extra comfort factor and Mars looks somehow "bigger". having said that, when I looked at mars in a single eyepiece, there was certainly no less detail albeit the planet looked a lot smaller. I then turned to the trapezium to make the comparison - through the binoviewers, i could glimpse the E but not see the F. With a single eyepiece, the E was obvious and the F was just about there. Polaris too was a much more pleasing view through a sinlge e/p than binoviewed as with the binowiewer much of the colour was lost.

Am i expecting too much? Are binoviewers "just" for planets and the moon?

What do you think? (sorry to put you on the spot:D)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Russ, a question - I have been trying binoviewers too and last night I had fantastic views of Mars through them - there is definitely a serious extra comfort factor and Mars looks somehow "bigger". having said that, when I looked at mars in a single eyepiece, there was certainly no less detail albeit the planet looked a lot smaller. I then turned to the trapezium to make the comparison - through the binoviewers, i could glimpse the E but not see the F. With a single eyepiece, the E was obvious and the F was just about there. Polaris too was a much more pleasing view through a sinlge e/p than binoviewed as with the binowiewer much of the colour was lost.

Am i expecting too much? Are binoviewers "just" for planets and the moon?

What do you think? (sorry to put you on the spot:D)

I used the viewers on Mars mainly but did quickly check M42. The detail on Mars was more or less the same but details became apparent much quicker in the viewers and it was easier to hold that view for longer. I wonder if the light loss also helped the view through the binoviewer, reducing the glare. I'm sure i could see a tad more finer detail around Syrtis Major in the binoviewers, but that could just be mind playing tricks. I think the main plus point of the binoviewers is that using two eyes coupled with the comfort made seeing the same detail much, much easier.

M42 was noticebly fainter than the single eyepiece view. I read on another review that the light loss becomes less of an issue on apertures of 15" or larger. It certainly has an impact on an 8". The same review said that with his 8" he could resolve M13 no problems with a single eyepiece but the light loss with the binoviewers made resolving M13 a harder task.

I must admit i only bought the binoviewers for use with the SCT and to view the Moon and planets. But intend to try out some of the bright DSO's.

Russ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Kev says, wait til you see the Moon!

I have a pair of William Optic Binoviewers, they came as a set with two 20mm EPs, recently bought a second Meade 4000 12.4 and loving it!

BTW, also take a look at M42

I did briefly checkout M42 last night but by that time it had slipped to far into the murk and LP. The single eyepiece view wasn't brilliant and the binoviewers struggled to pull in enough light. Will try again hopefully tonight. Will also checkout M45.

I hear the WO viewers are like gold dust. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Russ,

Thanks so much for this report. I have been thinking about binoviewers for a while and have been wanting to try it out. This report is excellent and makes me even keener to try. Particularly what you said about floaters. i was trying to view mars the other day, and floaters kept getting in the way and there's no chance of getting out hte fine details when a floater's right in your central vision!

Unfortunately I had to turn down a purchase recentyl because I reckoned I wouldn't get enough back focus on my ED120. I think for the up-and-coming planet season I'll have to get a 180 mak and binoviewers ;)

Andrew

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Russ,

Thanks so much for this report. I have been thinking about binoviewers for a while and have been wanting to try it out. This report is excellent and makes me even keener to try. Particularly what you said about floaters. i was trying to view mars the other day, and floaters kept getting in the way and there's no chance of getting out hte fine details when a floater's right in your central vision!

Unfortunately I had to turn down a purchase recentyl because I reckoned I wouldn't get enough back focus on my ED120. I think for the up-and-coming planet season I'll have to get a 180 mak and binoviewers ;)

Andrew

Andrew, you could always take a hacksaw to the 120 :) Cut 100mm off the tube. :p

Or just get the 180.....should be awesome ;)

With the floaters, i'm not sure how it works. If I closed one eye (left one) and just viewed with the right, i could see the floater right over Mars. But with both eyes open it was gone. Does the brain choose to ignore the view with the floater or cancel it out in some way? After all it's still there...very weird.

Out again tonight hopefully. I'll report back tomorrow with more thoughts on the viewers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very interesting comments.

Sadly my 3 main scopes don't have enough in focus without using at least a 2x barlow interface with them. Mind you, if it were to be used for high power viewing of planets and the moon, that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Something to think about for the future.

Andy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd heard good things about Revelation stuff and bought one of their 2" dielectric diagonals and was very impressed with it.

I have been on the lookout for a pair of their binoviewers too, looks like you beat me to that pair Russ, I'll have to keep looking!

Allan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry Allan, he said he had a fair amount of interest. I think you'll have a long wait mind, there's been a few pairs come up recently. So fingers crossed.

There seems to be no real issues, so i would recommend the Revelation or the identical Antares/Seben pairs.

Russ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No problem, glad you are enjoying them, nice to hear you have such positive views ( no pun intended) after your "impulse" buy. I can relate to those!

Anyway, I am sure some more will come up soon, gives me a chance to save up a little.

Allan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi All

If you have a solar filter of some kind there's the Sun, solar bino viewing is so much more comfortable than single eyepiece viewing.

As an alternative to a towel over your head, try using winged eye guards on the eyepiece, I am impressed with the comfort of the BGO eyepiece winged eye guards, only wish they made 25mm BGO's.

Best Regards

Carl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed they are Phil. I've just setup the SCT again, so heading out in a few minutes to give the viewers another go. Hoping the clouds stay away this time so i can have a crack at Saturn around 1am. But my god is it cold out there tonight.

Rob, we'll give that a try soon.

Russ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.