WO binoviewer

[allan gould]

I spent a great deal of time looking at various threads here and on other forums about binoviewers. Since I'm getting older and accumulating 'floaters' as well as more astronomical toys I thought that a set of binoviewers would solve a few problems for me. I finally purchased the WO binos from Andrews Comms. after talking to one of their reps, Lee andrews actually offeres to ship me the WO and another set to do side by side comparisons and then for me to ship back the one I didnt wanr. Hows that for service? Anyway I got the WO set "THE NEXT DAY" after ordering them. Again, hows that for service. Very impressive. But the binos were even more impressive. The WO come with 2 eyepieces as well as a 1.6x corrector. I used them on my 8" SCT to do some preliminary tests. I had no problem 'fusing' the two images but what I did find was that with the eyepieces as well as scope, focusing was critical for a good image.
I must say that with the binos I definately saw more detail than with a monocular view - about the same level as I see with my 10", thus I cant wait to try them on the 10" as it should be very impressive. Io was being eclipsed by Jupiter and band details were very good to excellent.
Overall I did not see a 3D view of Jupiter as a lot talk about but detail appeared much better with the binos. I'm really impressed with the WO set as they are small, light in weight and work well with the 2 eyepieces and corrector - very good value for money. I'm impressed with the service I received as well as the product.
I also tried them on my 102mmx500 refractor without the diagonal, but with the supplied corrector. Worked very well which surprised me.
Regards
Allan

[janoskiss]

Glad you like your binoviewers Allan. I also find it a lot easier to pick up fine detail on the surface of Jupiter with two relaxed eyes. Focusing does take a bit of work but once you get there it's worth it. And with practice you can do it quite quickly.

Did you get 2 pairs of WOs or WO + something else? Is that because you were worried about getting a badly collimated one? How did the two units compare?

[Hammerman]

Congrats on the binoviewers, Allan! Use those for a bit, and you're going to hate to go back to one eye observing.

3D effect isn't what it really is. Your brain will sometimes give you a false impression of seeing in 3D, but in truth it's still a flat image. I compare the extent of the 3D effect as the same as when looking through my binoculars. You can hold a pair of binoculars up in the daytime, looking into the distance. Open and close one eye while looking through them. You don't really see 3D with both eyes open, but your brain tells you it's there, so you somewhat have a (false) feel for it. Same thing I notice when looking through my binoviewers. I notice it most when observing the moon.

[allan gould]

I may have given you a mistaken impression. I only purchased one set of WO binos, which came with a set of two matched eyepieces and a corrector. I didnt take up Lee Andrews on his offer of a comparison between the two different binos as I started to figure the cost of 2 eyepieces and a corrector into the equation between the WO set at $309 and another brand at $299, and the WO set won out hands down due to:- recent price drop, all attachments and build quality.
Regards,
Allan

[janoskiss]

I get it now! :doh: The WO is definitely be the best choice from Andrews' selection. :thumbsup:

[Johno]

Good to hear your opinion Allan, I also spent some time researching bino viewers and had no luck finding a good review of the WO. In the end I just thought 'what the heck!' and I bought them from Andrews.

I've had them now a couple of weeks but only had one chance to use them on my C9.25. I was very pleased with the views of the moon and Jupiter especially but keen to spend more time with other objects too.

I was at our local club's observing night and as someone else pointed out they're not good when several people are using the scope. Each person has to adjust the interoccular distance then spend a moment getting the images converged. Best to stick to mono EPs when you're with other people, especially if they're not used to binos.

[allan gould]

I totally agree that it would be a total dogs breakfast with more than two viewers using the same set of binos and do the total setup a disservice. You have to take your time and get the focus just right for you. Let the rest eat monos.

[janoskiss]

Perhaps I should add here that Frontier Optics (www.frontieroptics.com) also sells WO as well as Denkmeier binoviewers, and have been doing so for some years. I was going to buy the WO unit from them, but got talked out of it by the dealer himself (Daniel) who informed me that it is unlikely to reach focus in my Dobsonian. Turns out he was correct.

The Burgess binoviewer I have now only just works with the supplied 1.9x corrector in my 8" Dob. Otherwise I need to barlow it (at ~2.7x) which means I can only use it at high powers (180x and greater), so it has limited use for planetary viewing. I'd need to get lower power correcting lenses but I want to upgrade the binoviewer first - too costly for me atm. Binoviewing with SCTs is less hassle than with Newts (no correcting optics needed).