#21  
Old 11-01-2017, 02:08 PM
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wavelandscott (Scott)
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I will jump in here to add a few comments on the binoviewers...mine are okay but as John and Don suggested, I never fell in love with them. I really wanted to love them but was not "wowed" in my dobsonian reflectors. I like them better in my refractor but still not as much as I like my recently purchased big binoculars. I do enjoy the two eye vision aspect versus mono.

There was/is not anything wrong with them they just did not generate the same passion...not sure how to describe it better. I think John and Don are on to it in their description.
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  #22  
Old 12-01-2017, 06:59 AM
N1 (Mirko)
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Thanks John and Don for your comments on the bino viewing. Knowing my own observing priorities there is a good chance I might have similar problems, except perhaps for the eye relief. It appears that using 2 separate OTAs makes a huge difference over splitting up the light cone provided by a single one. I will now definitely try them elsewhere at some point before even thinking about buying anything. In the meantime, I'll stick with regular binoculars for low power sweeps.
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  #23  
Old 12-01-2017, 09:04 PM
ausastronomer (John Bambury)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by N1 View Post
Thanks John and Don for your comments on the bino viewing. It appears that using 2 separate OTAs makes a huge difference over splitting up the light cone provided by a single one.
Hi Mirko,

To try and put that in to some form of perspective:-

1) A 12" Binocular telescope has about the same total light grasp as a 16" to 18" telescope, albeit shared between 2 eyes.

2) An 18" Telescope with a binoviewer gives about the same image brightness as a 12" to 13" telescope, albeit to 2 eyes.

The big thing to me is that binoviewers don't give you the same 3D effect and depth of perspective that you get with a true binocular telescope, or a pair of large aperture high quality binoculars. I am very fortunate in having access to both a very good 12" binocular telescope (Suchting mirrors) and a pair of 25 x 150 Fujinon Binoculars. It doesn't really got much better than those two instruments, for 2 eye viewing. The 12" binoscope is great because you still keep both feet on the ground and the views are stunning. I have used up to a 22" binocular telescope and while the views were exceptional when it all "clicked", they are pretty hard to handle and get right.

I have used high quality refractors to 15" aperture and newtonians to 36" aperture and the two single best telescopic views I have ever had, in over 40 years of observing, were M51 in Larry Mitchell's 36" Obsession and Eta Carina in the 12" binocular telescope, using a pair of 13mm Nagler T6's. The effect of the binocular telescope on the ETA Carina view made you feel like you were James T Kirk flying the Enterprise through the dust lanes as they gave the view so much "depth". Targets like ETA Carina, M42, The Tarantula, Omega Centauri and 47 Tuc just come to life in a binocular telescope and take on a whole new dimension.

Looking through a good quality medium to larger aperture binocular telescope (8" plus) is something every visual amateur astronomer should have on their bucket list.

Cheers,
John B
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  #24  
Old 16-01-2017, 06:42 AM
N1 (Mirko)
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Hi John, thanks for your review, appreciated. To me 1) and 2) mean that I should probably stick with monocular observing unless it's a true binocular telescope. Hopefully I'll get to try both options at some stage to see the difference for myself. I too am likely to find the light loss too much of a trade off, especially with the amount of small aperture observing I do.
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  #25  
Old 16-01-2017, 12:32 PM
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Greenswale (Wren)
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I am in receipt of the Baader BBHS 2" diagonal. First impressions from light polluted home are excellent. Colours are more pronounced, scatter is way down, brightness and definition are improved.

Definitely a keeper, looking forward to dark sky use.

This one change has enhanced the visual experience over all of my eyepieces. Hmmmmm, do I really need that XO 5, he, he!!!
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  #26  
Old 23-01-2017, 03:02 PM
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Greenswale (Wren)
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Final outcome. Had quite a few hours under a dark sky, with the new diagonal.

The improvement over all my eyepieces, 1.25" Fujiyama Orthos, and 2" UO SWA has me concluding that my overall system is just about maximised. The clincher was being able to make out some detail on a very tiny Mars, the extraordinary red of Hind's Crimson Star, the ease of six stars in the trapesium, plus the fun of splitting doubles, including Sirius.

Might all change if I end up with a special OTA, but.........!

Thank you to all who provided opinion. The move to a cracker diagonal was out of left field, but is absolutely worth it.
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  #27  
Old 26-01-2017, 10:30 AM
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One thing I found using binoviewers is that the brain seems to do a summation of the incoming images of both eyes and selects the best possible image. I have astigmatism in my right eye, which is my dominant eye. When looking at anything with my glasses on, by looking with my right eye i see remaining astigmatism. When looking with my left eye, the astigmatism is no longer apparent. With both eyes open, my brain gives me a view with the best(left) eye image. So with binoviewing i get the comfort of using both eyes with the astigmatic correction of my left eye. It's a winner for me. So astigmatism in one eye worse than the other should not put you off binos.
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  #28  
Old 05-04-2017, 04:47 PM
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Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)
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Can highly recommend Takahashi LEs and Hi-LEs for planetary/ Lunar work.
No scatter that I can see. Sharp, sharp, sharp edge to edge and great contrast. They are expensive, true, but at the moment they are priced almost exactly the same as in the US. Bargain! I think they are available only from AEC.
IIRC the Pentax XO line is discontinued ( chime in if I'm wrong anyone ) so it might be a bit of a fag getting one, as owner's hang on to them for dear life!
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