Bino Veiwer (Various Questions)

[larry brockman]

Bino Viewers
I am considering buying a Bino-viewer for my CR-150 HD f/8 Refractor (Celestron / Saxon ). I can appreciate what the distinct advantage would be, however, have never tried them. They must come with changeable eye pieces to vary magnification. The refractor has a 2 " focuser and 1.25 adaptor. I also have a 2" diagonal. Would greatly appreciate some feed back as to their worthiness. Are they available in 2" ? Do any suppliers offer any discounts to Iis forum members? Any recommendations on brand to purchase based on past experience ? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Regards Larry Brockman:D

[astroboy]

Hi Larry
I use a Tele Vue Binovue that works very well on the 24" for most objects , but for smaller scopes like the 5" borg is best at low power sweeping of the milkyway , dark nebulae look particularly good and brighter star clusters look 3D. It gives a very relaxed and comfortable view.
Your scope won't reach focus with out a relay lens which adds magnification or by shortening the scope about 2".
The moon and planets will also end up favorites , I have used a WO bino viewer that also works well and is much cheaper.
There are also some real cheap and nasties out there that aren't worth bothering with.

Zane

[casstony]

The cheaper binoviewers sold by william optics/stellarvue/burgess/university optics work quite well so long as you don't get a miscollimated unit. I have a stellarvue bino that I think is worth having even if it was only ever used on the moon - the view is much nicer through two eyes. Fronteir optics sells a good selection of bino's with prices now listed at the bottom of the page.
http://www.frontieroptics.com.au/

[Satchmo]

Hi Larry, I have a Synta 150mm F8 refractor and will be going for the William Optics Binoviewer which comes with 20mm eyepieces. Will be mainly using it for Solar observing.

Mark

[larry brockman]

Thanks to all for your input, sounds like its a good thing to have. Will visit a couple of suppliers next week and have a closer look.
Best regards Larry Brockman:)

[skies2clear]

Larry, I'm fairly new to BV'ing, but can offer my 10 cents worth anyway. I acquired the WO BV package that Mark mentioned about and I also have one of the generic 6" F8 Refractors (Skywatcher). It works very well and no problems with merging images even at high powers. I have tried it with a pair of 6mm eyepieces (effectively) on Saturn and worked well. Very good value for money. I may have been tempted to go for the Burgess BV package with 24mm clear aperture prisms, as the WO unit is only 20mm, but I haven't found this to be a problem with the supplied 20mm EP's (66 deg). If you want to go longer FL EP's and much wider apparant fields, then you should consider this limitation. The Burgess package costs a bit more though. Other premium BV's of course have larger clear aperture again.

I found the 1.6X OCS supplied with the WO to be so so. I ended up getting a Seibert Multimag OCS which gives 1.25X, 2X and 3.5X and works in ANY telescope, including Dobs. And it performs exceptionally well too. Highly recommended! Harry Seibert has a huge range of options with these for almost all BV'ers.

I don't know your budget, but 2" BV's are going to cost a heck of a lot more. You could spend a lot more than your scope is worth. By the way, I recently found duplicating one of my premium EP's brought an improvement to the performance of my BV'er, so the WO unit did not restrict the performance much. Not saying the supplied 20mm eyepices are no good, they perform very well, but it's all relative.

What I would like to know is how much better are the premium units over these budget ones? I'm in no position to comment on this myself, never comparing to anything like Denks, Baaders, TV and the like. I would stay away from anything less than the WO unit though.

As mentioned by Tony above, checkout Frontier Optics.

Clear Skies

[janoskiss]

s2c, the 24mm Burgess BV has been "back ordered" for most of the past year so I would not hold my breath for that one. I was looking at getting one March 2006 and then they were saying "will be available next month" and have been saying that every month since.

Re Siebert, I tried the BN 22mm and did not think much of it. The Seibert 1.8x OCA works well though and will fit other BVs. Gives you heaps of back focus (i think that's what it's called). I also used to own the Burgess BV125, which for the money did quite well.

[skies2clear]

Thanks Steve, if you don't mind me asking, what are you using yourself? I'm wondering where the next step in BV'ing could come from? Hope I'm not changing the subject too much?

I'm trying to figure out how different the better units are over the WO unit for example, if you have any experience. Of course I realise you usually get more when you spend more, but just what kind of difference, especially light transmission, which is one of the biggest issues for me with BV'ing.

Cheers

[wavelandscott]

I recently got the Denkmeir "Big Easy" package for one of my reflectors...I've not had a chance to use it yet but I am quite anxious to give it a whirl.

[janoskiss]

s2c, I've tried the Burgess BV125 and the Siebert BN22. The Burgess was by far a better unit. I don't have a BV atm. The Siebert was supposed to be the upgrade.

worth checking out Edz' recent posts on CN about different binoviewers - see this thread (http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1313785/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1). Quite surprised to read that the Denk standards suffer from prism light cutoff. It dampened my enthusiasm for that unit, which was the one I was going to try next. I might just go back to a basic unit like the WO or perhaps the beefed up version of the budget Chinese binos from Baader. I won't be able to afford anything better for a long time.

[skies2clear]

Steve, I had a look at the CN thread. Very interesting. Edz is extremely thorough! Perhaps the WO isn't too bad, especially for the money. And I know what you mean about affording anything better for a while. I think the Denk 2's have the same clear aperture as the standards, but I could be wrong on this.
What was it about the BN22 you didn't like?

CS

[skies2clear]

Congrats! Should work very well!

I'd be really interested to see your opinion on the Denk and how it all works with your reflector(s),

CS

[wavelandscott]

Thanks!

I am anxious to get them in the scope myself...but a few other priorities are taking most of my time at the moment. I was hopeful that this weekend might be clear but it does not look promising at the moment.

I read the CN article with interest (of course it was posted after I'd already bought mine)...

I'm not sure if I'll notice anything or not as I had not planned on using real low power eyepeices in my scope (if I understood what was written and I'm not 100% sure I do, then I think only low power (real wide views would be impacted))...

I got it mostly to look at the moon and planets at public viewing nights...oh well, live and learn.

I can tell you the fit and finish are nice and it "feels" well made...

I also got a pair of 21 mm Denk with them too and they look gorgeous! But alas, I've not had a chance to use them yet either...

[janoskiss]

Too many things to list here. I was offered a replacement unit and was told that everything would be fixed, but I was not willing to give it another go.

[skies2clear]

Sounds like a real pain for you. The WO unit has been completely trouble free. I must admit, I expected less than I actually got!

Clear skies

[skies2clear]

Yes, you live and learn, but IMO you made a great choice and won't have any issue with this BV. I've heard a lot of great things about the Denk 21mm ep's too.

Hope the weather fines up soon,

Skies 2 clear!