Bino Advice

[Trido]

I am looking for some specific advice on my situation so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I have been desperately trying to get into Astronomy for a while now but I have a wedding to pay for (Happy day is 24th April next year) so I just don't have a whole lot of spare cash at the moment. As I said I am desperate to get into visual Astronomy so I think Binos would be a good place to start. Not just because that's what almost everyone seems to recommend first, but also because of price.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend something really cheap that isn't total crap? I doubt these will ever by my last pair of Binos. Once the wedding is out of the way there will be much more money to spend on a decent scope and pair of Binos. The point of these is something to get me going and keep me happy until next year.

Andrews Comms has some surplus Saxon Binos that range from $40 to $100. I am not very familiar about the brand, nor do I have much of a clue about how suitable these would be. Can anyone give some advice on whether these might be sufficient for now or if I should just steer clear of them?

I also saw some 15x70s for $129. I remember reading that 15x70 would be a good size for Astronomical viewing, however there isn't much chance of getting a tripod at the moment so I wondered if they would just be too heavy to use for any longer then a few minutes.

I am just not sure how I can finally get into this hobby while keeping the costs down as low as humanly possible!

[dannat]

Justin, some of the saxon binos on that andrews site have R or r after the size, indicating they have ruby coated lens', which are good for reducing sun glare during the day, but also reduce the night light.

what are you wanting to see through them, do you want a really wide scanning or do you want to go close. If you cannot get a tripod the max magnification you should get is 10x (the bino numbers like 10x50 mean 10x magnification & 50 is the size of the lens in mm)

Probably the best handheld size which lets you see the most is 10x50, if you want the for land use like birds as well you might think about an 8x42 - the 8x is a bit steadier also.

there is a good article here too http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-374-0-0-1-0.html

have a read & get back to us, as a recommendation i would try & go for the 10x50 WP for 99, or marine for 79, i really like the fact i can get dew on mine or get them damp with no problems. You may also want to talk to another retailer like aoe, who have also many good binos (in links section on this site)

You may also want to read this atachment of a user's bino tale

[rmcpb]

I started out with an old pair of 7x50s for years before getting my first scope. A great way to learn the sky.

Even now I use my AOE 9x60s almost every session while the scope is cooling and to have a low power view of the area I am observing at the time.

I would recommend the 9x60s as a good compormise between size and power on a modest budget.

Cheers

[erick]

Hi Justin, read up this site:-

www.aoe.com.au

I have bought three sets of binoculars from them and very happy with them.

[Trido]

Thanks so much for the advice so far. It is really helping me to focus.

Only thing a little annoying about AOE is that far to many of their cheaper items (And all of the ones I was looking at) are listed as Out of Stock. It really puts me off.

[erick]

Drop them an email and ask - might be re-stocking soon? Anyway, their advice pages are quite good.

[Trido]

Done. I got an automated email back saying they are undergoing systems maintenance and upgrades so hopefully they won't take to long to get back to me. Not too concerned if it takes a few days though. I've been waiting this long, what's a few more days? :)

[meliux]

yea i bought my 30x100s from AOE... very happy with them :)

[erick]

Hey Dan, show us some pics of that tripod when you get it built. Holding up the 30x100s is no simple task, let alone getting them stable. Mine could be better.