pasadams, I agree with the view that you need a pair of 7x, 10x or 12x as well as a set of 20x bins. I had an old pair of 7x50s which I used for a few weeks. Then I bought AOE's 12x60 and was pleased with the improvement. They can be hand-held quite well but also perform well on the Velbon tripod (except when trying to look to higher elevations). I still keep the 7x50s handy for visitors - they were great for Comet Mcnaught.
But, I couldn't stop at 12x and bought AOE's 20x80 $129 Christmas specials. Of course, nowhere near as good as your proposed 20x80 triplets - but I'm impressed (mind you, I don't know any different, so I'm easily impressed). With care, I can mount them on the Velbon tripod I have (the CX-540 - not the best option, I have now realised) - in fact I used this combination in a light wind last Saturday night to locate the Comet, observe Venus, look at the Jewel Box, look at M42 (a pretty high elevation, but it was possible comfortably), watch the Moon rise, and examine Saturn - all a pleasant hours viewing - actually just checking out a new observing location.
Then I went crazy and bought a pair of AOE's 30x100s. Now I had to make up a special mount, see here:-
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=16090
There is no way to hand-hold these or use my Velbon tripod mount. Plus, a
fork mount of this design allows viewing up to the Zenith (when you get the "knack" of balancing yourself on your tailbone!) I'm still experimenting and learning about my setup.
I think your Velbon CX-660 will do a good job on the 20x80s, up to a point (mostly the higher elevations is where you will come unstuck).
But, you will find the narrower FOV of the 20x80s can make finding things quite tricky, hence the recommendation for a pair of around 7x or 10x to help you pinpoint the key stars you need to hop from to the object of interest.
Re Saturn and Jupiter, I think I've come to the conclusion, as janoskiss says, that you really need a scope to see detail - but I'm going to persist in my quest to distinguish the rings of Saturn in the 20x and 30x - I know I can do it (
) - I just need a really good night with excellent conditions in the next month.
Maybe the 10x bins don't have to be the world's best - AOE's 8x40WA and 10x50WA are quite economical (read cheap!) - but I have no idea how they perform. But if your purpose is to get a good sighting look at the area of interest at around 10x before you home in on targets with your 20x - they might do that job??
Re seeing deep space objects - I've been quite happy with my 20x80 and 30x100. Saw M1 (Crab Nebula) in both so that's not too bad:-
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...highlight=crab
Just a few (relatively inexperienced) thoughts. Eric
