Hi there,
I just narrowly missed out on a william optics binoviewer at astromart. So, been reading a lot about them. I just noticed andrews are doing one for $99. I am thinking that this could be a good intro in case I dont like it. Is it likely to have the same chinese prisms in it that the WO has anyway? Has anyone got one of these. I dont want to buy it if it is cheap rubbish but from what I read, the cheaper binoviewers are ok. like burgess, WO, celestron. They are all about $250 so maybe $99 is too cheap. Does anyone have one?
Hi Jas , I have the WO ones and they are very good and I would bet good money on the Andrews pair being the same as the WO's , made in the same place in China .
Andrews will replace them if they are no good ,as they are very good on that , but remember you will need 2x , perhaps , 20mm SV's or GSO plossls to go with them as for $99 I would not expect them to come with any like the WO's 20mm WA's that come with their's .
For that price I would jump on them and if you do I guarantee we all here would love a small review ?? .
Yeah. I think I'm going to order them tommorow. I was thinking do you think there's any point using premium eps with one of these. If its only going to be as good as the glass that's in it. Maybe a couple of 20mm orthos? And I will definitely do a review
Hey, I think you are right Brian. Have a look at the below images. The one on the right is the burgess bino and the left is the andrews bino for $99. If they are essentially the same, from the same factory, this will be a quality unit. (for $99 i mean. its not a denk) Google the burgess and about 10 independant reviews come up. NONE of them have anything bad to say.
I have just ordered one of these 'ACS' branded binos from Andrews. They have them on the website under "General Accessories" section. I also picked up a GSO Superview 20mm EP (I already have one so this will make a pair for the binoviewer).
Should get them tomorrow so a test report will follow soon. I will try them out on my 102mm/1000mm refractor and the 16" dob.
My Andrews Binoviewer arrived this morning, along with the extra 20mm Superview EP I ordered to match my existing one. I must say I am impressed initially, this $99 Binoviewer is a solid unit and the hinge works smoothly and holds position well. All the glass seems to be multicoated and it is completely sealed end to end so no dust can get in. I did a quick optics check and there is no dust or contamination internally. Put the two 20mm Superviews on and adjusted it for my eye spacing and its painting a very large image spot and both sides are exactly the same size and each merged together perfectly without any alignment issues. I can't wait to try it out - if this cloud ever goes away. I'll start with a test in the 102mm long fl refractor because it has massive focuser travel. I will stick it on my 2" ED barlow as well to check out the 10mm binoview on Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.
Observation report to follow.
Cant wait for the review. I didnt end up getting one. I bought a Tak LE 30mm cheap instead. It was an impulse buy. I am definately keen to start binoviewing though after what I have read about it. I will make this binoviewer my next purchase unless we get a bad review from glen.
This is an update of an earlier review posted last night, and covers what happened this morning.
After unsuccessful testing last night, where I could not achieve focus and struggled with the weight of the assembly on my long refractor, I tried again this morning with my short refractor.
What I have found is that there was not enough infocus for the setup. I did everything I could to shorten the path: removed the stock 2" to 1.25" adaptor at the end of the focuser (because it had some length to it), and the diagonal, and inserted the binoviewer into a 2" to 1.25" Televue intravel adaptor right in the focuser just to get more intravel, and yep that worked fine. I put a short 1.25" diagonal into the Intravel adaptor and tried again and that worked fine. I then unscrewed the front 1.25" insert tube of the binoviewer, thinking that I could just screw the removable end of the barlow into that but NO of course the threads are different - what the? Well, at least it works with the Televue Intravel adaptor. I will need to try this same approach on my long refractor tonight (assuming I can re-balance the rig).
Conclusion, so focus was difficult to achieve, and without the intravel adaptor I might not have a solution. On the large scope last night I had balance problems due to the weight but I think I can solve that.
Note that http://www.siebertoptics.com/ seems to make a set of corrector/adaptors for these binoviewers but I have not researched that fully due to the additional cost (actually more than the binoviewer cost). Lucky for me I had the intravel adaptor.
If you want to know what the Televue In-travel adaptor looks like it is here:
Update on testing. Sadly I was unable to achieve focus with the binoviewer in the 16" dob. There is not enough intravel range in th GSO focuser and none of my adaptors would help.
Have you tried removing the barlow element from the GSO Barlow and screwing it onto the nose of a 2" diagonal when using the bino in a refractor? This arrangement gives about 3.2x magnification and works very well producing higher magnifications useful for moon and planets.
Well yes I did find a solution for the refractor, which was to removed the 2" diagonal and go to the smaller 1.25" diagonal on a Televue Intravel adaptor (which has a recessed 1.25" hole allowing the EP or diagonal more intravel).
THe binoviewer also worked without the diagonal but that is hard on my neck and most people probably would not want to use it that way but for terrestial viewing it is a good solution.
Interestingly when I was researching refractors recently I found that the Stellarvue 110 has a removable rear extension section to allow binoviewers to achieve focus. With the refractor that I am planning to build over the coming months (based on an iStart objective) I will design it to allow the use of the binoviewer.
As far as the Dob is concerned, no I don't have a solution, I can't get the binoviewer to focus, even with the Televue adaptor. I can only see two possible solutions: one to move the primary mirror up in the rear to push the focal point further up the focuser (which potentially impacts EP focal points), or two, switch to a lower profile focuser (and this might also impact EPs FPs. There maybe other adaptors that work but I don't have them. As I said in the post with the link to the adaptors, there are other solutions on the market, including ones that screw directly into the front of the binoviewer, but I haven't investigated them fully.
For now I am regarding it as a viewer that works with my refractor and that's ok. I will keep it. I know there are binoviewers that work with dobs so its just a matter of time till I get around to it again.
Binoviewers typically use about 125mm of distance in the optical path. i.e. you have to rack in a lot!. For this reason they are most suited to SCT telescopes whereby focusing is achieved by moving the primary mirror.
However most binoviewers can be used on refractors and reflectors with the addition of a 2x amplifier/corrector (Tele Vue terminology). A 2x Barlow may work.
Tele Vue state the following on their website with regards to their Bino Vue, which has a 5.1" (130mm) optical path length.
"The 2x Amplifier/Corrector eliminates prism aberrations (spherical, color, and edge of field astigmatism). The faster the system the greater the need."
Note using a 2x amplifier/corrector does mean low power is not easy on a Newtonian due to focal length. e.g. A 1200mm focal length telescope with 2 x 24mm eyepieces and 2x amplifier/corrector will give 1200/24*2 = 100 magnification. This is still OK for a full lunar disc if the eyepiece is say a 24mm Panoptic with 27mm field stop diameter provided your binoviewer also has matching field stop diameter and does not vignette. The Tele Vue Bino Vue works very well with 24mm Panoptics without amplifier on SCT and with on Newt and refractor.
Hi Jas , I have the WO ones and they are very good and I would bet good money on the Andrews pair being the same as the WO's , made in the same place in China .
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. I am definately keen to start binoviewing though after what I have read about it. I will make this binoviewer my next purchase unless we get a bad review from glen.
