Hi Sean,
I bought a
Zhumell Tachyon 25x100 binocular about 2 months ago.
The views are amazing, considering it is "only" a binocular, but its 4.6 Kg weight, can be an issue. At the same time I bought also a Manfrotto tripod, which could take 5kg loads, while its head was up to 4 Kg.
Well, that wasn't enough for using this binocular for astronomy purposes, as it was very shaky. However, it was great for terrestrial observing.
I already sold this tripod and started making my own support solution for this heavy binocular and even if it is not finished, it is already way better than using that tripod (or whatever other tripod, IMHO).
That is, now I watch the sky laying down on a comfortable camping mattress (or an old comfortable armchair) and have 2 spring balancers hanging above me supported by a frame I improvised out of an old gym equipment) taking almost all the binocular weight away. This also lead to several other benefits like my head doesn't have to go around the binos, to bear in another direction, now it is the other way around, with the almost weightless binos following my head bearing, like you would do naturally.
If you however, want to go for a tripod, as Chris already suggested, it has to be tall and steady and I add it must have a gear to lift the central column (assuming you will buy a heavy binocular).
With my 25x100 binocular I can observe clearly many star clusters (I'm very impressed with the globular ones) and several nebulae. I would say, this binocular allows you to observe DSOs up to a magnification of 5 maybe 6. Planets are not so good however. I can't see Saturn rings. The moon is awesome on other hand.
This binocular ,IMHO, is almost the same as that
one sold by Andrews and a few
others, who sells it under their own brands. They all surely come from the same Chinese manufacturer because the tech specs are identical and there are, if any, only a few esthetically differences.
Conquered by my binos views, I'm now buying a second hand 10" dob (more more more...) and I'm considering to sell them for then buying a 15x70 model, which I believe I will be able to use also without a tripod (maybe a monopod will be enough). I put my eyes on
this model, which again I'm sure it is the same identical model, made in China and branded out by several companies. By what I'm reading about them (here and other forums), my understanding it is an exceptional binocular well matching a reasonable weight with high quality optics.
Hope this may help.
Did you know that Canberra Astronomical Society has small dob telescopes available for hire to members at very reasonable rates (about $10/month)? I refurbished a number of them a few years ago and are easy to set up an use.
