Andrews 20x80mm Binoculars - Page 2

johnno · #21 21-09-2006, 02:36 AM

Hi All,

Jeanette,

I totally agree with Steve,
Stay away from Zoom Binoculars,they are a nightmare.

A.O.E,at least check them before posting,and if you still have problems,they are really helpful,AND,they know a little about what they are talking about.

Regards.
John

Travesso · #22 21-09-2006, 07:08 AM

I was told by the lady at Andrews that they will check the colamination before sending my 20x80 triplets. They arrived with a sticker on them saying "Colaminated" and signed by someone. So Andrews seem to check their stock before sending too. I've used my binos 3 times now and no eyestrain, only neckstrain...

time for a parallelogram mount methinks...

janoskiss (Steve H) · #23 21-09-2006, 09:05 AM

The big binos are user collimatable anyway and AOE have detailed collimation instructions. If anyone is interested you can email AOE. They are very helpful and I'm sure they would send you the instructions no matter where you bought your binos.

JimmyH155 · #24 21-09-2006, 02:37 PM

I've just done a calculation on the light gathering power of those 80mm nokkies - its HUGE - equivalent to a 4.5 inch scope

Think I'll chuck away my scopes and just use the nokkies

(Only joking

)

CoombellKid · #25 22-09-2006, 01:00 PM

jjjnetie,

didn't you have a look through Houghy's 20x80 Triplet binocs that were
setup on a tripod next to his Meade up at Astrofest? they were quite nice.
Been thinking of getting a pair of them or a smaller hand hold-able Pentax's

regards,CS sunny days

Rob

dhumpie · #26 22-09-2006, 04:02 PM

Rob,

The 20x80's are a revelation. I have the 20x80LW version and they cannot be beat for wide field scanning of the milky way......and they gather so much more light than my Orion 80ST's.....

Darren

glenc (Glen) · #27 22-09-2006, 04:22 PM

How many NGC deep sky objects (DSOs) can you see with 20x80 binoculars?
They should show most objects brighter than mag 10. They will show some DSOs to mag 11.

The count below is to mag 10 and does not include nebulae with no known magnitudes.
OC 276
GX 126
GC 93
PN 23
BN 21
Total 539

If you can find things with binoculars you don't need a GoTo scope.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #28 22-09-2006, 07:18 PM

I'm kinda torn between buying a pair of big binos or a decent small refractor.
Something to take camping/travelling. Decisions decisions.

glenc (Glen) · #29 22-09-2006, 08:37 PM

Try them both at a viewing night. I had a short tube 80mm refractor about 8 years ago and I prefer 80mm binoculars.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #30 22-09-2006, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

I'm kinda torn between buying a pair of big binos or a decent small refractor.
Something to take camping/travelling. Decisions decisions.

... or you could get a nice 5" Newt on a Vixen Porta mount like Geoff (Starkler) has got.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #31 22-09-2006, 10:21 PM

A 5" newt is kinda hard to tuck into an overnight bag.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #32 23-09-2006, 02:18 AM

They are very compact. Comparable to an ED80 (fatter but about the same length). But in either case the mount is going to be much more tricky to fit in the overnight bag than the scope.

With big binos the mount is going to be even more of an issue. Sturdy photo tripods are great for terrestrial use, but not much good for astronomy.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #33 24-09-2006, 08:54 PM

Any observing aid that works best when you lie down on a comfy banana lounge sounds fine to me.
That make the 20x80 binos that much better than the refractor.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #34 24-09-2006, 09:25 PM

JJJ, you might like to consider the 15x70 MX Ultra bino from AOE. These are a new type of very high quality binocular coming out of China; same as the Astro-Physics 15x70, Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 and quite a few others. I received the 10x50 model last week. I am not really qualified to judge this glass because the quality is in every way, way *way* better than anything else I've used, including the 20x80 triplet. If you are interested, do ask AOE for the "real" price.

http://www.aoe.com.au/15x70mx.html

Andrews have these binos too (millitary ultra), but AOE's knowledge of their products, support and after sales service has been so good IME that they've earned my loyalty, and I'd highly recommend buying from them.

glenc (Glen) · #35 25-09-2006, 07:02 AM

20x80s will show more than 15x70s provided the quality is good.
I find the Andrews 20x80 triplets are very sharp.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #36 25-09-2006, 11:07 AM

True Glen. But I think 15x would probably be my limit for hand-holdability even when lying down. I'm not very good at holding binos steady.

CoombellKid · #37 25-09-2006, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Any observing aid that works best when you lie down on a comfy banana lounge sounds fine to me.
That make the 20x80 binos that much better than the refractor.

Last last week I doderised my newt, after near 5yrs standing at an EQ
mount something using the aid of the back of a chair to lean on. I've finally
discovered sit down astronomy!!!

and I'm a liken it!!!

a whole lot!!!

...and to boot the mod allows me to quickly change back if I ever feel
like planetary imaging again. The EQ5 is a dedicated PST mount now.

regards

Rob

PS: As of today, I have two sons

dhumpie · #38 27-09-2006, 03:57 PM

Congrats Rob!!!!!!!!! Anyway back to the topic, I agree with Glenn as I find I grab my 20x80LW's a whole lot more than my Orion 80ST. They are just so easy to use and they really go deep if you have a dark enough sky. And some of the larger globs resolve too from such sites!

Darren

p/s; that is unless you are talking about premium APO short tube refractors, now those are in another class altogether.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #39 27-09-2006, 08:58 PM

That's the sort of thing I want to hear!
I reckon I'm sold on these LW binos.

glenc (Glen) · #40 28-09-2006, 04:16 AM

My observing gear is at:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...4&d=1156281094

The suglasses are for bright objects.

No, they are for making my laptop fainter.
The torch has a red LED.
80mm binos are 30% brighter than 70mm binos.
They are heavy and you do have to rest but then you get to see meteors and the naked eye sky.