Popular Post silentrunning Posted June 22, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2016 Hi there Many thanks for a warm welcome in the Welcome forum!. I thought you might like to read my report on picking up and grabbing a first look through my new pair of 12" Binos. This was written for my local clubs newsletter (Eastbourne). First light with some monster Binoculars. When I was about 12 in 1976 and first became interested in astronomy I joined the EAS and well remember Bob the club secretary arriving at my home on his bicycle in order to introduce himself and the club to me and my parents. Having joined the club I would pester Bob every clear night in the hope that someone would be heading up to to the society's observatory that was at the time situated in Summerdown Road. To stop the harassment the society gave me a key to the observatory and I have extremely fond memories of cycling the 5 miles or so from my parents place to the observatory on any clear night. Bob had a pair of large binoculars (20x80s) through which I had the pleasure of observing on a few occasions and the view from them stuck with me and the possibility of owning a pair of large binoculars became something of an obsession. Over the years I had various telescopes and now almost exclusively carry out astrophotography which means I haven't really observed through an eyepiece for a number of years. I can spend hours just sitting at the computer waiting for the next frame to come in and I recently thought the time would be better spent carrying out some visual observations. This put me in mind of acquiring some second hand large binoculars so I started scouring the web for some and boy did I find some! I was lucky that just coinciding with my urge to buy some big binos a pair of unique 12" telescope binos was up for sale. I thought I recognized these as some I had seen at the Kelling Heath star party last year and indeed these turned out to be made by the same group. The ones at Kelling where an 8" model which the group occasionally construct but the ones I was looking at where a unique pair of 12"'s which first be rolled out at Kelling in 2006 where they won best amateur instrument. I was concerned about buying such a large amateur made instrument but subsequent correspondence with one of the original trio reassured me that this was something special so I went ahead and purchased it.I was lucky that my brother lives close by to the vendor, not a million miles from Manchester and he was able to collect them for me the same day. I spent a couple of days up there and managed to get them set up. They are astonishingly well made and thought out, the engineering is top notch and all the tube connection threads, mirror securing and collimation bolts have no loose parts so nothing can fall off in the dark. All adjustment screws have knurled nobs so no messing with alum keys and the like. It took me about 5 minutes to have the thing assembled. Once the tubes are connected the structure is top heavy and the top can be carefully lowered to rest on the ground. This puts it in a perfect position for loading the mirror cells onto the rear of the scope. The mechanism by which the mirror cells connects to the scope is ingenious and the collimation bolts if not already patented should be! No pairs of bolts for in/out/locking just a beautifully engineered mechanism that incorporates an internal spring that moves the mirror in/out when turned. I'm no engineer so it's hard to describe it but it works brilliantly and has a really solid but lightweight feel about it. It can be done by a single person but I got my brother to twist the knobs as I kept an eye on things through the eyepiece. When both mirrors are loaded the structure is perfectly balanced and is ready for collimation/alignment. My biggest fear was that these would be near impossible to align and would come out of alignment very easily and possibly just but changing the pointing direction but my fears were completely unjustified. Not having a laser or Cheshire with me I performed a very quick visual collimation of each scope. I placed the pair of Meade 40mm 3000 plossls' that came with the binos into the holders. On this scope they give a magnification of about 36x which is very low but provide a lovely wide field. I then waited patiently for a star to appear. I was amazed how just 2 degrees of latitude made such a difference to the duration of twilight so it never actually got dark by the time I packed up at about midnight! Nevertheless Jupiter, although low in the sky, was available. I located the planet by sighting along one of the struts of the truss, wiggling around a bit and getting my brother to crawl around on the floor and re sight if necessary! Once found I focused one of the scopes and was amazed at the sharpness and clarity of the image even through twilight, nothing else but Jupiter being visible at this point. The satellites were pinpoint and the equatorial belts and red spot showed detail even at just 36x. It was clear at this point that the optics were not going to disappoint either. Uncovering the other eyepiece led to the same quality image from the other scope. With both eyes open the two images where about a 1/4 of a field of view apart but it was clear even at this point that the final experience was going to be something very special. I got my brother to alternate twisting the main mirror collimation screws so as to bring the images closer together and then something rather strange happened. As the images got closer together the brain seemed to overlay them long before they were coincident! The brain most have interpreted the input from both eyes as the same object and adjusted the eyes automatically to bring them together. Very strange and almost impossible to consciously undo. Only by alternating the view by opening and closing one eye could you see that the two images were still separated. I persevered however and managed to get them pretty much perfectly aligned - by pushing one image slightly out of focus the brain seems to give up on merging them so they can be properly brought together. The whole process took about 2 minutes although it would take possibly 10 minutes going back and forth if I was setting up on my own. The combined image, no matter how it came about, was absolutely stunning. There most be all sorts of factors that contribute to the 'binocular effect' but with such large mirrors the effect was there in bucket loads. Also as this is a true binocular and not a split field of view from a single scope the light gathering power is equivalent to a 17" mirror. As a few stars began to appear I located Mizar and as the sky got somewhat darker it was a truly lovely sight - as my main pursuit has been imaging I had almost forgotten what true points of light look like. Having got them back home I managed to grab a view of the crescent moon very low down and still deep in twilight. This was the best view of the moon I have ever seen. As a few stars came out I had a quick sweep across the sky taking in Arcturus, burning beautifully orange and Vega in amazing contrast as blue as I've ever seen it. The double double epsilon Lyra though not resolvable at just 36x looked wonderful and I saw lots of beautiful double stars as I swept through that area of the sky. The ring nebula M57 although small stood out fantastically even with the sky still being very bright. In summary I am blown away by this bit of kit and feel privileged to own such a unique instrument. +Bino-viewer, Tweedledee, Smithysteve and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 That was a thoroughly enjoyable read John. You are going to have many exciting hours viewing with those, and they are going to pull in just above every DSO, with the light grasp of a 17". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Thanks for the read John, they are a thing of utter beauty. There won't be much you can't find with those, I'll bet your eyepiece budget going to get a thrashing. You will be popular at Kelling this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentrunning Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 I've been really impressed with the pair of Meade 3000 40mm's that came with it. I have purchased a pair of Baader Hyperion 21mm and i'm looking to get the fine tuning rings, I was hoping to keep the cost down by doing this by I may have done better to just by pairs of Meade 4000s as I didn't realise they were so reasonably priced. I know some of you guys are eyepiece experts so I wondered what you think of the Hyperions. Be honest I can still return them! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 The Hyperions are excellent eyepieces and they are great value for money. I have to be honest, I had tuning rings and never used them. If you are using 1.25", have a look at the BST Explorer or star guiders as they are now known, they are also very good value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentrunning Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 Many thanks Baz I've posted a general request for advice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Nice post John, I really enjoyed your report on the big bins! ? It was quite a leap to decide from getting 'something or other' to have a quick look through, whilst twiddling your fingers between frames, to taking on these 'twin tower' Binos! i can only imagine the huge number Wow factors you have waiting in store for you! Good on you for taking a huge plunge with these beautiful Binos, I look forward to hearing more reports on what you get to see and would love to see them one day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentrunning Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 Thanks Stephen, hopefully I'll get them to Kelling later in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 I loved reading your report John. What an amazing bit of kit. I posted a thread last year about this chap setting up his own 16" Binoscope. Have a chuckle at this...... Bottletopburly, Smithysteve and Tweedledee 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 With a fantastic all singing and dancing scope like that, I'd invest in some nice smooth tarmac to wheel it across. Thought it was going to tip over and crash when he first wheeled it out. You can see why he needs that hernia belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 That's a great video Rob, I remember you posting it, but it's a fascinating watch! ? He looks so content setting that monster up, one happy bunny! I wonder how he got his bad back? Maybe he should have a motorised trolley, or a fork lift truck! ? Have all these monster Binos got you salivating Rob? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 (edited) I'd certainly like to spend an evening with them Steve. But owning them ?........from a practicality point of view maybe not. I think his makeshift weight lifting belt tells its own story. I'm also surprised he needs a Paracor corrector in what looks like an F5 type system. He must be a perfectionist. I'm more into the idea of owning (in a few years or so) a large aperture Dobsonian in the 16" - 20" range, and simply using the binoviewers i already have. Edited June 23, 2016 by Bino-viewer Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Bino-viewer said: I'd certainly like to spend an evening with them Steve. But owning them ?........from a practicality point of view maybe not. I think his makeshift weight lifting belt tells its own story. I'm also surprised he needs a Paracor corrector in what looks like an F5 type system. He must be a perfectionist. I'm more into the idea of owning (in a few years or so) a large aperture Dobsonian in the 16" - 20" range, and simply using the binoviewers i already have. If you live at a dark sky site, then that system is great, but stripping and transporting it anywhere would be a major operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentrunning Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 Thanks for posting the Vid, loved it. The binos I've got come apart quite easily. The top half pair of tubes is light but the bottom pair with the mount is just about on the limit for my knackered back. The two mirrors come in a single wooden box which I shouldn't really lift I my own, at the moment they live in doors and I carry them out to the garden one by one. I should definitely get a hernia belt like his! Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 ... and most people think my 15x70s are big! I'd certainly like to look through them but I couldn't handle a pair of binoculars that big. I like to browse the night sky while taking 30 second or longer exposures. I think many of us are busy imaging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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