On Oct 9, 8:33*pm, John wrote:
On Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:15:13 +0100, Neil wrote:
Hi John

Found it at last.

In January 06's Sky at Night mag, on page 74, they have an article on how
to make one. At the end it says 'The 4 x 8-inch front-surface aluminised
mirror can be purchased for £16 inclusive of UK postage from: Vacuum
Coatings Ltd.
66 Barrett Road.
Walthamstow.
London E17 9ET.

Tel: 020 8520 5353
Email: s.co.uk'

Might help and remember the £16 is the 06 price.

Neil

Thanks a lot.

A problem with exposed first surface mirrors lying flat is heavy
dewing. The image is also reversed.making identification of
interesting objects very difficult. There is no easy reference if you
glance up to see where you are viewing through the binoculars. Taking
the mirror back indoors to warm up and dry out will help but loses
your dark adaptation. You could make a simple resistive heater under
the mirror driven by a battery. I've used the mirror method to study
birds of prey circling overhead in thermals to save my poor neck from
lengthy contortions. One can also use a reclining garden chair or sun
bed for even more comfort. with your elbows resting on the chair arms
to steady the binoculars. You'll need to dress warmly because you'll
quickly lose body heat lying down under the stars. If you fall asleep
you'll probably get hypothermia turning binocular astronomy into a
dangerous sport overnight.

When I'm not using a simple and cheap tripod clamp/ binocular adaptor
on a heavy video tripod and bending my neck very uncomfortably I use
the roof of the car to rest my elbows to support my various
binoculars. This is really comfortable with the right height of car
but expensive if you don't already have one. .Car roofs also make
excellent elbow supports for bird watching and viewing the landscape.
Google for tripod binocular adaptor. Downside with these is damage
to the centre bar of the binoculars if the clamp isn't very well
padded and maintained. Some binoculars have a tripod screw bush where
a pan and tilt head can be fitted directly without using an adaptor.
It is amazing how much more you can see with the binoculars held
absolutely steady instead of wobbling all over the place hand held in
the usual manner.