Denkmeier binoviewer, Televue 8-24 Zooms + NexStar 4 GT?

Okay, before you guys laugh me off the newsgroup, I have a
combination of eye problems that make "cyclops" astronomical
viewing difficult. Basically this is the mess that is my vision:

*Myopia (near-sighted)
*Amblyopia (lazy eye)
*Strabismus (misalignment), seemingly a manual overcorrection of
the above amblyopia when I'm tired
*Nystagmus (involuntary back-and-forth eye movement), brought on
when one eye is brightly illuminated and the other is darkened
(typical cyclops observing)

The nystagmus is not a problem if I am observing in an area where
my "dim" eye can focus on something, except under certain
circumstances. An unfiltered view of a full moon can trigger
this. Often, therefore, I have to keep my red-LED flashlight
handy to focus on an image of sufficient brightness to calm the
jitters in my observing eye.

This is all rather nasty.

It finally occurred to me that a binoviewer might be my ultimate
solution. On one hand, it seems like such an expensive accessory
for a cheap scope (well, cheap is relative: the street price here
for a 4 GT is equivalent to U.S.$785); on the other, it might
take the difficulties I have observing and really kick up my
enjoyment level. So, I'm considering a Denkmeier binoviewer,
maybe the Denk II if I can swing the extra bucks, and a couple of
the 8-24 mm Televue Zoom EPs. From what I've read, this
combination should work fairly well in a scope that can only
accept 1.25" accessories.

Can anybody with binoviewer experience offer some comments on the
idea? How about the Zoom Televue EPs in a binoviewer? That would
seem to be a natural place for them, IMO. Any comments about how
dim planetary images appear when using a 4" scope with a
binoviewer? I tend not to hunt faint fuzzies unless the
transparency happens to be amazing -- a rare thing here in Tokyo.

Thanks.

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

Hi Trane,
I have a friend with many of the same eye difficulties as you. Have you
thought of going CCD and a laptop?

Clear Skies,
Bruce

On 09/30/03 22:55 +0900, Bruce wrote:

Hi Trane,
I have a friend with many of the same eye difficulties as you. Have you
thought of going CCD and a laptop?

Yes and no. I'd love to get into imaging, but only as an addition
to visual observing. I enjoy getting behind the eyepiece way too
much to give it up. On my light-polluted balcony, the nystagmus
is usually a non-issue; I'm just looking for a way to toss that
monkey off my back and I think a binoviewer might be the answer.

Cheers!

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

I once owned the TeleVue binoviewer (which I stupidly sold) with a pair of
TeleVue 8-24mm click-stop zoom eyepieces and used with a 4" f5.6 refractor.
The combination worked very well on planets and brilliantly on the moon. It
made for very relaxed viewing. Open clusters were very satisfying too.

However, I would try before you buy if possible because I've heard that some
people have difficulty in keeping the two images together. For me though,
there was no problem. If you can't try before buying, shop around to see if
you can find a sympathetic dealer who would be happy for you to return the
goods should you not be able to get on with them.

Clear skies,
Steve

Trane Francks wrote in message
...
Okay, before you guys laugh me off the newsgroup, I have a
combination of eye problems that make "cyclops" astronomical
viewing difficult. Basically this is the mess that is my vision:

*Myopia (near-sighted)
*Amblyopia (lazy eye)
*Strabismus (misalignment), seemingly a manual overcorrection of
the above amblyopia when I'm tired
*Nystagmus (involuntary back-and-forth eye movement), brought on
when one eye is brightly illuminated and the other is darkened
(typical cyclops observing)

The nystagmus is not a problem if I am observing in an area where
my "dim" eye can focus on something, except under certain
circumstances. An unfiltered view of a full moon can trigger
this. Often, therefore, I have to keep my red-LED flashlight
handy to focus on an image of sufficient brightness to calm the
jitters in my observing eye.

This is all rather nasty.

It finally occurred to me that a binoviewer might be my ultimate
solution. On one hand, it seems like such an expensive accessory
for a cheap scope (well, cheap is relative: the street price here
for a 4 GT is equivalent to U.S.$785); on the other, it might
take the difficulties I have observing and really kick up my
enjoyment level. So, I'm considering a Denkmeier binoviewer,
maybe the Denk II if I can swing the extra bucks, and a couple of
the 8-24 mm Televue Zoom EPs. From what I've read, this
combination should work fairly well in a scope that can only
accept 1.25" accessories.

Can anybody with binoviewer experience offer some comments on the
idea? How about the Zoom Televue EPs in a binoviewer? That would
seem to be a natural place for them, IMO. Any comments about how
dim planetary images appear when using a 4" scope with a
binoviewer? I tend not to hunt faint fuzzies unless the
transparency happens to be amazing -- a rare thing here in Tokyo.

Thanks.

trane
--
file://------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

On 10/01/03 02:55 +0900, Steve Paterson wrote:

I once owned the TeleVue binoviewer (which I stupidly sold) with a pair of
TeleVue 8-24mm click-stop zoom eyepieces and used with a 4" f5.6 refractor.
The combination worked very well on planets and brilliantly on the moon. It
made for very relaxed viewing. Open clusters were very satisfying too.

Thanks for the observations.

However, I would try before you buy if possible because I've heard that some
people have difficulty in keeping the two images together. For me though,

Thanks to being born with a lazy eye, merging images is a tough
task at any time. When I use binos, I never get a perfectly
merged image, so I expect it to be more of the same with
binoviewers. Interestingly, even for me, viewing with both eyes
offers far richer detail than with a single eye. Merging issues
aside, it's obvious that the brain uses both images to good
effect, even in my case.

Thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming!

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 15:02:43 +0900, Trane Francks wrote:

snip

Can anybody with binoviewer experience offer some comments on the
idea? How about the Zoom Televue EPs in a binoviewer? That would
seem to be a natural place for them, IMO. Any comments about how
dim planetary images appear when using a 4" scope with a
binoviewer? I tend not to hunt faint fuzzies unless the
transparency happens to be amazing -- a rare thing here in Tokyo.

Thanks.

trane

Hi trane,

While I haven't used the TV zooms (except for the nagler zoom, I haven't
really used a zoom I'm all that fond of - but that's a personal issue) I
can make some comments about using a binoviewer with a small scope. I've
used several different ones in my 4" APO, and had good results on lunar
and planetary with most of them (including the denkmeier standard, FMC, II
and TV Binoview). DSO's are something of a mixed bag. Some show
well, others cry for more aperture. Planetary (and lunar) images don't
dim much at all. In fact testing LM with and without the binoviewer (a
denkmeier standard in this case), I find I only lose around .2-.3
magnitudes. Some folks have reported more, and some less so obviously
ymmv. Planets and the moon look simply fantastic in the binoviewer and
honestly, one look at luna would be enough to convince me to get one if I
didn't already have one.

Hope this helps.

Tom T.

On 10/01/03 23:22 +0900, Tom T. wrote:

ymmv. Planets and the moon look simply fantastic in the binoviewer and
honestly, one look at luna would be enough to convince me to get one if I
didn't already have one.

Super! Since I observe the moon an awful lot, this sounds very,
very appealing.

Hope this helps.

It does indeed, Tom. It's great to hear that you've had good
results in a small scope. Great food for thought.

Cheers,

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 23:43:36 +0900, Trane Francks
wrote:

On 10/01/03 23:22 +0900, Tom T. wrote:

ymmv. Planets and the moon look simply fantastic in the binoviewer and
honestly, one look at luna would be enough to convince me to get one if I
didn't already have one.

Super! Since I observe the moon an awful lot, this sounds very,
very appealing.

Hope this helps.

It does indeed, Tom. It's great to hear that you've had good
results in a small scope. Great food for thought.

Cheers,

trane


Trane,

One thing that just occured to me: I'm not sure the Denkmier will work
with the nexstar 4 because of the arrangement needed for the Optical
Corrector System (OCS), which you will need if you don't have enough
focus travel. If you do need a corrector to come to focus, I'm
reasonably sure the televue unit would work fine (it would however
limit you to a 2x amplification factor) . If you are interested in
the Denkmeier unit, you might be advised to repost this question in
the binoviewer yahoo group or write or call Russ at Denkmeier Optical
and inquire.

Tom T.

Hi Tom, something else you might consider is the Adirondack Video
Stellacam EX and a good monitor. This camera integrates up to 128 frames
at a time and will give you the equivelant of 2 to 4 times your mirror
diameter. And it doesn't weigh a lot either.

Mark

Tom Trusock wrote:

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 23:43:36 +0900, Trane Francks
wrote:


On 10/01/03 23:22 +0900, Tom T. wrote:


ymmv. Planets and the moon look simply fantastic in the binoviewer and
honestly, one look at luna would be enough to convince me to get one if I
didn't already have one.

Super! Since I observe the moon an awful lot, this sounds very,
very appealing.


Hope this helps.

It does indeed, Tom. It's great to hear that you've had good
results in a small scope. Great food for thought.

Cheers,

trane



Trane,

One thing that just occured to me: I'm not sure the Denkmier will work
with the nexstar 4 because of the arrangement needed for the Optical
Corrector System (OCS), which you will need if you don't have enough
focus travel. If you do need a corrector to come to focus, I'm
reasonably sure the televue unit would work fine (it would however
limit you to a 2x amplification factor) . If you are interested in
the Denkmeier unit, you might be advised to repost this question in
the binoviewer yahoo group or write or call Russ at Denkmeier Optical
and inquire.

Tom T.

On 10/02/03 04:29 +0900, Tom Trusock wrote:

One thing that just occured to me: I'm not sure the Denkmier will work
with the nexstar 4 because of the arrangement needed for the Optical
Corrector System (OCS), which you will need if you don't have enough
focus travel. If you do need a corrector to come to focus, I'm

Hmmmm. Thanks for that. I just sent e-mail to Denkmeier. We'll
see if there are any known issues with their products and the
NexStar 4 GT.

Cheers!

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/