Spotting Scope or Binoculars?

John Honan wrote:
Essentially I was obsessed with
getting the 'best' bino or spotting scope optics and pushing the price up to
(and past) the 1,000 mark.

Yes, one tends to get carried away with quality and performance.
Similar things happen in the Hi-Fi arena.

Some interesting points were also made about the importance
of having a tripod for binocular viewing.

They have their limitations but are really worth the money.

Up until now I've been printing off sky charts
from heavens-above (as well as getting picky about working out my EXACT
latitude and longtitude!). But A4 pages tend to crease and flutter around,
and aren't that easy to read.

Also take a look at www.skymaps.com - download the PDF file for a
monthly all-sky map. It lists a number of objects to look at - for
naked-eye, binocular and telescope use. No more excuses for not observing!

If I had to choose between the
8" or the expensive Nikons, I think I'd go with the 8" Newt...

You won't be sorry!

They
appear to supply only Celestrons, and the sorts of prices they were talking
for anything with a decent aperture was way above what I was intending to
spend.

The inflated prices non-US customers have to pay for equipment is
ridiculous.

"John Honan" wrote in message ...

So, in re-thinking all of this, I've been looking at either a) A pair of
binoculars for 100-200 PLUS an 80mm short tube scope for 300-400 (Vixen
Planet 80s for 412 euro) OR b) for 700 euro, I could even consider an 8" f6
Newtonian on an Eq mount

If you have a chance, by all means try out as many scopes as you can
before buying. But be aware that the ST80 and an 8" Newt are very,
very different kinds of telescopes. I can speak with some authority,
as my first two scopes were the Televue Ranger (very much like the ST80)
and a 7" Dob. You can see some comparisons between views through those
two scopes at my website http://mysite.verizon.net/vze55p46.

The ST80 will serve pretty well as a terrestrial spotting scope, but
if you've never missed a spotting scope before, that may be irrelevant.
Spotting scopes have their uses, but for most terrestrial applications
binoculars are much more useful.

An 8" Newt is very nearly useless for terrestrial applications, but
for astronomy, it is immensely much more potent than a little 80mm
scope -- like night and day.

One final point - Nobody seemed to give spotting scopes much of a rating.
Although what got me interested in spotting scopes as an option were the
good reviews I'd read on a few sites (Tele Vue Ranger and Pronto, or the
Leica Televid http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews/leica.htm)

Well, the Pronto is clearly designed specifically for astronomy, although
there is nothing to keep you from using it for terrestrial subjects as
well. The Ranger, with its lighter weight and built-in balance bar,
was clearly designed with an eye towards the birding community, a
kind of straddle-the-line scope. The Ranger is quite similar to the
ST80, but exhibits a good deal less false color and has more consistent
optical quality. All in all, I would have to say that the ST80 gives
you more for your money, though. There are also various other 80mm
scopes like the Megrez and the Stellarvue that provide probably equal
or superior quality to the Ranger at a lower cost.

The Televid is a full-fledged spotting scope, with the sleek build,
rubber armor, and above all waterproofness that matter so much to
birders and so little to astronomers. It also has the built-in
image erector that I discussed in my previous post. If you happen
to own one already for other purposes, there's no reason not to use
it for astronomy, but it would be crazy to buy it specifically for
astronomy.

- Tony Flanders

Your site is very interesting and worthwhile, Tony. Particularly the matter of aperture
versus light pollution is important to many amateurs living in cities or suburbs, and your
empirical exploration of this topic is a real contribution. I don't know whether having an
excellent scientific mind is a plus in a computer programmer, but you obviously have one.
Ciao,
Bill Meyers

Tony Flanders wrote:

"John Honan" wrote in message ...

So, in re-thinking all of this, I've been looking at either a) A pair of
binoculars for 100-200 PLUS an 80mm short tube scope for 300-400 (Vixen
Planet 80s for 412 euro) OR b) for 700 euro, I could even consider an 8" f6
Newtonian on an Eq mount

If you have a chance, by all means try out as many scopes as you can
before buying. But be aware that the ST80 and an 8" Newt are very,
very different kinds of telescopes. I can speak with some authority,
as my first two scopes were the Televue Ranger (very much like the ST80)
and a 7" Dob. You can see some comparisons between views through those
two scopes at my website http://mysite.verizon.net/vze55p46.

The ST80 will serve pretty well as a terrestrial spotting scope, but
if you've never missed a spotting scope before, that may be irrelevant.
Spotting scopes have their uses, but for most terrestrial applications
binoculars are much more useful.

An 8" Newt is very nearly useless for terrestrial applications, but
for astronomy, it is immensely much more potent than a little 80mm
scope -- like night and day.

One final point - Nobody seemed to give spotting scopes much of a rating.
Although what got me interested in spotting scopes as an option were the
good reviews I'd read on a few sites (Tele Vue Ranger and Pronto, or the
Leica Televid http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews/leica.htm)

Well, the Pronto is clearly designed specifically for astronomy, although
there is nothing to keep you from using it for terrestrial subjects as
well. The Ranger, with its lighter weight and built-in balance bar,
was clearly designed with an eye towards the birding community, a
kind of straddle-the-line scope. The Ranger is quite similar to the
ST80, but exhibits a good deal less false color and has more consistent
optical quality. All in all, I would have to say that the ST80 gives
you more for your money, though. There are also various other 80mm
scopes like the Megrez and the Stellarvue that provide probably equal
or superior quality to the Ranger at a lower cost.

The Televid is a full-fledged spotting scope, with the sleek build,
rubber armor, and above all waterproofness that matter so much to
birders and so little to astronomers. It also has the built-in
image erector that I discussed in my previous post. If you happen
to own one already for other purposes, there's no reason not to use
it for astronomy, but it would be crazy to buy it specifically for
astronomy.

- Tony Flanders