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beginners binoculars for astronomy?



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 6th 10, 10:44 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Craven
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Posts: 6
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

Hi, can anyone recommend a pair? I was told to get 10 x 50s, but when I
use an old pair everything is bouncing around like crazy - and I'm sure
my hands don't shake that badly. Is there anything I can do to avoid this?

Also, the adjuster to compensate for differences between the left and
right eye - is this only set once or does it change with the distance of
the object I'm focusses on (I realise this doesn't change with
astronomy, just if I use the binoculars for any short distance work).

Thanks for any help, it's much appreciated.

C.
  #2  
Old October 6th 10, 11:23 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Sjouke Burry[_2_]
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Posts: 402
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

Craven wrote:
Hi, can anyone recommend a pair? I was told to get 10 x 50s, but when I
use an old pair everything is bouncing around like crazy - and I'm sure
my hands don't shake that badly. Is there anything I can do to avoid this?

Also, the adjuster to compensate for differences between the left and
right eye - is this only set once or does it change with the distance of
the object I'm focusses on (I realise this doesn't change with
astronomy, just if I use the binoculars for any short distance work).

Thanks for any help, it's much appreciated.

C.

When I use my binoculars, I try to lean my hands against a wall,
treetrunck, etc., which improves stability greatly.
  #3  
Old October 7th 10, 08:34 AM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Martin Brown
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Posts: 1,707
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

On 06/10/2010 22:44, Craven wrote:
Hi, can anyone recommend a pair? I was told to get 10 x 50s, but when I
use an old pair everything is bouncing around like crazy - and I'm sure
my hands don't shake that badly. Is there anything I can do to avoid this?


You have to learn to hold them steady enough. It will come with practice
and is easier to learn in daytime looking at distant objects than
craning your neck at awkward angles looking at the sky. A very small
amount of movement actually makes faint objects stand out more, but if
you can't keep them approximately steady then that is no help.

You might find 7x50 binoculars less of a handful with the
correspondingly lower magnification provided that you have dark skies.

Also, the adjuster to compensate for differences between the left and
right eye - is this only set once or does it change with the distance of
the object I'm focusses on (I realise this doesn't change with
astronomy, just if I use the binoculars for any short distance work).


The adjuster should only need adjusting to match the eyes of the person
using it. If only you use them then it is a one time adjustment. Though
you might find the right setting is slightly different between daytime
(when the iris is small aperture) and night dark adapted when the iris
should be wide open.

Thanks for any help, it's much appreciated.


I prefer 7x50 and 11x80 myself. My skies are fairly dark (N Yorks). The
latter are a bit of a handful and any higher magnification will
generally require a tripod for comfortable viewing.

Regards,
Martin Brown
  #4  
Old October 7th 10, 10:57 AM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Mike Dworetsky
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Posts: 715
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

Craven wrote:
Hi, can anyone recommend a pair? I was told to get 10 x 50s, but when
I use an old pair everything is bouncing around like crazy - and I'm
sure my hands don't shake that badly. Is there anything I can do to
avoid this?
Also, the adjuster to compensate for differences between the left and
right eye - is this only set once or does it change with the distance
of the object I'm focusses on (I realise this doesn't change with
astronomy, just if I use the binoculars for any short distance work).

Thanks for any help, it's much appreciated.

C.


I've heard of people using "monopods" for astronomy with binoculars. There
may be something designed for binocular use available in telescope and
optics shops. Tripods are fine but for looking nearly overhead you need
something a bit different where the legs don't get in the way.

Here are some results from the interwebs:

http://fesunoff.com/astro/binoMount.html

http://www.astunit.com/tonkinsastro/.../binomount.htm

plenty of other sites mention this problem and feature various solutions.

google for binoculars mount astronomy

--
Mike Dworetsky

(Remove pants sp*mbl*ck to reply)

  #5  
Old October 7th 10, 04:01 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
pete[_5_]
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Posts: 10
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

On Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:44:12 +0100, Craven wrote:
Hi, can anyone recommend a pair? I was told to get 10 x 50s, but when I
use an old pair everything is bouncing around like crazy - and I'm sure
my hands don't shake that badly. Is there anything I can do to avoid this?

Also, the adjuster to compensate for differences between the left and
right eye - is this only set once or does it change with the distance of
the object I'm focusses on (I realise this doesn't change with
astronomy, just if I use the binoculars for any short distance work).

Thanks for any help, it's much appreciated.

I've always found binoculars to be a rather tedious and unsatisfactory
way to do astronomy. I realise that conventional wisdom is to start
with a pair and graduate to a telescope, however I also feel that the
conditions (bino's are cheap, ubquitous whereas telescopes are costly
and uncommon) that gave rise to that advice is well out of date now.
I've never been able to hold a pair of binoculars steady for any length
of time - nowhere near as long as I like to look through the eyepiece of
a telescope for. Plus, you can't let others "take a look" without losing the
object that's being observed - at least not without putting them on
a tripod or mount, which adds another £50 - £100 to your outlay.

If you are determined to get a pair of binoculars primarily for astronomy,
I'd suggest making sure they have a mounting "nut" as you find on SLR
cameras, so you can place them on a mount. However, a normal tripod may
not be high enough (plus they quickly lose their stability as they are
extended upwards - and as more weight / bigger binoculars are placed on
them, so you end up with everything bouncing around again) - high enough,
as you won't be looking at things on the horizon, but above you so the
bino's will have to be above your head. There are specialist ones that
have 90° eyepieces which making viewing upwards easier, but we're getting
into the high-price/premium instruments now.

What I've done is build a "parallelogram" mount out of wood for my binoculars.
A quick search will show you many designs. You still get a crick in your
neck if you look upwards for too long, but they are more stable than
hand-holding and you can move them up and down without losing the object
they're pointing at.

With all this palaver, I still reckon a cheap telescope on a cheap
mount beats a pair of binoculars, hand-held or tripod mounted - plus you
can always sell it on ebay if you find astronomy's not for you. So the
financial risk that binoculars might possibly reduce isn't going to be
that great these days.

--
http://www.thisreallyismyhost.99k.or...3284815544.php
  #6  
Old October 9th 10, 11:16 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Neil[_2_]
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Posts: 48
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

I've heard of people using "monopods" for astronomy with binoculars.
There
may be something designed for binocular use available in telescope and
optics shops.


You could try the Argos catalogue. A tip I learned here a while ago is to
use an up-turned broom. Someone else suggested a thing for cleaning windows
as it's telescopic so can be set to the right hight for you. I found the
broom to work well but was too short.


Neil


  #7  
Old October 13th 10, 04:27 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
BillyPIg
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Posts: 21
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

I bought a pair of Helios Naturesport form GreenWitch after reading a review
in the BBC Astronomy mag several years back. They cost less than £100 - a
small fraction of the cost of my WO Megrez, so I often feel a bit guilty
about using them instead of teh scope, but they are so convenient (and maybe
I'm just a bit lazy). Worth every penny.

Pete K


  #8  
Old October 21st 10, 07:34 AM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Craven
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Posts: 6
Default beginners binoculars for astronomy?

On 13/10/2010 16:27, BillyPIg wrote:
I bought a pair of Helios Naturesport form GreenWitch after reading a review
in the BBC Astronomy mag several years back. They cost less than £100 - a
small fraction of the cost of my WO Megrez, so I often feel a bit guilty
about using them instead of teh scope, but they are so convenient (and maybe
I'm just a bit lazy). Worth every penny.

Pete K



Hey cheers, everyone, thanks for the advice. Think I'm going to get my
pair today - got some nice trips lined up to Cornwall and the south of
France where the skies are dark and hopefully clear.

Cheers,

Craven.
 




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