William Optics / Burgess Binoviewer

I was reading the new S&T (Jan 06) and I saw an ad for the William
Optics binoviewer w/2 eyepieces for $199. I went over to see if
Astronomics was selling it yet and didn't find it, but I found the
Burgess binoviewer that looks like the same unit with different plastics
and logos.

I'm a TV owner myself, but I've always been impressed by the fit and
finish of the William refractors. When I saw a binoviewer from them at
that price, I was very suprised.

Is there someone from William Optics who can tell us if we're getting a
higher quality item than the Burgess and if it is actually the same unit
in different packaging?

Anyone try either of them yet? Thanks!

Clear Skies,
Paul

I bought a Burgess to try out the technology. It came with (2)20mm
eyepieces. I used a Nagler 2x barlow to get focus. Now they come with
a 1.4x lens to do same.

Problem: balance. On a Hutech-Borg-77Acro, a very lightweight
portable, the balance is impossible to deal with. My TeleVue-85 on a
Gibralter mount is OK but I would not try it with heavier eyepieces.

I used it only a few times until Mars showed up. The barlow seems to
give me not 2x but around 3x to 4x magnification. This worked well for
Mars as my 3.5mm Nagler sometimes was too high for unstable air. Also
my aged eyes working together with this bino combo sometimes worked very
well.

Due to balance problems and very occasional usage I will not upgrade to
a more expensive bino, but I am happy with what I have.

However, if I had to do it over, I would now buy a TV85 short tube with
a bino, 24mm panoptics and a couple of barlows or equivalent.

George Hein wrote:
I bought a Burgess to try out the technology. It came with (2)20mm
eyepieces. I used a Nagler 2x barlow to get focus. Now they come with
a 1.4x lens to do same.

Hi:

I tested a Burgess rather extensively (I've got a review of it on
Astromart). I didn't have any problems with balance, nor did I have to
use a relay lens or barlow since I used the bino on SCTs...but...while
it's OK, and the price is great, it ain't no Denkmeier. I think just
about anybody would be well advised to save their money for a Denk.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm

Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

See: http://journals.aol.com/rmollise/UncleRodsAstroBlog/
For Uncle Rod's Astro Blog.

"George Hein" wrote in message
...
I bought a Burgess to try out the technology. It came with (2)20mm
eyepieces. I used a Nagler 2x barlow to get focus. Now they come with a
1.4x lens to do same.

Problem: balance.

Balance can be a real problem for an altazimuth mount. To expound from my
experience, the problem is that as you approach zenith, the scope wants to
flip over backwards. I've found two solutions for this problem. First is to
push the OTA so far forward in the rings that it doesn't happen. This of
course means it will nose dive at lower altitudes. The second solution is so
simple, I was amazed it took me so long to figure it out. All you need to do
is to aim the binoviewer perpendicular to the mount, and parallel with the
ground. IOW, sideways.

The problem is that the binoviewer stands too tall in the diagonal. One
could also put a counterweight on the objective end of the refractor,
hanging down to offset the binoviewer.

For every problem, there's a solution. :-)