Posts Made By: Tom Hole

About 3 months ago, I talked to Russ about getting a pair of Denk II's. Not sure why, as I already had two great pairs of binoviewers. But I put myself on the waiting list and decided to not decide until my # came up. I talked to Russ today about sending in my part O for a Power X upgrade and he said I could get in on the next Denk II run. Hmmmm.... OK. I got the full meal deal: Denk II's, dual diopters (don't need 'em, but why not have them?), and the dual arm Power X (don't need the dual arm, but I couldn't just get one . Anyway, I guess I'll have to do some comparisons before I sell the other pairs. Of course, this is how I ended up with 2 pairs from the last purchase. I told myself I would compare the two and sell the one I didn't want. A year later, I still have both.

Anyway, thought I'd fill ya'll in on my latest acquisition. God forbid a pair of Baaders show up here on Astromart. Luckily, they haven't solved the Newt problem yet, otherwise I'd end up with a pair of those as well. No, I'm not rich (the Navy doesn't pay that well), just stupid.

Clear skies at multiple mags,

Tom

My lawnmower died today after 5 years of exemplary service and the past 2 years of problematic service. It's time for a new one. I did my standard first step and checked to see what Consumer Reports had to say. I am leaning towards the Toro Recycler 20031 ranked 2nd only to the Honda HRX217TDA. Anyone own the Toro?

Thanks,

Tom

Well, my previously owned Fujinon 16x70's arrived today. Look great. As this is the first pair of real binoculars I have owned, I have nothing to compare them to except my really crappy Bushnell 10x50 stinkers.

I put them on my P-mount and was happy that it handled their heft with aplomb. I took the lens caps off, focused on the neighbor's house (white siding) and immediately noticed how huge the eye lenses are. This prevented me from getting my eyes close enough to see the entire FOV. My IPD is 58 mm and my upper, central proboscus region is slightly larger than average. I am an avid binoviewer with my Starmaster and find that my problem is not eye relief, but rather, nose relief. This has proven to be true with the Fuji's. I'm estimating that I can only see 60% of the AFOV because my nose won't fit in between the eyepieces. At night, that may increase with a more dialated pupil, but I have enough experience with the binoviewers to know that I am not going to fit in there.

I will give these a try tonight, but I'm 90% certain that the eye/nose relief will not be sufficient to allow me full access to the entire FOV. That is a requirement. So, I solicit your help. I would like to know what else is available in this class of binocular (and this size) that might offer more eye relief with the same quality optics.

One thing I did notice while looking at the neighbor's white siding is the CA. About the same as my Orion 80mm short tube refractor. Not bad, not great.

Anyway, can you help a beady eyed astronomer out?

Clear skies,

Tom

Nils,

I just had my FUji 16x70's out for the first time tonight for my first ever binocular astronomy. The P-mount really makes it easier. But even with the telscoping Bogen and P-mount, viewing anything above 30 deg is a pain in the neck. Just doesn't fit my style. I think I'm going to get a Unistar deluxe head to put on it, though. I hate standing up and observing.

As for CA, I found that eye pleacement made all the difference in the world, especially on Jupiter. If I moved my eyes just a tad, Jupiter turned into a big chromatic purple ball. Well placed eyes = very little CA. Saturn was similar, but with sharpness, not CA. If I moved my head around it would change into all sorts of odd shapes. Well placed, I thought I could see the rings separate from the planet. That may have been averted imagination.

I found the eye relief with the eye cups unscrewed and removed to be just right. Any less, and I would be bumping the binos all the time. I could take in the entire FOV without bumping them.

Even with the moon up, I spotted M81 & 82 and two of the Leo trio. M3 and M13 were there, but I made the mistake of pulling out the Starmaster and looking at them with the binoviewers and 13 Naglers. Wow! I do like the combo of the 4 deg FOV of the Fuji's combined with the wonderful high power capability of the Starmaster. Just like there are things the Fuji's can't do (high power), there are things the Starmaster can't do (4 deg TFOV). Very symbiotic.

I tried to split Struve 1245. No chance, Batman. Too windy. The Starmaster handled it with aplomb at 44x. Ought to for as big as the thing is.

So, I'm pleased with the Fuji's. Hopefully I can get to a dark site with them. Mag 6 skies with a nice pair of binoculars should prove spectacular.

Clear skies,

Tom

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?itemID=38495&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C6%2C30&KickerID=347&KICKER

Just like the hole in my head I ordered 3 months ago, another pair of binoviewers showed up yesterday. I got the Denk II's, dual SCD's and dual arm Power X. I had a date last night so I had to wait to try them today. Clouds everywhere, but they cleared up for 5 minutes so I took a quick peek at Sol.

Initial impressions of Power X: 'bout friggin time. I have always hated the prospect of having to re-configure pieces parts at night for different mags. That's why I've had 2 binoviewers for so long. Not anymore. I will do a detailed comparison of the Power X to my 2x TV corrector whenever condition permit. Not so much to choose which to keep, but to let me know if the mid power mode is worth using. I know how the low power mode performs (great, but not at powers over 150x) and I know how the high power mode performs (as good as the 2x TV corrector), so I feel comfortable with those configurations.

I gotta tell ya, I had imagined how great the Power X would be before it arrived, but the ease of use it brings to binoviewing is wonderful. These things are a revolution in binoviewing. I am NOT a Denkmeier cronie, but I will say that this is the best thing since binoviewers themselves.

As for the Denk II's, they look nice. If I can afford to keep the Denk stds long enough for a good night, I'll do a comparison. Then I'll have to decide between the TV's and Denk II's.

BTW, Russ's service is outstanding. I cannot say enough good things about my dealings with him.

Clear skies with 2 eyes,

Tom

To burn ants. Any recommendations? 3x? 5x? 10x? There's a nice Baush and Lomb 5" 5x I found.

Thanks,

Tom

http://www.tomhole.com/Binoviewers.htm

Just rambled for a while on what I've been doing with the Denk II's.

Tom

And I can merge them without problems, even with the eyevups on. It's still daylihgt, so I only tested them in the binoviewers and not in the telescope, but they merged easily with plenty of room. I will try them out tonight. Joe Ogiba, are the Pentax XW's the same diameter as the Pentax XL's? They need to be exactly the same as I have the Pentax XL's butted right up next to each other. The 20mm ER seems to make the difference. I had tired the Pentax's at Hands on Optics a long while ago and could not get them to merge, but I can now. Maybe my eye are more accepting. Dunno, but They sure look good in the binoviewers.

Tom

Ed,

I just ordered one of these with the articulated L bracket. Larry said that would give me 5 degrees of freedom. From the pictures of the Light Basic I have found, I cannot, for the life of me, find that 5th degree of motion. I'm guessing the pics are not up to date. Here's my tally:

1. Rotate the whole p-mount around where it mounts to the tripod
2. Up and down, the whole shebang, in wonderful p-mount fashion
3. Tilt up and down at the binocular
4. Tilt left and right with the articulated L bracket
5. ??? I assume this is some sort of pan feature at the binocular head, but I can't find a picture that shows that. The deluxe is obvious.

Thanks,

Tom