Joe Ogiba
Postmaster
Reged: 02/14/02
Posts: 5446
Loc: NJ USA
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Quote:
Quote:
The Orion 1.25" 20mm Expanse are the only ones I used with the RA-88-SA's and they work great with the barrels removed and some tape to snug them up in the oversize focusers.
Joe, if you don't mind me asking...I see you have both the RA-88's and BT-80/45s. Would you mind commenting on the relative merits of each?
Thanks!
Gary
Gary, I like them both because the 90° RA-88-SA's work better above 45° altitude and the BT80's are a little brighter and work with standard 1.25" eyepieces. Both have about the same contrast,sharpness and lack of false color in the 20-32x range with the BT80's being a little brighter.
Joe
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Pentax PF-80ED,Meade 102ED APO,Orion EON 72,120ST
Apex 127,C6 XLT,CR150,C9.25,XT10 ,Celestron Regal 100 F-ED, CT152
Zeiss 7x42 FL,Canon 10x42L IS WP,15x50 IS
12x36 IS II , Pentax 8x32 ED
Garrett Optical 28x110 HD-WP Signature Series
Oberwerk BT-80 45, Apogee RA-88-SA
Denk II Power x Switch binoviewer w/13mm Ethos, 20mm Pentax XW's, 20mm Widescan III's.
21mm Ethos,17mm Ethos, 22mm Nagler, 40mm Pentax XW, 14mm Pentax XL, 5.2mm Pentax XL, 8-24mm Pentax XL Zoom, 31mm Axiom LX
Member #17
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Garfield
sage
Reged: 02/02/04
Posts: 259
Loc: South-Western ON Canada
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Quote:
Gary, I like them both because the 90° RA-88-SA's work better above 45° altitude and the BT80's are a little brighter and work with standard 1.25" eyepieces. Both have about the same contrast,sharpness and lack of false color in the 20-32x range with the BT80's being a little brighter.
Joe
Thanks Joe. I must say I'm closer than ever to trying a pair of RA-88's if only because of the value - especially since I see the 90* eyepieces as being essential around here since there's nothing to see below 45* elevation due to the light pollution.
Gary
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medinabrit
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 854
Loc: medina ohio USA.
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I recently sold my Apogee 88,s.I liked them a lot & think they are a great value for the money .
I never found any of the negative things that some others found.
My only reason for selling them was that i have many EP,S
5 pairs that i had for binoviewer & thought i would like to try a Vixen 80BT which is also several lbs lighter than the Apogees.
All in all there isnt a better big bin for the buck.
Just wish they used 1.25 EP,S
Brian.
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DeepSpace67
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/13/06
Posts: 552
Loc: Prairie Village, KS, USA
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Last weekend stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Parkville, MO with my wife, so had a chance to observe under less light polluted skies. Unfortunately, the university campus and town is brightly lit at night, making it difficult for eyes to night adapt.
Setup the 30-minute homemade mount about 9 PM. This was the first look at Mars not screened by trees, and it was a nice gibbous disk at 32x about 30 degrees high. Still have not verified collimation in day light, but the binoculars did allow the reading of the word “Dodge” on a pickup truck tailgate about 3/8 mile away dimly lit by a street light. Will further test collimation against a brick building at home.
Headed back out at 5AM and caught Venus, Saturn, and Mars at 32x. There was some flaring on Venus, but Saturn looked good with the ring clearly defined and gaps between the ring and the planet. Mars looked great again almost at zenith. Turned to the Orion Nebula (M42). Not as bright as the trusty 10” dob, but could see the extended nebula. Looking at the trapezium revealed only 3 of the 4 brighter stars. Will need to look again at M42 from home, perhaps an issue with the Apogee, or the yard light 30 feet away.
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Matthew
CPC800 with Fastar
Astronomy Technologies 72mm refractor
MallinCam, Watec 3.5" LCD, and Green Laser
William Optics Binoviewer
Pentax 20x60 PCF WP II binoculars
Garrett Gemini Lightweight 11x56 binoculars
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JohnFredC
member
Reged: 02/12/05
Posts: 24
Loc: Winter Springs and Sarasota Fl...
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I am still enjoying my RA-88s. They have been a wonderful value. That nice felt on the inside of the lens caps gums up and will come off eventually. This means that the caps are no longer secure. No biggie for me, since I store the binoculars on the Hercules mount pointing straight up, but you should be aware.
What I really want is two AP Travelers side-by-side with correct view RA diagonals. Until then... the RA-88s do me fine.
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John
Sarasota
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Photoner
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/06/06
Posts: 636
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Great report.
I like the 90° idea as I don't want my neck to have to provide the extra 45° of a BT80 type design when working where the sky is darkest. I don't see why there aren't more astro binocs with the 90° configuration.
A quick price check at OP they are now listed at $629.99.
The $500 price must have been a sale or is there a better price somewhere, someway?
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DeepSpace67
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/13/06
Posts: 552
Loc: Prairie Village, KS, USA
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Quote:
A quick price check at OP they are now listed at $629.99.
The $500 price must have been a sale or is there a better price somewhere, someway?
Noticed the same price increase at OP about 3 weeks after purchase. $500 was not advertised as a sale price, but at least $100 less than elsewhere at the time. These were almost a steal at $500. Have not done a recent price check, but most vendors are at or about $630 a few weeks ago.
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Matthew
CPC800 with Fastar
Astronomy Technologies 72mm refractor
MallinCam, Watec 3.5" LCD, and Green Laser
William Optics Binoviewer
Pentax 20x60 PCF WP II binoculars
Garrett Gemini Lightweight 11x56 binoculars
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DeepSpace67
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/13/06
Posts: 552
Loc: Prairie Village, KS, USA
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Quote:
I like the 90° idea as I don't want my neck to have to provide the extra 45° of a BT80 type design when working where the sky is darkest. I don't see why there aren't more astro binocs with the 90° configuration.
Couldn't agree more. 45° is really a compromise designed for terrestrial use, but enables some astronomy use, that way manufacturers can sell to both user types and lower costs. 90° is definitely the best for astronomy. Believe the Agogee 88 and Orion BT70 are the only 90° BTs available for new in the US market. Perhaps someday soon a similar new 100mm 90° BT will be available in the US market.
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Matthew
CPC800 with Fastar
Astronomy Technologies 72mm refractor
MallinCam, Watec 3.5" LCD, and Green Laser
William Optics Binoviewer
Pentax 20x60 PCF WP II binoculars
Garrett Gemini Lightweight 11x56 binoculars
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Mohit
member
Reged: 09/22/07
Posts: 11
Loc: PA-US
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Hi ,
Thanks for information. I have looked at the Opticsplanet site & these Bino's aren't available anymore??
Apogeeinc site still show these in stock , but I beleive the site has not been updated for some time now , as it was taken over by Opticsplanet.
Andy
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DeepSpace67
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/13/06
Posts: 552
Loc: Prairie Village, KS, USA
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Other vendors with stock at $630 include the following.
Tactical Store.com
Shoptics
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Matthew
CPC800 with Fastar
Astronomy Technologies 72mm refractor
MallinCam, Watec 3.5" LCD, and Green Laser
William Optics Binoviewer
Pentax 20x60 PCF WP II binoculars
Garrett Gemini Lightweight 11x56 binoculars
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Mr. Bill
Postmaster
Reged: 02/09/05
Posts: 5219
Loc: Northeastern Cal
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Looks like build quality is good, but my concern would be the substantial pupil cutoff evident in your picture. This prevents getting the full aperture and I suspect would be a problem at high magnification in terms of image quality.
The BT100 45s have perfectly round pupils. According to Kevin at Big Binocular, they have massive oversized prisms.
They are certainly heavy enough...26 pounds.
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The night sky is the palette....
My optics are the brushes....
The Milky Way is the masterpiece
Member IDA
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