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KennyJ
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 10146
Loc: Lancashire UK
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If you are reading this , and you own at least one telescope and at least one binocular , which one gets used the MOST , and why ?
If , like most members here , you have several observing instruments , which one gets used the LEAST , and why ?
I must add that visual astronomy is NOT the primary reason I use either binoculars or telescopes , but for both daytime AND star GAZING , since I got it , I would say that my MOST used instrument is a Nikon 10 x 42 SE .
My LEAST used is a Helios 15 x 70 and Helios 102 f5 refractor .
That sounds bad for HELIOS as a name , but actually there is only one reason I seldom use the Helios 15 x 70 these days ( inadequate eye relief ) and one reason I don't like using the Helios scope ( jerky focuser ) .
Pound for pound , from a purely OPTICAL standpoint , neither of the Helios badged products are THAT bad , considering the money paid for them .
WHY does the Nikon 10 x 42 SE see so much use ? -- because it's just so handy to use , and feels so COMFORTABLE in my hands , has the best edge performance amongst the instruments I have , and probably because is was the most RECENT instrument I acquired .
Regards , Kenny
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If everyone is thinking the same thing , no-one is thinking - General George S.Patton
Zeiss 7 x 42 BGAT
Captain's Helmsman 7 x 50
Nikon 10 x 42 Superior E
Swift Audubon Kestrel 10 x 50
Helios 15 x 70 Observation
Strathspey 20 x 90
Televue 76 APO
Zeiss 85 Diascope
Helios 102 f5 refractor
Various eyepieces barlows tripods mounts etc.
Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ5 digital camera
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Joad
Wordsmith
Reged: 03/22/05
Posts: 11919
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Well, I fit the criteria, but I may skew the data. My hand holdable binoculars aren't used at all for night time viewing. I'm just not a hand holding night viewer. Too much shaking for me. The big binos are really a heavy telescope in themselves (as my very recent story attests!) so they get about equal time with the telescope.
But, so as not to disrupt Kenny's implied hypothesis, there is indeed a weight-and fuss-related intertia involved with both instruments, and if I enjoyed hand held binocular astronomy, there would be many more evenings out doing just that.
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neoweb
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/10/06
Posts: 1482
Loc: UK
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When i did briefly own a telescope (Skywatcher Skyhawk 114M) i rarely found myself using it as often as the 15x70mm Skymasters that i still have. As a somewhat infrequent observer i found the convenience of the binos far more appealing.
I'd take the scope out if Saturn was visible but ended up selling it in the end and continued with the Skymasters. Which is why i'm hesitating getting the 6" Dobsonian i've got my eye on - how often will it remain sitting inside whilst i'm outside with the binoculars?
Decisions, decisions...
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Celestron StarHopper 8" f/6 Dob
38mm Burgess 2" SWA | 30mm Ultima | 20mm Omni
17mm Hyperion | 12.5mm Baader Ortho
8mm TV Plossl | 6mm TMB/BO Planetary
Orion Shorty Plus barlow
15 X 70mm Skymasters
Saturn-like: desktop image
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refractory
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/05/05
Posts: 1016
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As I've posted before, I get a lot of use now from my 8 inch StarHoc F4 reflector, perched on my knee. I also have a 10 inch heavy old Coulter dob I just don't use anymore. Focuser is just too low- its going to the nephews this Christmas.
I'd say I use my 7x50's and 20x80's much more than my 15x70's. I'll use the 80mm when not using the Starhoc, but will have the 7x50's, which give a better perspective than my scope's finder, even though 'ideally' one has the same view. They allow me to fish around for things of possible interest when not going from chart to sky.
I have 2 smaller aperture FL900mm scopes I use when planets are out, one F/8, the other F/15, but since planets aren't usually my 'ting', they don't get that much use- though I took a look at Saturn last night and noticed the rings were at a significantly different angle from the last time I looked.
Jess Tauber
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 14686
Loc: Hurricane Alley
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I use my Smelloscope more often than any of my scopes or binoculars.
In fact, using said Smelloscope, I detected a faint aroma of Zeiss to this thread.
Clear dark skies...
MikeG
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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.
Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Buy/Sell/Trade Meteorites, Moon Rocks, Mars Rocks, & 35 different falls and types!
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edwincjones
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 4423
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#1 use--telescope for solar observing
#2 use--smaller binoculars for birding/terrestral
#3 use--larger binoculars for nighttime astronomy
This changes with time with birding surpassing binoc astronomy over the past year.
edj
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n w arkansas
Binocular, Solar, General Amateur Astronomy
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Jay_Bird
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/04/06
Posts: 680
Loc: Nevada 36N 115W
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The hand-held binoculars are taken out often for even a few minutes of stisfying use, such as barely awake views of the morning planets close together or quick looks at brighter DSOs while minding the dog in the yard... The little refactor may get set up when 1/2 hour is anticipated or the bigger scope when the entire evening is open to observe.
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'these things stand like stone - kindness in another's troubles, courage in your own' Gordon
Edited by Jay_Bird (12/20/06 08:22 PM)
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John Jarosz
I'm being watched...
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 2193
Loc: Chicago area, IL
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I'll say that any time I'm using the scopes, I'm also using my 20x80's. Mainly to confirm that something has cleared the trees, or not; to see how are the heat waves rising off the neighbor's house, or just to confirm that what I'm looking for is actually out there.
So of course there are times when I only use the binos. So the binos get used more.
As far as the scopes go, the little refractor gets used the least, mainly because I've made it just as easy to setup the 6" (&/or the 8" once it starts to give good images) as the 100mm.
John
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6" F4.6(w/Paracorr) GEM reflector, 8" F11 Dall Relay Scope
6" F5 RFT Refractor, Garrett Gemini 20x80 LW
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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I'm skewed all over the place on this.
I remember a period earlier this year when I was studying double stars. I would have 2 scopes out each night maybe 3-4 nights a week for a month or more. During that time I used binoculars very little.
Then even more recently, when I was testing the Oberwerk Ultras, I had 3-4 binoculars out each available night for a period of several weeks. During that time I had one or another scope out maybe once a week.
I guess I'd have to say the stuff that doesn't get used the most is some of my older or lower quality stuff.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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edcannon
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/19/03
Posts: 679
Loc: Austin, Texas
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I don't have a telescope (yet), and to a great extent this is because I do have binoculars. I guess I'm easy to please in this sense, but there is so much to see even with small binoculars, and my handheld binoculars are so easy to use.
I regularly go observing with a fellow whose workhorse is an 8-inch (200mm) Coulter dob with a Lumicon 80mm straight-through finder set up at 12x80, and he's intimated through the years in various ways that he really thinks I should get a telescope, but I'm just very satisfied so far with binoculars. I have considered something along the lines of an Orion Short Tube 80 or Starblast, etc., but I just really like simply to be able to pick up the binoculars and look, using my Bright Star Atlas 2000 or Herald-Bobroff or just scanning around to view the beautiful sky.
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Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA
As of 23 August 2008 - Celestron Skymaster 12x60
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John F
sage
Reged: 02/16/04
Posts: 308
Loc: Washington State
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For Terrestrial Observing
Binoculars 95%
Telescope 5%
For Summer Months Star Gazing
Binoculars 45%
Telescope 55%
For Winter Months Star Gazing
Binoculars 20%
Telescope 80%
For terrestrial use the binoculars win big because they're so much more portable and easier to setup. Plus I have a wide range of powers which meet my needs.
For star gazing I use the binocular much more during the Summer months (June - Sept) because that is when the richer/brighter section of the Milky Way from Sagittarius to Perseus is visible and they make outstanding binocular objects.
I use the telescope for lunar, planetary and higher power deep sky objects (in both monoview and binoview modes). When you factor in the binoview use with the telescope I'd say that about 85% of my observing is done using either binoculars or with the telescope/Bino Vue combination.
John Finnan
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Leica 7x42 Ultravid
Nikon 7x50 Prostar
Swarovski 8.5x42 EL
Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe
Leica 12x50 Ultravid
Zeiss 15x60 B/GAT
Takahashi 22x60 Astronomer
NP-127 w/Bino Vue
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Mark9473
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/21/05
Posts: 2699
Loc: 51°N 4°E
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I think I will only get to an 'equilibrium' once I've owned each instrument for a few years, but at this moment my use is as follows:
- daytime use: my Vixen 8x42, very rarely my Leica 8x20.
- stargazing: my TS 7x50; this is what I walk out of the house with.
- astronomical observation: my Swift 20x80, but in recent months I find I don't go beyond stargazing much.
- my telescope for Moon and planets mainly. I'll need to get a better mount if this wants to see more use, as now I've got it on a photo tripod which is not ideal.
I find I'm hardly using my Swift 8.5x44 anymore, and I've been thinking of selling it.
From many years of experience, I know that every activity and interest I have in the night sky, tends to go through cycles, with a periodicity of several months to a few years. Right now I'm in my stargazing phase; this time next year it might be something else.
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Mark
Leica 8x20; Vixen 8x42; Swift 8.5x44, 10x50 and 20x80; TS 7x50; Orion 15x63
WO Megrez II 80 FD + Baader 90° T2 Amici
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sftonkin
sage
Reged: 02/25/04
Posts: 395
Loc: Kent, UK
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In order of frequency of use:
* Opticron 10×42 (Easy "grab&go", superb optics)
* Miyauchi 22/37×100 (When I want a nice long session)
* Greenkat 10×50 (Very lightweight, very cheap: my keep-in-car bins)
* Strathspey 10×50 Marine (Heavy, exceptionally robust: my star-party small mounted bins)
* Solarscope (A solar projection kit)
* 90mm Mak-Cass (My only telescope: only ever use for planets and Moon)
* Dolland "Century" 8×30 (V. good optically and mechanically; WW2 vintage; really I just keep these for sentimental reasons: they belonged to my late father in law)
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Stephen
Hindsight: The only truly diffraction-limited system
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edwincjones
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 4423
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Mark,
I rarely use by swift audubon for astronomy, but it is my chief binoc for birding and terrestrial.
edj
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n w arkansas
Binocular, Solar, General Amateur Astronomy
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Beaker
sage
Reged: 09/15/06
Posts: 253
Loc: Ellicott City, MD
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For me, use is about equal. I suspect this is partially due to my having a relatively light weight scope parked close to my front door that is quick and simple to move right outside and begin viewing.
Depending on my chosen target(s) for the evening, I may start off with the binoculars to scan the target area for a star hopping path. However, some nights I may just use the binocs to gaze at wide area star fields.
Other times ---- When traveling such as for vacations, I do bring the binocs and not the scope. Finally, my 8 year old son gets more use out of the binocs since it is more natural and easier for him to use on his own.
Gary
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Celestron 80mm f/11 refractor, Alt/Az Mount
Orion 10X50 Ultraview WA binoculars
Celestron SkyScout, PST
32mm GSO plossl, 20mm GSO Superview, 25mm Kelner
GTO 2X Barlow, Siebert Modular Barlow
Eyeglasses (sometimes clean)
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JHollJr
sage
Reged: 06/10/06
Posts: 204
Loc: Quantico, Virginia
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My 10x50's get used everytime I set up my Celestron 8". The Questar get used very little; just not enough lightgathering power. I also rarely use my Oberwerk 20x80's. I can find most of what I want to see in the Leicas, and if I want a closer look I go to the scope.
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Justin
Northern Virginia
Celestron Nexstar 8i SE
Questar 3.5 purchased 1980
Leica Ultravid 10x50's
Oberwerk 20x80 Ultra Lights
UA UniMount Light Deluxe
Horrible Eyes
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2098
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
If you are reading this, and you own at least one telescope and at least one binocular, which one gets used the MOST, and why?
Well, I frankly feel like a bit of an interloper on this group. I do enjoy binocular stargazing, but I'm far from a binocular fanatic. I can't imagine buying 80-mm binoculars; I *vastly* prefer my 70-mm scope, because it's far more portable, much easier to use (for me, anyway!), yet also far more versatile. (This statement excludes binos that take interchangeable eyepieces, which are a whole different animal.)
Nonetheless, measured in terms of how many times I take them along for an observing session, my 10x30 IS binos undoubtedly top the list by far. The only times I *don't* take them are when I forget them by accident or when I want a genuinely ultra-light setup, in which case I usually take my 8x30 monocular instead. Better safe than sorry -- you never know when binoculars might come in handy.
My 7x35 and 10x50 binoculars have been relegated to special jobs now, because basically the 10x30's do everything that either of those can do, but better. That's not *quite* true; 50mm is still a lot bigger than 30mm, and the TFOV of the 7x35's is a *bit* bigger than the TFOV of the 10x30's, but the magic of image stabilization is so potent that it outweighs those considerations.
Probably one session out of three or four, the binoculars end up staying inside my pack and don't get used at all. Even so, measured in terms of frequency of use, the 10x30 binoculars undoubtedly still top the list by far.
But measured in terms of hours spent looking through the eyepiece, probably *each* of my five telescopes beats out all of my binoculars combined. I frequently spend a half hour viewing a single object through a telescope, but that's almost out of the question with 30mm binoculars -- unless you count something like the Milky Way as a single object, which is cheating.
So basically, I like binoculars for quick looks and reconnaissance, but I prefer telescopes for intensive study, except in unusual cases (e.g. the Hyades).
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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Bruce MacDonald
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/12/06
Posts: 1019
Loc: Devizes, Wiltshire, UK
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Quote:
I regularly go observing with a fellow whose workhorse is an 8-inch (200mm) Coulter dob with a Lumicon 80mm straight-through finder set up at 12x80, and he's intimated through the years in various ways that he really thinks I should get a telescope, but I'm just very satisfied so far with binoculars. I have considered something along the lines of an Orion Short Tube 80 or Starblast, etc., but I just really like simply to be able to pick up the binoculars and look, using my Bright Star Atlas 2000 or Herald-Bobroff or just scanning around to view the beautiful sky.
Ed, I think I know the identity of the gentleman you mention! For the record, I use my Short Tube 80 more than my 10 x 80 Flak bins or my 10 x 30 IS bins. It offers more flexibility than the binoculars, though at the expense of some comfort; it would be nice to track satellites from the comfort of a sun-lounger but in my back garden there are too many obstructions (trees, floodlights from the local football club, my own house) and it would be a pain to have to get up and move the chair all the time. On the other hand, it is just a quick job to move the scope to a part of the garden where the right piece of sky is available.
The Short Tube 80 is an excellent scope for wide-field applications such as satellite observing and binocular variable stars. It is light and easy to set up.
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Bruce MacDonald
Devizes, Wiltshire, UK
Per Mare Per Terras
Viz Top Tip: Don't waste money buying expensive binoculars. Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.
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Jay_Bird
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/04/06
Posts: 680
Loc: Nevada 36N 115W
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For time spent studying planets, and youthful enthusiasm overcoming sheer size and weight for set-up:
8-inch Cave Newtonian on GEM used several nights a week 25+ years ago.
For most evenings used in recent years and most objects seen now:
7x35, 6x42, and 10x50 out almost every clear night, as 5 minute to ½ hour sweeps, as a game to see how faint I can go, for looks at areas not known from memory - sending me back to charts to make sure whether something at the edge of visibility was a condensation of background stars, a trick of my eyes, or a ‘real’ DSO. Or to see how many features I can make out on the moon…
If the views are nice enough and time permits, I’ll set up the Nighthawk for another ½ hour or more for moon or DSO viewing about once a week.
The binos have been on every vacation air trip and work travel, the Nighthawk on one of those trips to darker skies.
I like the 10-degree FOV binoculars for showing objects in context and associations of objects, and the 10x sees enough deeper than the wide-field 6x and 7x to be noticeably different. This doesn’t count daytime use of the center focus 7x and 10x and the unique little Papilio…
For most shared views:
The C8 with clock drive has been to outreach almost as often as it gets set up in the yard, my goal as I re-do small garage is to devise better storage so set-up isn’t a barrier to more frequent use at home...
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'these things stand like stone - kindness in another's troubles, courage in your own' Gordon
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Phillip Creed
Idiot Seeking Village
Reged: 07/25/06
Posts: 1033
Loc: NE Ohio
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The breakdown of each type of instrument depends heavily on the season. Spring and fall are typically more oriented toward my 12.5" Dob, while I'll split 50-50 between binoculars and the Dob if M42 is riding high or the Summer Milky Way is out.
Some of the most fun I've had is testing the visual limits of the binoculars. I'll try to sight at 12th-mag galaxy in the 25x100s under a dark sky, then use the scope to confirm detection.
For comets, I prefer binoculars for both the mag estimate (if bright enough) and the view.
Clear Skies,
Phil
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"Why suffer from insanity when you can revel in it?"
Wilderness Center Astronomy Club member since 1995
ICQ Comet Observer Code: CRE01
*****
16" f/4.5 Truss Dobsonian (FOR SALE!!)
Orion 120mm ST Refractor
23mm Axiom LX
13mm Nagler Type 6
9mm Nagler Type 6
1.75X Siebert Barlow
*****
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