Craig Simmons
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/10/03
Posts: 1502
Loc: Falls Church, VA
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These things are huge and heavy. Jaws are dropping all over my office. Box arrived undamaged and in good condition. Green coatings look good. Upon opening up the case and styrofoam packaging, I noticed the mounting shaft was turned to the side in the foam which knocked a small chunk of it out of the bottom styrofoam half. Binos and attached mounting hardware appear to be fine. I'll be replacing the styrofoam with regular foam anyway. I haven't had chance to look at anything other than cars out the window. Headed for dark skies in western Virginia tomorrow night.
Note to self: Pick up more counter balance weights.
What size thread is the mounting hole on the center brace? 1/4"-20 or something larger? I'm at work and don't have access to my nuts and bolts supply.
Craig Simmons
Falls Church, VA
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Craig Simmons
Oberwerk 8x56, 20x90
Nikon Action IV 10x50
Barska 15x70
Galileo 20x60
Stellarvue 15x63, 20x85
Orion XT10 pre-Classic
Antares 10
Stellarvue AT1010
Edited by Craig Simmons (02/12/04 02:39 PM)
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Congradulations! I'm fairly certain it is 1/4"-20; the 22x100 use 1/4"-20. Be sure to let us know how they perform.
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Craig Simmons
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/10/03
Posts: 1502
Loc: Falls Church, VA
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Thanks for the mounting info. I'll post a review in this thread late Sunday or Monday morning.
Craig
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Craig Simmons
Oberwerk 8x56, 20x90
Nikon Action IV 10x50
Barska 15x70
Galileo 20x60
Stellarvue 15x63, 20x85
Orion XT10 pre-Classic
Antares 10
Stellarvue AT1010
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12601
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Give yourself a few weeks to judge them. Quick judgement leads to fasle impressions.
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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Diego
super member
Reged: 07/29/03
Posts: 179
Loc: Argentina South America
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Hello Craig,
I'm gald you got them safe and sound. I took mine last night to a dark place with moderate light pollution and was able to spot for the first time M81/M82 in the same FOV...just hand holding this heavy giants.
I should be able to get better performance with the binos mounted, as it's hard to focus correctly un mounted 
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Diego
Celestron 80 mm f11.4
Oberwerk 20x90
6" f7.8 Reflector
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Let us know how they do with a star test and viewing. I am thinking about getting Orion's 20x80mm Megaview binos....although I am not completely sold on getting those just yet. Oberwerks seems to put out good gear.
NW
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Craig Simmons
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/10/03
Posts: 1502
Loc: Falls Church, VA
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I did a brief hand held LP peek last night of the M42 region, the Double Cluster and Pleadies. Contrast was very good and a lot of nebulosity around M42, but the view was too shakey to say much more than that. I like the FOV these have.
I'll be picking up a Bogen 3130 or equivalent to install on my homemade P-mount later today. The little swivel mount that worked well for my Barska 15x70s is a little too weak to hold the Obies steady.
Any suggestions on a tripod head or is the Bogen 3130 the way to go? They're about $80 locally.
Craig
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Craig Simmons
Oberwerk 8x56, 20x90
Nikon Action IV 10x50
Barska 15x70
Galileo 20x60
Stellarvue 15x63, 20x85
Orion XT10 pre-Classic
Antares 10
Stellarvue AT1010
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12601
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Craig, there are a few excellent threads on tripods already posted.
Go to the "Best Of" post at the top of ther binocular forum. Click on tripods mounts and you will see links to the threads that will answer all your tripod questions.
The 3130 works for my 4.75# Fujinons, but there are better more substantial heads. Read what others have to say. Follow the links.
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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Craig Simmons
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/10/03
Posts: 1502
Loc: Falls Church, VA
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A lot of good info in those threads.
I ended up making an alt only mount for the binos. It's an oak T-shape that fits over P-mount endpiece and tilts back and locks into place using a clamping knob/bolt. A temporary bungee cord wrapped around the endpiece and "T" center pieces above the clamping bolt provides tension when the mount is tilted back. A second mounting plate sits on top of the "T" top piece and is bolted to the 1/4-20 bino center shaft. Two 5/16" bolts w/ wingnuts secure the plate to the "T" top piece. I'll replace that with a spring when I find the right length and tension. It works well enough not to spend money on a more expensive commercial Bogen mount. Here's a link.
http://www.cloudynights.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=640&password=&sort=7&thecat=500
Saturday night was the only decent night of the entire weekend. Transparency was excellent but seeing was bad. I went through many of the southern Messier objects and saw the xmas tree cluster and the NGC 2264? nebula. Also saw NGC 1999 in the Orion's sword region. M45 was beautiful complete with the nebulosity. I swung over to Ursa Major and saw M51, M97, M101, and M81/82 in the same FOV. The M35-38 clusters in Gemini-Auriga were sharp and populated with many stars. I was amazed at all the stars I could see from just panning around. Later in Leo I saw M65, M66 and an NGC galaxy near them, but wasn't sure which one. I didn't bring my Deepmap 600 with me and missed many objects that night. These binos score a big wow factor with me and I can't wait to try them in the bino chair. It was cold so I only stayed out for a couple of hours.
I was hoping for a clear Sunday night but low hanging haze and the ski resort lights (on all night) across the valley killed my observing session.
Images are very sharp in these binos. The objectives which I though were clear of blemishes had two small coating scuffs in the center of the right objective and a very small one halfway off center on the left one. I originally mistook those for debris lying on the glass. My AT1010 has a similar one. I guess many people would be tempted to return these, but I'm going to keep them. The scuffs are so small and don't seem to affect the view. Only the very outside 15% seems to show out of focus stars, but only slightly. Hardly noticible. Jupiter exhibited a little color off axis but was a clean disk with a hint of banding when centered.
I'll be out again tonight to look for C2002/T7 here at home and some objects I missed out in the sticks.
Craig Simmons
Falls Church, VA
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Craig Simmons
Oberwerk 8x56, 20x90
Nikon Action IV 10x50
Barska 15x70
Galileo 20x60
Stellarvue 15x63, 20x85
Orion XT10 pre-Classic
Antares 10
Stellarvue AT1010
Edited by Craig Simmons (02/16/04 04:04 PM)
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Diego
super member
Reged: 07/29/03
Posts: 179
Loc: Argentina South America
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Hi Craig,
Nice report. I'm glad you got a chance to test the binos at a dark site. Can't say the same for me. I just got back from my trip to the US on Sunday, and went straight to work on Monday. It won't be until next friday when I leave this city and visit my folks house...that's where my dark site is located.
I always thought these binos had potential, and your report confirms it. I was only able to see M81/82. No matter how much I tried, M51 was invisible as were the other messier objects in Ursa Major. Maybe I missed them becuase it was my first time viewing Ursa Major. M45 was nice but no nebulosity. I also saw the double cluster, but nothing impresive due to the light pollution.
I can't wait to get these at a dark site!
My binos also have a small coating scuff on one of the objectives. It doesn't seem to affect the view as far as I can tell. I guess you get what you pay for, but high end giant binos are way out of my budjet for now
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Diego
Celestron 80 mm f11.4
Oberwerk 20x90
6" f7.8 Reflector
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Craig Simmons
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/10/03
Posts: 1502
Loc: Falls Church, VA
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Diegeo,
Saturday was an exceptionally clear night for the area I was in which I think accounted for the fainter objects being seen. When the ski resort lights go out after 10pm the stars pop out everywhere. You'll have an easy time finding faint objects with these at your dark site. At home here inside the DC beltway, everything disappears in the LP. This friday I'll be taking the Obies to the northern part of the county to a recently opened Astronomy Park in Great Falls to help out with a public night there. It's a semi-dark site, but the darkest spot closest to DC.
Last night I was able to catch C2002/T7 (Linear) in Pegasus in the late twilight for a few minutes directly and with averted vision, but the Sky Clock reported haze rolled in right on schedule and blanked out most of the evening.
I'd like to also add that these 20x90s are very easy to focus and hold focus perfectly. My 15x70 Barksas have to be adjusted frequently.
Craig
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Craig Simmons
Oberwerk 8x56, 20x90
Nikon Action IV 10x50
Barska 15x70
Galileo 20x60
Stellarvue 15x63, 20x85
Orion XT10 pre-Classic
Antares 10
Stellarvue AT1010
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mikes1212
super member
Reged: 01/17/04
Posts: 195
Loc: Virginia
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Congrats on your new binos! Sounds like you had a great time this past weekend!
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Michael
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