44 replies to this topic

[PilsnerDk]

Interesting

 

Can anyone (perhaps denis0007dl) explain if this can reach focus in a Dobson, like an Orion XT8i? Will it have the same problems of requiring a barlow because of focuser travel?

[doug mc]

It has a longer light path, so even more so. 

[denis0007dl]

Interesting

 

Can anyone (perhaps denis0007dl) explain if this can reach focus in a Dobson, like an Orion XT8i? Will it have the same problems of requiring a barlow because of focuser travel?

No way it would reach focus, and you will need some GPC, or barlow etc to reach focus.

First you have to measure how much free backfocus you have on your dobsonian.

[emilslomi]

Have there been any early adopter that can report on this binoviewer?

 

Emil

[rob.0919]

The TS version looks a bit different to the one the OP introduced.

One would assume changes have been made from the proto-type ?

 

Its now black bodied (to cure the extraneous light issue Denis mentioned ?)

And has gold eyepiece holders. I preferred the black ones, personally. Gold looks a bit blingy.

 

I must say, i'm sorely tempted. The price has also been reduced further : now around £290 UK / $380 USD

https://www.teleskop...-Teleskope.html

[Eddgie]

The ad mentions that it is T2, so that is a good thing.   Yes, at this price, it is a pretty good deal.  No one in the US is selling them, and for now, we don't know the exact light path because Dennis said longer than stated, but the ads all say 118.5mm

 

At 118mm, it might be a tiny bit to long for me to reach focus in native focal lenght mode in my Apo (which is the only place it matters).

 

Also, it appears that the Baader will come standard with one T2 dovetail and a T2 Quick Connector, and those component on their own sell for over $100.   Even with only 25mm, it is likely that any vignetting will be hard to see.

 

Santa is bringing me a T2 Prism, so once I have that, I can make an accurate measurement of how much light path I would have free.  The only scope I would likely use it in for any kind of deep sky observing would be my 106mm triplet (f/6.5) and for planets in the refractor and dob, I would want to use the Televue 2x, so having the dovetail and a Quick Connector would mean only having to buy one more quick connector (one for the T2 diagonal, one for the Televue 2x BV amplifier). 

 

At this point I am leaning to the Baader but keeping an eye open for reviews on this new BV.

[denis0007dl]

I just precisely measure light path of TS model, its 12.82 cm, which is very good actually!

Body is, you know, you get what you pay for, and eyepiece holders, if forced with rotation a bit, rotate whole, and can be unscrewed....

[denis0007dl]

..and good thing: fingernails are djusted well!

Middle plate for adjusting IPD, plate is very thin, not good....and IPD, not working as should.

 

T2 ring have too much space to make shifts at sides, and its impossible to make strict center.

 

Also, T2 ring is too fat for lets say small prisms, and then make problems with other side 2" or 1.25" scope side adapter....

 

But as said, well for price offered, so compromises are here.

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[Eddgie]

I just precisely measure light path of TS model, its 12.82 cm, which is very good actually!

Body is, you know, you get what you pay for, and eyepiece holders, if forced with rotation a bit, rotate whole, and can be unscrewed....

Thank you for being able to give a definitive answer.   I dislike that the ads are mis-leading, but at least we know the actual figure now.

 

Well, that is good for a big prism unit, but even with a T2 diagonal, I do not think I would be able to reach focus with my Apo.  I think the Baader will, but until I have my T2 diagonal and measure, I won't know for sure, but even with the Baader, I think it would be very close (I still need some space for the Quick Change ring as well, because I want to be able to go back and forth between the Televue 2x Binoviewer amplifier for solar and dob, but T2 diagonal for wide field in the Apo.

 

I even have my doubt that the Max II will work and if not, I will just stick with the Celestron BVs.  I actually don't think I would use the Apo all that much even if it could reach focus with BVs, but it would be nice to have the ability for when I can get under really dark skies. 

 

Again, thank you for getting this info.  Hard to trust ads when it comes to stuff like light path. 

[denis0007dl]

You are welcome buddy!

I beleive new Baader bino will have shorter loght path vs new TS unit.

About new TS bino: I see I can make apecial adaptation to T2, remove original eyepiece holders, and then add that adapter
https://www.teleskop...--T2-Clamp.html

With that setup, its possible to save some 1-1.5cm more light path, and, whats most important, to prevent unwanted rotation/unscrewing of eyepiece holders from binohead.

[DRodrigues]

...

About new TS bino: I see I can make apecial adaptation to T2, remove original eyepiece holders, and then add that adapter
https://www.teleskop...--T2-Clamp.html

With that setup, its possible to save some 1-1.5cm more light path, and, whats most important, to prevent unwanted rotation/unscrewing of eyepiece holders from binohead.

 

How would the resulting light path would compare to the one of the MKV, with the similar T2adapter - T2_clamps!
 

[froeng]

All,
I only just found this thread. I hope you don’t mind if I resurrect it!
I have the Altair Astro version of the aforementioned 30mm bino. Optically it is very nice! Unfortunately those eyepiece holders drive me nuts! They either come loose, or if you tighten them too much, the diopter adjustment becomes VERY hard to turn. Then when loosening the clamp, quite often the whole holder comes loose and detaches from the body. Is there any good replacement eyepiece holder I could fit myself? Any help with this appreciated. It is otherwise a great piece of kit!
Thanks,
Frank

Edited by froeng, 06 March 2023 - 05:11 PM.

[denis0007dl]

Hi Frank,

there are no replacement eyepiece holders in serial production other than originals which will fit, so you need to do some custom made ones.

Only thing you can do, is to put few drops of glue on thread of ep holders, so it will prevent removing them from body, so you can then operate with ep holders as you want.

Denis

[froeng]

Hi Denis,
Thanks for the response. I might give that a go to see if this at least fixes the unscrewing problem. A shame really as these binoviewers are otherwise really nice!

[Coco]

AltairAstro sell this, I was wondering if using some heavy duty black vinyl wrap over the white plastic would help with the light ingress, the BV's are £200 cheaper than MBII's, my wife wants to know what I want for my birthday next month.

 

I have a Bresser AR127L 1200/9.8 that's new (its still boxed!) and never gets used, I was thinking about cutting the OTA,  AA quote 'Total optical path distance (without barrel) 118.5mm.'  does this mean I need to shorten my tube by this amount as I've noticed using my 2" prism leaves only around 15mm of focus travel left in normal cyclops mode.

 

Help would be appreciated here.

Cheers
Guy

[noisejammer]

AltairAstro sell this, I was wondering if using some heavy duty black vinyl wrap over the white plastic would help with the light ingress, the BV's are £200 cheaper than MBII's, my wife wants to know what I want for my birthday next month.

 

I have a Bresser AR127L 1200/9.8 that's new (its still boxed!) and never gets used, I was thinking about cutting the OTA,  AA quote 'Total optical path distance (without barrel) 118.5mm.'  does this mean I need to shorten my tube by this amount as I've noticed using my 2" prism leaves only around 15mm of focus travel left in normal cyclops mode.

 

Help would be appreciated here.

Cheers
Guy

The trick is to measure the distance between the focal plane and the location of the flange when the focuser is fully retracted. This is sometimes called the "back focus" or "in focus". You can get a reasonable estimate by removing eyepieces & diagonals then projecting the moon onto your hand.

 

If you have 225-230 mm, 1:1 observing should be fine if you select an optically short diagonal - like the Baader T2 Zeiss prism or maybe a Baader BBHS mirror.

 

If you want to use a 2" diagonal, you will need about 250-260 mm depending on the diagonal you are employing.

 

You can gain about 25mm if you install the Baader 1.25x glass path corrector.

 

[froeng]

Just to give an update. I took one of the eyepiece holders off and cleaned the threads with acetone. I then used a few small drops of medium strength thread locker on the thread and lightly tightened the holder back in place. It has been curing for about 12hrs now and it seems to have worked! Time will tell if this is a permanent solution…

[froeng]

All,
I can confirm the threadlocker fixed the problem of loosening eyepiece holders. I used the bino last night and it now feels much sturdier.

[akdwivedi]

interesting.. chinese binoviewer but still not available on aliexpress. TS/Altair/Tecnosky shipping to my place is expensive. Have to wait until these arrive on aliexpress. :-)

[froeng]

I used the Binoviewer last night. Whilst the eyepiece holders are now firmly attached, maybe it is my eyes, but at high magnification (300x +)I seemed to be struggling to merge the images. It may have been tiredness. However, is there a way to tweak the collimation on these? I noticed that I could ever so slightly pull apart the eyepieces and it gave me a merged view. Of course, I would not really want to do that continuously… any thoughts?
Thanks
Frank