Well, I've been drooling over the potential of night vision astronomy for long enough and I decided to take the plunge, I'm about to receive a Gen 3 White Phosphor AGM PVS-14 device and I have a few questions.
1. I want to use this device afocally with my Baader Hyperion Zoom Mark IV, what adapter should I buy? (a link would be very appreciated) Or should I get an adapter to make it afocal with my 30mm APM UFF?
2. Is it a good idea to use a Baader Hyperion Zoom Mark IV for afocal work or will the focal ratio be too low when used with my F/5 10" Dob? (I also understand using the zoom will result in internal reflections around the 12mm mark, but I can live without those magnifications)
3. What's a good filter for general purposes, I alternate between Flagstaff and Scottsdale Az and would like to minimize light pollution impact.
4. Should I extend this to outreach purposes? I am a bit worried if people ask about cost, it might discourage folks from getting into the hobby.
5. Any thing I should avoid doing with the night vision device? Should I not point it anywhere near the Moon, Jupiter, etc.
6. Any good maintenance habits?
7. Anything else you think I should know about night vision astronomy?
Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out!
Congrats on taking the plunge, you won’t be disappointed! I’ll answer the best I can.
1. For the Baader zoom, you’d have to get an adapter to go from the ocular threads on the front of the PVS-14 to the threads under the eyecup on the zoom. I believe there are a few NV using members that use the zoom so maybe they will chime in. Try a few different search terms in this section and you might get some answers too. I have the 30mm APM UFF as well and I have an adapter that I had made for my APM XWA eyepieces that works on it. For whatever reason, the UFF threads are ever so slightly different than the others, but it works. I’ll see if I can find the link for it.
2. The shorter focal lengths on the zoom are really only better for certain objects. There is a thread in the section right now discussing the same zoom. For nebula, you will want a faster effective focal ratio to increase the brightness. The NV monocular is equivalent to a 27mm eyepiece, so eyepieces longer than that act as a reducer and shorter as a barlow. In the case of nebula, especially larger ones, the TV 55 plossl with 67mm converter is the most widely used. At f/5, it gives you an effective focal ratio of about 2((27/67)*5).
3. Generally speaking, you’ll need h-alpha and long pass filters. Most use between a 3 and 7nm h-a and I’d think a 6.5-7 would be a good place to start. For long pass, a 685nm is the most popular.
4. It’s an expensive device for sure, plus the accessories so it’s up to you. You might want to just spend some time getting to understand its effectiveness and useful eyepieces for your own purposes first.
5. Definitely no bright objects like the moon and planets, even head and streetlights. I even try to avoid some of the very bright stars.
6. About the only thing I do is remove the battery after each use so there is no chance of leakage in the unit.
7. The beauty of the device is that even at 1x handheld, you can go out and just pan the sky. That’s what blew me away the first time I used it. Televue makes a filter adapter that allows you to use a 2” filter in front of it. There are also 3x magnifiers made for it, but search the forum about the correct one because it makes a difference.
Good luck, I’m sure you’ll get plenty of other feedback here!
