Christmas Bino help.

Admittedly I am quite frugal, but I have seen the bioviewer prices fall to the point that I may get one as a Christmas present for myself.

I have looked around and have notics a Burgess, and what appear to be clones for under $200.

The williams optics seems to have the sam specs, a slightly different/nicer finish and ep's, all for $200.

Then I see the Baader has a larger 23mm CA, although it appears similar in outward appearance, at $259.

Can anyone sort these out, and enlighten me to the real differences here?

I am leaning toward the williams, but any input is greatly appreciated.

-Tim

Hi Tim,

I own Burgess, Denkmeier, and Siebert 22mm 1 1/4" binoviewers, I also own a pair of Siebert 45mm Elite 2" binoviewers.

To the best of my knowledge the binoviewers that you mention come from the same Chinese factory. Some of the earlier ones were in the range of 17 to 18 mm clear aperture. They have since been opened up to 20 or 21 mm clear aperture. Please be aware that there are many different methods by which people measure clear aperture. I think when people are talking about 23mm clear aperture, they are speaking of the aperture at the base of the binoviewer.

No one that I know of is changing out the beam splitter or prisms from the original equipment, so that would indicate that they all have the same internals.

The Baader version has a few Baader add-ons like the Baader Glasspath Compensator and the Baader diagonal. I have not seen a pair up close yet but they are interesting enough to make me want to take a look at them. I do not think they come with a pair of EPs but I could be wrong about that.

There are other versions that come with EPs and basic optical correctors.

What type of scope are you going to use them with?

Don Durbin

Tim,
As Don says, they come from the same Chinese factory, which is Norin Optech. Essentially the same binoviewer is sold by Burgess, William Optics, Stellarvue, Orion, Celestron, and others. There are minor cosmetic differences and a few more substantial differences among them, and the Baader version seems to have more "customization" than the others. One of the resellers, Stellarvue, claims to have higher QC and has rejected up to 90% of the samples received. The choice of which to purchase boils down to a) Availability, b) Brand loyalty, and c) which of the resellers has the best reputation for QC and customer support. I happen to have the Stellarvue version and am very pleased with it, as I have been with everything I've purchased from SV. So my choice was based on b) and c).

Jim

[QUOTE
I am leaning toward the williams, but any input is greatly appreciated.

-Tim[/quote]
Right now I am using the BN which is the next step up from these. But I started out looking at the budget models to begin with while waiting for my 2"ers and out of all the quality budget binoviewers the WO's are the biggest bang for the buck out there. They also come with the most useful eyepieces these can handle without vignetting that is WA 20mm's.

You could also check out Ebay. There are a couple
of professional sellers there, including Burgess,
Moonfish, Owl Services, and Smart Astronomy.

I can't speak to the QC of any of these compared to
Stellarvue or WO, but the packages included with
some of them are pretty impressive. (But personally,
I just gotta say those WOs sure look the best,
aesthetically speaking)

I believe Burgess is having a 10% off sale there
until 12/18. I didn't read the whole auction, but
it said something about 10% off in the description.

Go to Ebay, and search "Binov*" and "Bino* view*"


EDIT: I looked at the Burgess, and it's 10% off with
an ebay coupon - but the coupon can be used to pay
for ANY ebay purchase so long as the purchaser
accepts, and you pay with, paypal. So, theoretically
this could be used for any of the bvs listed.

The ebay coupon code is C11-GIFTGUIDE, good until 12/18.

Thanks Guys;

I am going to be using on a C8, and possibly a st-80 (apogee). Although I will not go out of my way for a corrector for the st-80.

The stellarvue sounds like the way I'll go. Anyone besides anacortes selling these?