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Portaballs and binoviewers?

Started by Ed Ashton, 02/17/2004 05:35PM
Posted 02/17/2004 05:35PM Opening Post
Has anyone tried using their Portaballs with binoviewers, or does their sensitivity to balance issues make it out of the question? If reasonably-priced binoviews had been available at the time, I would have ordered a Starmaster instead!
Posted 02/17/2004 06:16PM #1
Hi Ed,

I put my TV binoviewers with orthos on my friend's 12.5" Portaball one night and it worked. You'll find that you have to rotate the tube to an appropriate angle and hang something from the lip of the ball for counterweight (think: ankleweights in a t-shirt - so as not to scrach the ball). There may be points in the sky where you will have balance issues, but that's not the end of the world.

Separately, having the ball waxed super slick will not be congruent with binoviewing, come to think of it. ; )

Lightweight eyepieces are in order, which is fine since binoviewing is proving to work very will with lighter, inexpensive widefields.

All in all, I would say it is doable. You just have some weight limitations and different kinds of balance issues to deal with, but then... your scope is already "evolved" so one teency little half-step back can't hurt! ; )

Just my thoughts....

Matthew Sherman
NGC ME!

Posted 02/18/2004 06:27PM #2
Thanks for the input, everybody. I notice you all have 12.5" Portaballs. I'm wondering if my 10" will have a more difficult time of it with the balancing issues, since it's a smaller scope, but I'll try your suggestions with the weights. This will have to wait until I actually BUY a binoviewer, but this brings up another pertinent question. I am considering getting either the Denkmeier Standard or the Black Knight binoviewer. Would the BK be a better choice due to it's lighter weight, or is the difference too slight to matter?