Posts Made By: Craig Smith

Thanks all for the excellent advice. I've tried to do as much research as possible, but I still have lots to learn.

A problem has always been not being able to try things under under the stars, and some return policies aren't that great. I live near Scope City though, and this week they're open late, so maybe I'll swing by and see if I can take a pair or two outside -- then I might get an idea of the difference between a good pair and a cheap pair.

Thanks again to everyone for the great advice! I think I'll be able to make a better choice. I see some interesting options in the classifieds here. I called around locally and no one seems to stock anything I'm looking for.

Not sure if I should put this in a different post, but one question: I've understood that porro prisms are superior to roof prisms, especially in the lower price range. Scope City has a pair of Barska 9x63 and Parks 8x42 with roof prisms, both fully multi-coated. I trust the Parks more than the Barska, but should I consider either?

Stopped by Scope City and tried a few pair, but unfortunately the transparency was lousy and there was too much light from the store to see much. Most of the eyecups let in too much stray light, and I was disappointed to find most of the eyecups quite uncomfortable. In fact, the most comfortable ones were the cheap Bushnell and other brands at Big5.

I don't know what my problem is, as I tried a 7x50, 8x42, and 9x63, and I couldn't seem to hold any of them steady. Of course, I was standing, and I'm judging this based on a bright star. On DSOs and dimmer stars it doesn't seem to be as much of a problem though (based on my observations with my cheap little binoculars last week).

Anyway, thanks for all the great advice. I don't know what I'll get yet but hopefully will figure it out soon.

OK guys, we are all entitled to our opinions, and it appears you get what you pay for. Hopefully this is all just unbridled enthusiasm, but let's keep things "happy" this time of year!

Thanks for the responses and great advice and info; some good stuff to chew on.

I currently have a Parks Gold 30 mm Plossl and Lumicon 1.25 diagonal. The FOV with this will be about 4 deg with the 66 and 3.3 with the Zenithstar 80, a bit less with the others. I can't get much wider without going to 2", and at the time I bought those I couldn't justify a 2" setup. It sounds like it would be nice to have the wider field without a finder, in which case it may be worth getting a WO package that includes a 2" diagonal. I need a 45 deg diagonal as well though. I'll have to do research on 2" eyepieces to see if there's anything decent that's reasonably priced. Of course, all my filters are 1.25 as well though. One thing always leads to another in this hobby!

Thanks very much. Interesting options. I'll have to do some more research to figure out what the final cost will be for all of them. At any rate, it's clear that there is no such thing as a one-size fits all solution, at least not cheaply.

I have one follow-on question that I'll post as another thread.

Thanks for the advice. I've heard wonderful things about those big binoculars, but I've never had a chance to look through any. I met one guy who has a pair of military 100 mm apochromatic binos and he says the view is truly spectacular.

Unfortunately for now I need a single multi-purpose scope, which on my budget will have plenty of limitations. I've always loved wide-field photos, but I would also like to be able to view the moon and planets, as that's what my kids are more impressed with. I was initially thinking Stellarvue/William-Optics and ruled out the ED80 because I thought it was too big to take on a plane, but Jon says the shield can be removed. It seems for my money the ED80 would be the best choice if I want to see anything of the planets, but the field is a bit narrower than the others. I do have a pair of Pentax 7x50 binos which may suffice for the widest views. I already have a decent 1.25 diagonal -- I wish I would have gotten a 2" but couldn't justify it at the time. I thought about just getting it and trying it out, but William Optics has some package deals with 2" diagonals that are making me think twice about the ED80 if I'm going to end up wanting a 2" setup. So hence my post. Of course, a 2" inch setup will be more important with the ED80, so it's kind of backwards. The ED80 isn't as good a deal if I need 2" accessories for it but not for the others.

Thanks for the info. I used an r/c with my SCT successfully, didn't know they had them for small Maks. I'll look into that. May end up with a refractor or maybe two different scopes instead though.

I live nearby and he's in my club, but I don't get to go much so haven't heard. But I'll see if I can find anything out.

I believe you can simply divide the field of the eyepiece by the magnification. A 20 mm 52 degree eyepiece on a 1000 mm focal length scope would give 52/(1000/20)= 1.04 degrees.