|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OpticsBlog – Thoughts and reviews of binoculars, telescopes, scopes, sights, and much more - birdwatching, astronomy, target shooting - pretty much anything related to optics, nature, and life!Tuesday, May 31, 2011Telescopes and windWe astronomers are always watching the weather forecast for the presence of clouds or, better yet, the lack of clouds, but there are aspects of the weather that can still make life miserable when looking through the telescope eyepiece. Wind is definitely one of them, but the there are a lot of factors to consider when the wind kicks on a night when you plan to setup & use a telescope, unless, of course, you are lucky enough to have your telescope in an observatory where it will be somewhat protected from the wind. First and foremost is how much wind, of course. Under 10 mph is doable with most telescope and tripod combos, but 20 mph is another story. Large telescopes that have a lot of surface area are very susceptible to winds simply because there is a lot of telescope for the wind to grab and shake while you are looking through the eyepiece. 20 mph will make observing at high magnifications all but impossible and when winds reach 30 mph there is a real possibility of your telescope toppling over. I’ve seen it happen. Small telescopes are more practical on windy nights, but only if we are talking about small telescopes on excellent mounts. Small telescopes on cheap, light tripods and mounts are a nightmare in almost any kind of breeze, not to mention winds in the 20 mph category. That's one reason why we astronomers consider a good telescope mount as much more than telescope accessories. So what do I do when the wind blows? Often I’ll drop down to my smaller telescopes since the sky transparency and/or stability is not all that good when the wind blows, anyway. Why bother with the big telescope when you can't use all that performance? More often than not, though, I’ll just say the heck with it and grab my astronomy binoculars and wait for a better night to use the telescopes. Monday, May 30, 2011Dobsonian telescopes size Once in awhile I get questions about Dobsonian telescopes, because, let’s face it, they don’t look like what most people visualize when you mention telescopes. This can cause some confusion when it comes time to choose the right telescope. Where’s the tripod? Do I have to buy that separately? Is this all I need or do I have to add some other telescope accessories to make it a complete telescope? What kind of a table would you suggest I place it on? Where’s the rest of it? Doesn’t look very big. You really do need to see a Dobsonian telescope in person and operate it to fully appreciate what a marvel of simplicity and functional perfection it is, but if I was to give manufacturers of Dobsonian telescopes some advice, it would be to always supply a pic with a person standing next to the telescope to at least give some idea of scale. There are some Dobsonian telescopes which are, indeed, small enough to fit on a table top, such as the Bushnell Ares 5 or the Celestron Firstscope 76, but the typical Dobsonian is big and, in fact, the largest telescopes in the amateur astronomy community are Dobsonians. The one in the pic (my beautiful new Obsession 12.5) is actually considered a mid-sized Dobsonian telescope at 12.5”, but, as you can see, it’s as tall as me and I am a tall gal at 5’10”. Yup, that’s the entire telescope, too, folks. We don’t need a tripod to put the telescope eyepiece at a proper working height, but on the really big Dobsonians, you will need a ladder to climb up to the eyepiece. Friday, May 27, 2011Where to setup & use a telescopeWalked down to the dock, the other night, with my astronomy binoculars to take do a little astronomy. Part of my excursion was to do astronomy with the binoculars, of course, but I also wanted to see, specifically, what areas of the sky would be available to me when I am using the telescopes, specifically my large 12.5” telescope. Would I see that much more sky from the dock than from our yard, which is but a small opening in the forest? After all, moving a large telescope, even a short distance, is something you want to consider, carefully. Where you plan to setup & use a telescope is just as important as how you use a telescope. The view from the dock does, indeed, give me a better view of the sky. The sky to the north and the west is wide open. The view to the east is good, too, as long as I am looking directly east. Once I start to drift south, from east, however, the forest blocks my view. South is not good at all. Ouch. It just so happens that many of the things we astronomers like to see in the telescope eyepiece are in the southern sky and, living this far north, it would be hard enough to see the southern constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpius even if I had a clear view right down to the horizon. These two constellations are gold mines of things to see in both the binoculars and telescopes, so looks like I will be hunting for yet another observing site when I want a view to the south. Who put all these darn trees around here, anyway? Thursday, May 26, 2011Do I need a tripod?Do I need a tripod? That, of course, depends on what you plan to use with your tripod. Thanks to digital cameras and the image stabilization systems they nearly all include, there is less of a need, today, to add a tripod to a camera to get a shap pic than there was back in film camera days when image stabilization was basically science fiction. I am constantly amazed at what some of my friends can do with high zoom digital cameras, such as the Canon SX without a tripod. Of course, they never messed with film cameras all that much, so they never developed a tripod habit, as I did. Oh yeah, I still get uncomfortable without a tripod at focal lengths loner than 200 mm, but I guess I am old school. Spotting scopes, on the other hand, remain fairly useless without tripods. No image stabilization, here. Sure, I’ve experimented with monopods and stock mounts with spotting scopes and those work to some extent at low spotting scope magnifications, but start to study fine detail, even at low spotting scope magnifications and you will find yourself reaching for a tripod. Kick the magnification up much past 30x and you’ll sell your soul for a tripod and a darn good one at that. As long as there are spotting scopes the tripod folks will continue to sell tripods. Wednesday, May 25, 2011Best telescope There is no perfect or best design when it comes to telescopes. Each and every type of optical system used in telescopes has its good and its bad points. Keep this in mind when it comes time to choose the right telescope for you and your type of observing. Also be aware that there is a lot of personal preference involved, here, as there is when choosing just about anything in astronomy equipment, telescope accessories included. What is best for me, then, in telescopes and telescope accessories, may not be best for you. That darn word “best” can trip you up in any discussion of telescopes and telescope accessories, so be advised. Don't get trapped in that quest for the mythical best telescope. For instance, I have long been known as a fan of high end APO refractor telescopes. Nothing beats the image quality through one of these premium telescopes, but I’m not about to claim that they are the “best telescope” for everyone and, in fact, sometimes not even the best telescope for me. That’s why I own more than one type of telescope. Different telescopes for different jobs and also different telescopes depending on my mood on a given night. My small APO refractor, for instance, will knock your socks off when it comes to views of the moon or planets and other bright objects, but when it comes to hunt the faint stuff, my much larger Dobsonian telescope will make it look like the pipsqueak it is. On the other hand, there are nights when I just don’t want to hassle with a big telescope and, make no mistake, big telescopes are nowhere near as portable and convenient as small telescopes. Hey, there are even nights when I don't want to bother with any telescope at all, so I grab the astronomy binoculars. All in all, it is pretty hard to ask one telescope to do everything and do it well. Tuesday, May 24, 2011Astronomy in the cityI still remember the shock I experienced when I first moved to the Chicago suburbs and glanced up at the night sky. Disaster! That’s the word that popped into my head. How would I ever put my astronomy binoculars and telescopes to good use under such horribly light-polluted skies? How had I managed to put myself in such an amateur astronomy hell? This country gal was depressed, to say the least. I soon discovered, though, that my love of astronomy trumped all and, also, that I was not alone. The Chicago area, despite the light pollution, has many amateur astronomers and some very active astronomy clubs. Astronomy is alive and well in the Windy City. One secret of survival for astronomers in urban areas, then, is to band together with other astronomers. The other secret is to make the most of what you do have under urban skies. For me, it was a matter of changing what I tried to see in the binoculars and telescope eyepiece. Faint objects were out, though I never stopped trying to see my favorite faint fuzzies. Bright objects were in and thus I gained a new appreciation for the moon and the planets, since these objects are bright enough to be little affected by light pollution and, in fact, urban skies are often more stable than rural skies and that is a plus when observing the moon and planets. I am now back under dark rural skies and back to hunting for faint deep-sky objects, but I have not forgotten what I learned in the big city - my binoculars and my telescopes still see a lot of time pointed at the moon and the planets. Astronomy in the city is alive and well. If you are an urban astronomer, do not let that light pollution rob you of your astronomy. Monday, May 23, 2011Bird feeders are back in actionIt’s been almost three weeks since I took down my bird feeders due to a marauding bear. That’s the minimum recommended time to discourage a bear from making a habit of visiting your bird feeders and, believe me, it’s also about as long as I can go without feeding my birds. For the last few weeks, I’ve actually been scanning empty bird feeder poles with my binoculars and spotting scopes out of long habit before it registers that the feeders are no long up. That’s kind of pathetic, I know, but it just shows how addicted one can become to feeding birds. Oh yeah, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do when it comes to both birdwatching and digiscoping. Okay, the feeders went back up over the weekend, at least partially. For the time being, I am limiting myself and the birds to a large black oil sunflower feeder and a couple of small thistle feeders. No suet feeders, since it was the suet feeders the bear hit on his visit. My nuthatches and woodpeckers are not happy about this, but the suet feeders will return once I’m sure the bear will not. As for the hummingbird feeder, I have not decided. Oops! There’s some Goldfinches. Gotta grab my birding binoculars for a closer look. Sunday, May 22, 2011Spotting scopes distancesOne of the great advantages of spotting scopes for both birdwatching and bird photography is that spotting scopes allow you to be discreet. That spotting scope magnification allows you to work at much greater distances than birding binoculars or conventional photography equipment when in the field. That’s important, ethically. Yes, it is a kick to get up close and personal to wildlife, at least from our perspective, but wildlife doesn’t typically share our enthusiasm for a close approach. We birders and wildlife photographers have a duty to stay back far enough as not to unduly spook our subjects. If you are going to be birding in many wildlife sanctuaries and refuges, you may be restricted to established trails and this is as it should be, of course, for the sake of the both wildlife and the environment. This means that you may find your typical binoculars to be a little underpowered. On these occasions, I’ve spotted and identified many birds I would not have otherwise seen had it not been for a good birding spotting scope. Bird photography with spotting scopes, especially bird photography via digiscoping – holding small digital cameras over the eyepiece of a spotting scope – has made a tremendous difference in the world of photography because of access to all that extra spotting scope magnification. This has allowed us to get many pics that were simply impossible to get with conventional digital SLRs and long telephoto lenses and, of course, it also means we can keep our distance. I have a pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers high in a White Pine just off our driveway and will be able to take some pics from enough of a distance they won’t even know I am there. That’s the whole idea. Thursday, May 19, 2011Computers on telescopesI heard that an astronomy friend of mine finally broke down and decided to upgrade his telescopes with DSC (digital setting circles), which is a techy way of saying that he finally decided to add computerization to his telescope. A computer on the telescope mount helps you point the telescope in the right direction for any object you wish to see in the telescope eyepiece. It is one of the most useful telescope accessories and an, in fact, a computer is almost an essential telescope accessory for observing under light polluted skies, simply because light pollution renders many stars invisible, specifically the stars you need to see in order to accurately navigate with a star chart. Then, too, a computer lets you see more objects per hour of observing time than navigating the old fashioned way. No doubt about it, when it comes time to choose the right telescope, one of the telescope first questions you should ask is whether you want a computer. As for me, I sticking with the star chart and doing things, manually, without the help of a computer. I don’t need a computer, because I have been doing astronomy long enough to know the locations of everything I want to see and also because I have very dark skies full of stars needed to navigate with my star charts. Then, too, I’m in no hurry to see how many objects I can get into the telescope eyepiece for every hour of observing. I tend to “park” on my favorite objects, so to speak, and enjoy the view. Lastly, adding a computer to a telescope would be, well, like taking my work home with me. I setup & use a telescope to get away from work. I spend too much time with computers as it is. Wednesday, May 18, 2011Bears and bird feedersThank goodness, the bear has been gone from our north woods back yard for a couple of weeks, now. Nothing against bears, but that darn bear really altered my daily routine. Oh, yeah, I am very tempted to put my bird feeders back up on the pole and get my birds back in the yard where I can watch them with my binoculars and spotting scopes, now that our yard is, once again, bear free. My birdwatching and my digiscoping have taken a huge hit without my bird feeders. I can’t stand looking out in the yard and not seeing my usual beehive of bird activity. I still find myself wearing birding binoculars around my neck and glancing out the window to check on my feeders, out of habit, as I go about my domestic duties. Okay, wearing binoculars around your neck in the house is a bit extreme, but you have to be a birding nut like me to understand. The bear experts tell me that I should wait at least three weeks to put the feeders back out and some of the neighbors are saying just wait till next fall. I can see going another week without my bird feeders, but wait till next fall? My bird feeders, my birds,my binoculars and my birding spotting scope just wouldn’t understand such a thing. Tuesday, May 17, 2011Prairie birdingIt’s been many years since I’ve had a chance to use my birding spotting scope out on the prairie, out where you often identify and watch birds through the spotting scope at almost insane distances. I do miss that style of birdwatching. It could not be more different than walking the trails in my beloved north woods where I currently make my home. Birding east versus birding west. What a contrast! Prairie birding with a spotting scope really is unique. There were many days in Nebraska, the Dakotas, eastern Colorado and other points west, where I used my spotting scope more than my binoculars. In fact, there were even a few days when I forgot to pack the birding binoculars and did just fine with the spotting scope. This is no doubt hard for some birders to believe, especially birders east of the Mississippi, who do nearly all their birding in forests and heavy cover. (Okay, it is also hard to believe I could be such an airhead as to forget to pack expensive birding binoculars on a birding trip.) Open country birding is different, though. When you are in a landscape where you can see for miles in any direction, those 10x binoculars can seem to be woefully inadequate, believe me. In fact, there were times when I wished I had access to more than the maximum 60x my spotting scope provided and I had the atmospheric conditions to use more than 60x, too. That dry air on the high plains can make for some excellent seeing conditions. Birding at 80x or even 100x? It could happen with the right spotting scope and the right atmospheric conditions. Monday, May 16, 2011What a difference a short walk can make with astronomy binoculars or telescopes.Having a place to use astronomy binoculars and telescopes is surely as important as the binoculars and telescopes, themselves. If you doubt this, you haven’t done much astronomy. Ask just about any astronomer what is the quickest way to improve what you see in the binocular or telescope eyepiece and they will tell you to find a better observing site. That is sadly true for urban and suburban astronomers, these days, thanks to the problem of light pollution and smog. Most new astronomers take this to mean packing the telescope in a vehicle and making a long drive to a dark sky site. Finding a better observing site is great advice, of course, but it doesn't exclusively mean a long drive. It can also be true on a smaller more personal scale. In my Chicago suburb days, for instance, I often moved around the apartment complex, astronomy binoculars in hand, to find a place to observe that was out of the line of fire, so to speak, of street lights and parking lot lights. Even a few yards could make a difference. I even risked sneaking over to a park on some nights, though that was just a bit too risky to make it a habit. These days, now that I live in the north woods, I have much better skies, of course, but now my problem is trees. I will still setup & use a telescope in the immediate yard, but the overhead window to the sky is a bit constricted. The solution will be to take a short walk down to the dock and use my telescopes and astronomy binoculars right on the dock, where I have a huge expanse of sky available over the lake. It’s only a thirty yard walk through the trees to the dock and the lake, but what a difference a short walk can make with astronomy binoculars or telescopes. Sunday, May 15, 2011Tripods for astronomy I’ve pretty much had it with trying to use a photo tripod for astronomy, not only for my astronomy binoculars, but also my small refractor telescopes. Nothing worse than trying to see objects high overhead with tripods and tripod heads that aren’t designed for that purpose and I’ve got a sore neck and a truck load of irritation to prove it. So, good-bye camera tripods and hello astronomy tripods. I’ve already have a solution in the works for the binoculars, via the best option in astronomy binocular tripods, namely a parallelogram mount, but nothing definite, yet, for the small telescopes. Since I prefer to keep things simple and have plenty of experience with alt-az astronomy mounts, my small refractor will most likely find a mount underneath it like the Televue Ash Panoramic Mount or, possibly, the Televue Tele-Pod Head on top of an existing tripod leg set. If money is tight (always, it seems), there is the Celestron Heavy Duty Alt-Azimuth, though it is really heavy duty in name only, but still stable enough for my small 80 mm refractor telescope and it has slow motion controls. That’s a lot of tripod for the money IF you don’t overload it. Friday, May 13, 2011Birding and fishing The fishing has been a bit slow, what with this cooler than normal spring, but the birdwatching has been all I could want. Maybe that’s why I’ve been having a hard time concentrating on my fishing. Those darn birds just keep interrupting and, of course, I just happen to have binoculars around my neck, so … I do love fishing, don’t get me wrong, but it seems that birding and bird watching keep creeping into every outdoor activity I do, anymore, whether I am fishing, cross country skiing, kayaking, hiking, camping and so on. Compact binoculars are part of the reason I tend to add birding to the mix, simply because they are so darn convenient and portable. I always carry compact binoculars when outdoors; there is always room for compact binoculars. About the only time I leave the compact binoculars and birding behind is when I am doing astronomy with my astronomy binoculars and telescopes. Oops! The other night I had to take a little break away from the telescope eyepiece to listen to a Barred Owl hooting back in the bog. No escape from birding. About the pic: Okay, the fishing wasn't so slow, yesterday.
Thursday, May 12, 2011Binoculars objectiveI try my best to be objective when I write as a professional about binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes and all those other optical products. That is as it should be, of course. I try to stick to the facts when discussing products and let people add their own personal preferences when it comes time to buy binoculars or choose the right telescope. After all, personal preferences are a big part of a buying decision and who am I to tell someone what they should like or not like? If someone likes those cheap budget binoculars, who am I to say they are wrong? That doesn’t mean I don’t have my own personal preferences as to brands and products, not by a long shot. In fact, I can be downright illogical and stubborn about what I want for myself. Much of this is based on actual experience with brands I have owned and used and learned to trust over the years. Telescope eyepieces are a good example, because there is a lot of personal preference when it comes time to buy these telescope accessories. Yes, I know very well that there are many excellent brands of telescope eyepiece out there, but I tend to stick with the mostly one brand of telescope eyepiece that I trust, with one or two others thrown into the mix, now and then. That doesn’t make my preferred brand the best, of course, it only makes that particular brand of telescope eyepiece the best choice for me. Wednesday, May 11, 2011One scope both by day and by nighI love astronomy telescopes that can be used by day and daytime spotting scopes that use telescope eyepieces so I can put them to work at night for some astronomy. These dual purpose telescopes and spotting scopes have been around a long time. I’ve been using them for better than 20 years to make one scope do both birdwatching and astronomy and, quite often, as long telephoto camera lenses do some bird photography, especially now that digiscoping is so popular. At the top of the pack in this type of telescope/spotting scope, in terms of quality and optics, but also price, has been the smaller Televue telescopes, such as the TV-76 and TV-85. Celestron, though, offers some excellent dual purpose spotters in their Celestron C90 and Celestron C5 Spotter and now their excellent Celestron Regal 80 F-ED, all at more affordable prices. Not to be overlooked are the excellent Pentax spotting scopes, such as the Pentax PF-80-ED. What all these scopes have in common is their ability to use standard telescope eyepieces. This gives you access to more magnification than you get with conventional spotting scopes and that’s what you want for astronomy. No, these smaller scopes won’t take the place of big telescopes for astronomy, but it really is a kick to use one scope both by day and by night. Tuesday, May 10, 2011Barlow lensSome telescope accessories are more useful than others. Other than telescope eyepieces, themselves, perhaps the most useful telescope accessory is something called a barlow lens, such as the well-known Meade #126. When you need more magnification, you just add a barlow lens to whatever telescope eyepiece you are using and you get twice as much magnification or more when you place the eyepiece/barlow combination back in the telescope focuser. Is this a better option than just going to a higher magnifcation eyepiece, directly? Sometimes. If you insist on wearing glasses when you look through a telescope eyepiece, as I do, a barlow lens can be a lifesaver. Why? In the world of telescope eyepieces, low magnification (long focal length) eyepieces typically have plenty of that eye relief that you need for use with glasses, but go to high magnification (short focal length) eyepieces and your selection of eyepieces with plenty of eye relief is much more limited. Add a barlow lens to your low magnification eyepiece and problem solved. You increase the magnification, but keep that precious eye relief. For instance, my Televue 2x Big Barlow doubles the magnification of my favorite long eye relief eyepieces, namely the Televue Nagler 22.0 mm and the Televue Nagler 17.0 mm and I still get to use my glasses. Wow! On the other hand, that barlow makes those big heavy Naglers stick a lot farther out of the focuser. That can make for an awkward combination and create some balance problems with the telescope. I’ll work with those issues, though, to keep on using my favorite eyepieces. Love those barlow lenses. Sunday, May 08, 2011Galaxy hunting with telescopes and binocularsI’ve been doing a little galaxy hunting with the astronomy binoculars and my small refractor telescope. Now, make no mistake, if you are serious about seeing a lot of galaxies and what little detail there is to see in galaxies when looking through a telescope eyepiece, you pull out the big telescopes, not the binoculars and not small telescopes. Why bother to setup & use a telescope that is less than ideal for this job? For one, spring is prime galaxy hunting season and if you want to see galaxies in your binoculars or small telescope, this is the time to do it. For another, there at least a few galaxies, such as Andromeda and M81/82 that can be seen in any size telescope under a reasonably dark sky. As for astronomy binoculars, there are actually a few galaxies, notably M33 in Triangulum, that are actually easier to see in binoculars because of their brightness is spread over such a large surface area. The wide field of view provided by binoculars provides enough surrounding dark sky to make M33 stand out as a barely visible as a smoky smudge. Lastly, it’s just a kick to see what you can make a small telescope or binoculars do when you set your mind to it. Challenging yourself is half the fun when it comes to astronomy, especially when it comes to galaxy hunting. Friday, May 06, 2011Astronomy DayTomorrow, May 7, is Astronomy Day, so you might want to celebrate by spending some time under the stars, tomorrow night, with binoculars or telescopes or even without the help of binoculars or telescopes. Either way, why not celebrate Astronomy Day with a gorgeous May night under the stars? May, for me, is the month that is the bridge between spring astronomy and summer astronomy and, after a long winter in the north woods, I am looking forward to summer observing. Oh yeah, it is a real treat to look through a telescope eyepiece and not worry about my eyelashes freezing to the eyepiece or not wear gloves when it comes time to setup & use a telescope. Of course, summer is also the season for mosquitoes and that is a serious issue, up here in the north woods. Still, summer observing is special to me, since that was the season when I first got serious about astronomy, astronomy binoculars and telescopes, oh so many years, ago. I can still fondly remember waiting for dark in those early days, chomping at the bit to get out with my first telescope. Come to think of it, I still feel that way about telescopes and astronomy. Thursday, May 05, 2011Bear problem I’ve experienced a temporary setback in my bird digiscoping, my bird feeding and my birdwatching, thanks to a visit to my bird feeders by a very persistent black bear. I guess I am announcing this as much for my birds as for my readers. My poor birds. They have become so tame that I can refill my feeders while they remain only a few inches from my hand, but with not a single feeder left standing, today, I suspect they are as much in shock as I am. I always knew that a bear at the feeder was a real possibility; this is the north woods, after all. The reality of actually looking out your window and seeing a bear in the act of demolishing your feeders is, nevertheless, a real shock. I first spotted this big guy, yesterday morning, in the act of tearing down my suet feeders. I rushed out the door and yelled a few choice words at what he had done to my feeders, so he slowly ambled off into the woods and disappeared. That’s when I knew I had to do my duty and remove all my feeders and any other food source from the yard or risk having a bear in my yard, every day. That’s standard protocol for a bear at the feeders. I took down all eight feeders and cleaned up as best I could, hoping I would see the last of that bear. Not to be, as I had suspected. Bears do not give up, easily, on a food source. He was back last evening and again, this morning. What worries me most is that he also seems to have no fear of us. Yelling and banging pots he now ignores. Last night, I had to shoot a 22 into the air a half dozen times to get him to leave. I did, however, manage to put the digital cameras to work and even managed to get a few shots through the spotting scope. He is definitely not camera shy. Yup, looks like we have a bear problem. I think I will put my yard work on hold. Wednesday, May 04, 2011Sitting on the dock with my spotting scope As Otis Redding used to sing, “Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away.” Okay, we don’t actually have a dock on a bay and our lake is too small for a tide, but we do have the dock and it is a great spot for birdwatching and other activities. Nope, nothing better than sitting on the dock on a warm spring day looking through a birding spotting scope or birding binoculars, especially if your lake is small, weedy and shallow – just the kind of lake that draws birds and other wildlife like a magnet. Okay, so you don’t have a dock or a lake outside your door. That doesn’t mean you can’t do the Otis Redding thing, you know. Just grab that spotting scope, a tripod, maybe your binoculars and head to your nearest public lake or pond. I used to do that on an almost weekly basis when I was living in the Chicago area and, make no mistake, some of these small urban and park lakes make for some excellent birding. In fact, while you’re at it, take one of those small digital cameras with you and do some digiscoping to get a few bird pics. Looks like another great spring day, here in the north woods. I’ll be down on the dock if anyone calls. Tuesday, May 03, 2011Buy a telescope with a good mountWhen it comes time to choose the right telescope for you, you need to pay as much attention to the telescope mount as you do the telescope optics. Make no mistake, the mount and tripod underneath that telescope is every bit as important as the telescope, itself. Even the best telescope optics are only as useful as the mount that supports them. Nothing frustrates quicker than a telescope mount and tripod that are too flimsy or a mismatch for the type of observing you want to do. Cheap beginner telescopes are a case in point. It is the mount on these department store telescopes, not the optics, that is the culprit behind many beginner headaches. In fact, thanks to mass production and computer assisted designs, I’ve been fairly impressed with how little you have to pay, these days, for useable optics. A quality mount with sufficient stability remains a more expensive proposition, though, and that is typically what you sacrifice when you go cheap on a new telescope. So, here's my buying a telescope tip for those of you on a limited budget: better to choose a smaller telescope on a decent mount than a large telescope on a poor mount. Lastly, forget the idea of adding a better mount, later, or buying telescope accessories that will magically change your cheap telescope mount into a winner. These are not cost effective options for cheap telescopes, not are mounts between various types and brands of telescopes easily interchangeable. Buy a telescope with a good mount right from the start. Monday, May 02, 2011North woods bird pics  Living in the north woods, as we do, we don’t see quite the diversity of birds that more southerly regions do, but our birdwatching makes up for it in other ways. Make no mistake, my birding binoculars and birding spotting scope stay plenty busy. So do my digital cameras, as you can see in these pics. Yes, we are blessed for living in the north woods for having birds nesting here that are pretty much a north woods exclusive. Two of those you can in the photographs that I took last week via some digiscoping with my spotting scope and small digital cameras. One is the Purple Finch and the other is the quintessential north woods sparrow, the White-crowned Sparrow. Both are in the process of courtship, right in our own yard, which explains the wonderful colors of the plumages you see in the pics. Those brilliant breeding plumages are one of the big advantages of spring birding. All those colors not only make identification easier, they also make the view through the binoculars all that more glorious. |
|
|
|
|
© 1999- OpticsPlanet, Inc
- telescopes,
binoculars,
microscopes,
riflescopes,
rangefinders,
& more.