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Saturday afternoon. 70F. A glorious summer's day without being too hot. Though it was surprisingly warm standing about in the sunshine. I dragged both telescopes along to the gate. The usual A4 target was placed at the far end of the drive at 64 meters [70 yards] away.
Yet again it was a close match as I compared both 'scopes at 50x. The seeing was best when the wind blew and the sun hid behind the few clouds. I was able to read the title at intervals and the bold heading. The latter with considerable difficulty. The normal text was just too small and soft to read clearly. The Vixen nudged out the Vortex Razor but there was very little in it.
I was fiddling with the Vortex zoom eyepiece. Trying to discover why it was often so loath to come out of its socket. A little reverse motion helps. Rather than trying to lift it straight out at "full turn."
Then I discovered that the Vortex has an eyepiece socket just larger than standard 1.25" astronomical eyepieces. I set the Razor zoom EP safely aside and went through my range of Meade 4000 at my disposal. 40, 32, 26 and 20mm all provided bright, sharp and clear images. Great!
Then I discovered that the Vortex has an eyepiece socket just larger than standard 1.25" astronomical eyepieces. I set the Razor zoom EP safely aside and went through my range of Meade 4000 at my disposal. 40, 32, 26 and 20mm all provided bright, sharp and clear images. Great!
Then it occurred to me that my T-S 1.25" binoviewer would fit the socket too. The problem was reaching inward focus. A common problem even with astro telescopes. So we can't beat the Vortex Razor about the head for having the same issue. Besides, it was never meant to have normal eyepieces inserted into its receptacle.
A stroke of genius by the designer, if you ask me. It certainly opens up a wealth of new possibilities without actually advertising the fact in bold headlines. You can have binocular vision via the Vortex Razor, with variable power at relatively low cost.
A binoviewer is like a binocular body but with only the special prisms. No objectives or eyepieces. A single nosepiece fits the telescope eyepiece socket. You have to buy your own, matching pairs of eyepieces depending on your pocket. They go from about £10 each to £1k. Some are extreme wide angle. Which helps to give an immersive effect. There are even zoom eyepieces.
A binoviewer is like a binocular body but with only the special prisms. No objectives or eyepieces. A single nosepiece fits the telescope eyepiece socket. You have to buy your own, matching pairs of eyepieces depending on your pocket. They go from about £10 each to £1k. Some are extreme wide angle. Which helps to give an immersive effect. There are even zoom eyepieces.
It took the TS 2.6x GPC [Glass Path Corrector] to reach inward focus with the TS [Telescope-Service] binoviewer in the Vortex Razor. Once that was established I tried my 40mm, 32mm, 26mm and 20mm pairs of Meade Plossls. The results were excellent just looking around the sunlit trees in the garden at up to 40 meters away.
Further away the trees were subject to mirage. [Wavy thermal air currents from the sun-heated ground heating the air] I returned to the familiar twig on top of tree at 500 yards to my south. [Measured on Google Earth] The binoviewer made it easier to examine the 4-5" high, bent pencil of a twig at 500 yards.
I was careful to examine the Vortex eyepiece socket first before experimenting with these different eyepieces. There is no danger of damaging the optics. A solid metal ring forms the bottom of the eyepiece socket in the telescope body. With quite a small aperture protecting the first visible, glass, optical surface. Well out of reach unless you shove slender objects down there! A standard eyepiece spigot won't do any harm and will sit on the base ring.
The Vortex socket is complicated by having a bayonet and locking system. Fortunately this is unaffected by 1.25" fittings. Being undersized [in diameter] they slide right past without noticing the protrusions. Turning the eyepiece locking ring had no discernible effect.
NOTE: The 1.25" eyepiece fit is decidedly sloppy! Which means great care is needed to avoid tipping the telescope back too far. Allowing the eyepiece or expensive binoviewer to literally fall out! A 45 degree bent spotting scope helps here. Until you tip it back to look at the moon high overhead!
NB: I wouldn't go wrapping electrical tape around the eyepiece spigot or it might jam in the Vortex bayonet system. I'll leave it to you to decide if a wrap of thin metal is in your stars. Just don't blame me if you break your expensive telescope!! Or eyepieces!
Still image of the moon captured through the Vortex Razor 85mm with my Ixus117HS. I have darkened and sharpened the image in PhotoFiltre7. The original was pale, soft and rather washed out. [See below] As were the videos I captured.
NOTE: The 1.25" eyepiece fit is decidedly sloppy! Which means great care is needed to avoid tipping the telescope back too far. Allowing the eyepiece or expensive binoviewer to literally fall out! A 45 degree bent spotting scope helps here. Until you tip it back to look at the moon high overhead!
NB: I wouldn't go wrapping electrical tape around the eyepiece spigot or it might jam in the Vortex bayonet system. I'll leave it to you to decide if a wrap of thin metal is in your stars. Just don't blame me if you break your expensive telescope!! Or eyepieces!Still image of the moon captured through the Vortex Razor 85mm with my Ixus117HS. I have darkened and sharpened the image in PhotoFiltre7. The original was pale, soft and rather washed out. [See below] As were the videos I captured.
It should be said that there is a vast range of eyepieces available intended for astronomy. The Meade 4000 series are very middle of the road when it comes to image quality and modest field of view. They just happen to be popular and easy to find secondhand when you need more. Like four, matching pairs for binoviewers.
The moon is already climbing in the east and always a superb target for any optics. The detail is as small as you could possibly wish for. Totally regardless of the size and quality of your optics. I found the Vortex Razor zoom EP view was washed out last night until the sky was much darker. At this time of year that is remarkably late at 55N. Nevertheless, I shall be trying single astro eyepieces and the binoviewer later on. See images above.
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