New for 2012 is the Skywatcher 5 position filter wheel. Allows up five 1.25″ filters to be fitted at any one time. Ideal for both visual and photographic use. Please note that you will need an extra 20mm of inward travel to allow for the width of the wheel.
To attach an SLR or DSLR camera body to the Hawke Endurance 65ED spotting scope, you will need a small adapter ring (part number HX3729) and a T-ring. To fix to the spotting scope , unscrew the eyepiece twist eye cup anti-clockwise till it is removed. Then screw on the adapter ring (as shown in the image) . Once this adapter ring is securely on, you can then screw your T-ring onto this. Once both rings are fitted, you can now attach your SLR or DSLR body.
Buy Hawke spotting scopes here
The North Lincs Astro club meet at the Far Ings Nature reserve on the first Monday of every month. Click HERE for directions and more information.
Bird sightings near the Waters Edge visitors centre.
New for 2012 is the Ostara 1.25″ barlow lens. Available in 2x and 3x. Features a high quality achromatic doublet lens. Sturdy metal construction with a new eye catching modern design. Complete with lens caps.
Image shows the 2x version
The Helios Apollo range of binoculars have eyepieces that are threaded to accept 1.25″ astronomical filters. The eyepieces themselves can not be changed.
The Helios Apollo binoculars are available in 7×50, 10×70, 15×70, 20×110 and 25×110. Image shows the 7×50 version.
A pair of binoculars has two main sets of lenses. The smaller being the eyepieces that you look through. The larger lens at the opposite side is called the objective lens. This can be made up of two, three or more glass elements, depending on the model.
The main task of the objective lens is to let the light through to the eyepiece, which in turn brings everything in to focus.
The image shows how to measure the width of the objective. In this case , this is a set of 10×50 binoculars. 10 being the magnification, and 50 being the width of the objective lens in mm
New for 2012 is the Skywatcher Allview multi-functional computerised mount. Its many uses include time lapse photography, 360 panorama and astronomy (goto). Attractively priced and very sturdy.
Click here for more images and full specs
A customer visited the Northern Optics outlet at Barton Upon Humber, having previously purchased the illusion 7×35 monocular. They was looking for a monocular with a little more light gathering capability. The obvious choice was the Hawke Nature-Trek 10×50.
First impressions was how clear and bright the image was. Long eye relief was ideal, as the customer was a spectacle wearer. The added benefit of a mini tripod was a pleasant surprise. When folded, the mini tripod became a perfect steadying aid.
As well as day light use, the monocular were also going to be used for astronomy. Fully multi-coated optics, nitrogen waterproofing, and a large 50mm objective makes them an ideal mini scope.
The Ostara PL10mm 1.25″ eyepiece comes packaged in a handy bolt case. No eyepiece caps are included. Build quality is well up there with similar models. It feels very solid to hold. The eye cup is fold down. As eye relief is quite short, I recommend having this folded down at all times. Even when folded down, there is still enough of the eye cup protruding to keep your eyes from touching the lens.
So as for the optics. I tested on the Moon, using a Tal 200k telescope. The 10mm eyepiece gave 200x. Considering the telescope had,nt been cooled down much, the results were excellent. Detail inside the craters and rifts were clear to see. Contrast was very good. Despite the short eye relief, I found viewing very comfortable.
There was a slight colour cast compared to some more expensive eyepieces. But if £25 is your budget, then the results are more than acceptable. I could detect no chromatic aberration, which was another plus point