Mountaineerfan's Blog

Now let's wrap up with a quick guide to stuff y'all might wanna read or check out on the net regarding binocs:

On-line Binocular Tutorials

Some web guides to binocs and binocular astronomy:

Night Sky Info's guide to binoculars: http://www.nightskyinfo.com/binoculars/

Bigbinoculars.com is the sales division of Oberwerks.Cool website to check out even if yer just curious.Here is ther Q&A page:

http://bigbinoculars.com/faq.htm

One man's list of bino visible night sky objects: http://www.lightandmatter.com/binosky/binosky.html<
/a>

Here's a pretty good page on binocular astronomy with some other projects too: http://www.astronomyinyourhands.com/activities/jewel
softhesky.html

Another "how they work" page: http://www.chuckhawks.com/binocular_basics.htm

Here is the cool site of a British astro equipment dealer named Monk Optics.Here is their binocs tutorial:http://www.monkoptics.co.uk/aboutbinoculars
.html

 

Here is the Wiki article on binocs.I know some people bust on Wiki because they say it can't be trusted due to the fact that anyone can write an article.The way I see it you should always cross reference anything.Also,if you see something inaccurate on Wiki you have the option of disputing it which is why I always check the "Discussion" page too.Overall I've found it to be very accurate considering it's potential not to be.Anyways,here's the article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binoculars

Here is an article from Sky & Telescope magzine on binocs for astronomy: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/howtoequipment/
3389576.html?imw=Y If you're just getting started in astronomy consider a subscription to this rag.

Here are a couple of very good tutorials from a company called Opticsplanet: http://www.opticsplanet.net/how-to-buy-binoculars.ht
ml#ch01

Here is another from them specifically regarding astronomy binocs: http://www.opticsplanet.net/binastro.html

Here is an absolute ton of binocular reviews: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/section.php?sectionid=21
&/index.html

A whole bunch more reviews here: http://www.cloudynights.com/category.php?category_id
=48&pr=2 

Binocular and Astronomy Books

Now for some informative books on the subject of binos and binocular astronomy:

Binoculars and All Purpose Telescopes written by Dr. Henry Paul in 1980.Published by American Photographic Book Publishing.This book,despite being from 1980,is still one of the best I've ever seen.I landed this many moons ago at the Harrisonburg Book Fair for about a buck.You can find this one on Amazon.This book goes into quite a bit of technical details about binocs but not so much that it can't be understood by the layman.Hell,even I can understand it so what does that tell ya?Great chapters on checking optics alone make it worth whatever you pay.

Touring the Universe Through Binoculars:A Complete Astronomer's Guidebook by Philip Harrington.This is a great book from 1990.Our local library had this one and I read it a couple of times and highly recommend it.

Binocular Highlights:99 Celestial Sights for Binocular Users from Gary Seronik and Sky & Telescope Magazine.This is a small format book with spiral binding(to fold flat)and coated pages to protect them from moisture.This book has many rave reviews and is on my own wishlist.

Stargazing with Binoculars by Robin Scagell and David Frydman.A brand spanking new book with no reviews yet.Looks promising though.

Binocular Stargazing by Michael Reynolds.Another one on my list with great reviews.

The New Astronomer by Carol Stott.This is one of those DK books from the Brits.It just so happens I'm reading this one right now.What can I say?I love the layout of these books.

The Backyard Astronomer's Guide by Terence Dickinson 2nd Edition from 2002.I had the priviledge of reading the 1st edition of this book from `91 and am reading the 2nd edition now.This is the end all book of beginning backyard amateur astronomy if you don't count the next one on the list.Pretty much everything you wanna know about any facet from eyeballs to eyepieces and everything else.This book is a bit pricey( around $35) and I would also recommend waiting until September when the 3rd edition is due out.

NightWatch:A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe also by Terence Dickinson,from 2004 this is the 4th edition and is updated through 2018.While I haven't had a chance to read this book yet it is on my list of "must have" books.This book has almost a hundred five star reviews on Amazon which is why I wanna read it and why I'm including it here.This book supposedly comes with some excellent star charts which are easily readable by red light and is spiral bound to lay flat.

Concise Atlas of the Stars by Surge Brunier and Akira Fujii.This is supposed to be an awesome star chart book.It has actual night sky photos of each constellation with a transparent overlay showing the constellations and star names.Spiral bound to lay flat.

Astronomy Magazines:

Anyone new to astronomy could really benefit from a subscription to these two rags:

The first is Sky and Telescope and their wed addy is here: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/

The second is Astronomy Magazine and they can be found here: http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx

Binocular Dealers:

Now for some online binocular dealers.These are the most reputable ones I know of.This first one is the only one I have personal experience with and,so far,they've treated me well on top of getting rave reviews from many,many others:

http://www.binoculars.com/ or http://www.telescopes.com/ these are both owned by the same people and are pretty much the same dealer.They both belong to Netshops.com.

Both of the following netsites are both the same also.They are both the sales division of Oberwerks: http://www.bigbinoculars.com/ and http://www.giantbinoculars.com/ Yes,they do sell other brands like Fujinon.These people are binocular freaks.Personally these are the folks I'll probably be dealing with from now on.Here is the Oberwerks home page: http://www.oberwerk.com/products/default.htm>

I've also heard very good things about these people: http://www.astronomics.com/main/Telescopes_and_Teles
cope_Accessories.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_
name/Home/Page/1

If you live in the Northern Va.,D.C. or Maryland area you might wanna drop in on these next folks.The company is called Company 7 and they're located in Montpelier/Laurel,Md.Their phone number is (301) 953-2000 and their web addy is: http://www.company7.com/home.html  This company not only does astronomy equipment sales but also does service and even full restoration work.In addition they also design and build professional/military scopes/cameras/optics.It's worth hanging around their wesite for a while because there's tons of info on astronomy products that you won't find anywhere else,including the manufacturer's own sites.

Binocular Forums:

Here are a few bino and/or general astronomy message boards you can and should join if you're interested in learning more about binoculars,astronomy or both.

Here is just about the best forum site which goes by the name Cloudy Nights.Not only that but there's tons of info and reviews here: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.ph
p?Cat=  

here is the reviews page: http://www.cloudynights.com/index.php

If you go over to Yahoo.com and sign up as a user there are dozens of astronomy and even astronomy equipment groups you can join.Visit all of their homepages and look for the ones with the most posts per month.The most active groups are usually the best and most informative.Also,if you're wise,you'll already be over at Yahoo anyways using the search engine.It can be a valuable tool to both beginner and pro.Also,for another good source of astronomy info first try going to Yahoo.com.Next look to the left hand column and click on the "More Yahoo! Services" link.A menu will open from the left.Choose the link named "Directory" then,again in the left column,choose "Astronomy" which is under "Science".Tons of links there and you don't have to be a member to use them,just the forums.

Fun Stuff and Just Because It's There:

Feel cocky?Here's the article I mentioned about collimating your own binocs.Don't say I didn't warn ya: http://rchamon.iies.es/collimation_methods/sun_image
s_method.htm

Here's a neat page on how to hand hold binoculars for max comfort: http://www.astunit.com/tonkinsastro/binoculars/binho
ld.htm

Last but not least,here is that neat method for finding your own dark adjusted,diolated pupil diameter in this cool review of the book Astronomy Hacks.It's on page 25: http://tinyurl.com/6og52d  Don't poke yer eye out because I'm not writing a "how to chose a telescope" article just for you and your one eye.

Let me wrap up by saying that I was gonna include some info on different mounts for binoculars but thought I would include it in my next article on Giant binos instead.The main reason being that it really does apply more to them.Look for it.`Till then!