tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (01/29/86)
A while back I posted the following:
Does anyone out there know anything about the 9x63
binoculars that ASTRO-ALASKA advertizes in Astronomy and
Sky & Telescope? From the ad, they sound like what I am
looking for ( 7x50 is not large enough, and 11x80 is a
pain in the arms! ), but I have never heard of this
company, and the price seems rather low ( ~$160 ). The
intended use is mostly astronomical, with a little bit of
spying on the neighbors :-)
Thanks, and I will summarize to the net.
Well, here is the summary I know you have all been waiting for! :-)
There were six responses. None of these were from people who
have used or even seen Astro-Alaska binoculars. Half were from
people who also had seen the ads and also wanted to know about
them. One person mentioned that Astro-Alaska first started
advertizing about a year ago, so they might be trying to cash
in on the Halley.
The other three responders mentioned that Orion Telescope makes
10x70s that are light enough to hand-hold, and are of good
optical quality. The people who mentioned Orion Telescope were
Alan W. Paeth @ ihnp4!watmath!watcgl!awpaeth
John Cincotta @ decvax!decwrl!sun!saber!jc
Jay Freeman @ decvax!decwrl!spar!freeman>
Here is Alan Paeths response:
> I was at Orion Telescope in Santa Cruz, CA last week and was very impressed
> by their custom-built 10x70 series. They weighed 30% less than the Celestron
> 11x80's, feature very crisp, wide-field eye-pieces (Erfle's, otherwise
> available on the Celestron 20x80 super-duty model) and best of all, CAN BE
> HANDHELD. Like the 9x63's, they have the optimal night-time 7mm exit pupil.
>
> At ~$190 US they are worth considering. They would be great for star gazing,
> and would be fine for spying on friends. For field observation they are
> verging on too large, they would be a mistake to take to sea.
>
> I would have bought a pair, except my Pentax 7x50's are remarkably light
> (though bulky) and sharp, and I got them discount for about $50.
By some strange coincidence, last week a friend of mine received in the
mail a flyer from Orion Telescope, and besides the above mentioned 10x70s,
they now have 8x56s for $99. These sound just like what I was looking for,
and so I placed an order for the 8x56s.
Thanks to all those who resonded.
--
Tim Smith sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim