Has anyone purchased the Apogee "NEW" 20x100mm binos? (And had a chance to actually use them this "Donner Party" winter?) At $199.95 (reg. $349.95) the price is certainly excellent for a 100mm binocular. These would yield a 5mm exit pupil, as opposed to 4mm on the 25x100mm. S&T Feb. '04 pg. 131 www.apogeeinc.com They also have the Deluxe 20x80mm on sale for $159.99 (reg. $199.95). I picked up the "lightweight" 20x80mm model last year and am very happy with it; it's rather like the 15x70mm on steroids. It also is just light enough to be used on my "standard" parallelogram. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/
In the Feb. '04 S&T is the full review for the Orion 80mm ED scope. Page 60, review by Ed Ting, 4 full pages. Ting essentially repeats most of my praises and concerns, he even expresses dissatisfaction with the tripod block! But essentially it gets a rave review. He tests it side-by-side with a TV Ranger & TV-76 and it stays with them all the way to 200x, where the TV-76 just begins to outpace it (at 3x the price). He writes that in the dark, he and fellow observers sometimes lost track of just which scope they were looking through at the moment. He also rates the Crayford-style 2" focuser "excellent", while I'd call it smooth & precise but a tad weak. Good review, don't miss it if you're interested in this little HQ refractor. I'm glad to see a "pro" endorsement since I bought mine based on only one early review, but I knew already that it was a winner as soon as I focused it on Mars. I'll be taking mine out rarely this winter, but more frequently when it starts to warm up a tad. Everyone's welcome to test-drive it. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Find out what made the Top Yahoo! Searches of 2003 http://search.yahoo.com/top2003
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Chuck Hards