Quoting daniel turner <outwest112@yahoo.com>:

If the view requires a tripod, well that's what telescopes were invented for.

Clear Skies

DT

There you go! And if you want to use both eye's, get some bino viewers. ;)

Daniel, you're such a stud! But not everyone has the physical ability, present company excepted, to practice macho astronomy Turner style. Steroid-intensive astronomy techniques aside, the parallelogram allows kids, novices and non-astronomers to look at something with the binocular that they wouldn't stand a prayer of finding if hand-holding the thing themselves- even if they had the biceps for it. I want to see you hand-hold that bino steadily on-target while others look. ;o) I have hand-held the 25x100mm bino, but the view isn't as good as it could be as when it's solidly mounted. My wife and daughter can't hand-hold it for viewing at all. Fortunately, most astronomical objects allow longer views than finches or grosbeaks so we need not be limited to quick glances. Should the physically slight stick with those little 8x20's, or go buy a pricey telescope and just forget about the low-power, wide-field, 2-eye view? No, wait, they can buy a $300 bino-viewer and two of every eyepiece too. But of course a bino-viewer on a larger telescope can't approach the wide-field and low power of a short-focal-length true binocular, can it? I'm glad you found a simple technique that works for you, but some folks want the binocular-parallelogram combination because they are educators and lecturers, and some aren't in the physical condition to hike up a mountain packing any gear. I like using my parallelogram, and I'm prepared to make any hike you can do, or race you in a 10k whenever you're up for it; and I'm not a young man anymore (I run 5k every day). Physical prowess isn't always the only determining factor. And I'm sure that one day in the future, the little old Daniel won't be able to lift those 80mm binos anymore. But no worries, you will always be welcome at my parallelogram. In fact, I'd love for you to test drive it, and then give me some brutally honest feedback one of these days. I make improvements through user criticisms. The units I build today are far better than the ones I made even a few years ago. BTW, our own SPOC director, Bruce Grim, used to be a champion weight lifter in a former life, and he now uses a home-made parallelogram himself, for his 15x70mm binocular. --- daniel turner <outwest112@yahoo.com> wrote:

I began using binoculars for astronomy long before I joined a club or even met other amateur astronomers so I missed out on a lot of conventional wisdom. No one ever told me that you can't hand hold 20x80 binoculars, and so of course I always have. Bird watching has taught me that sometimes the only view you get is a standing offhand 10-second look. For these I figured out that by working out with 10-pound free weights I could greatly increase my arm and upper body strength. I learned from my 22 rifle that if I can rest an elbow against a solid object, I can double my accuracy, and if I can brace both elbows I can double it again. So I'm inclined to lean against rocks, tree stumps or a car whenever I want an extended view. Children understand this instinctively but middle-aged men consider it undignified. I've hiked up a mountain with nothing in my backpack but a ground cloth and my Haley's Comet era 20x80's and spent the night lying on my back in a depression on the ground bracing my elbows on my knees and watching the milky way wheel by overhead. 25x100's may be too heavy for hand holding but I won't know until I actually try it or meet someone who doesn't know what can't be done.

If the view requires a tripod, well that's what telescopes were invented for.

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