Why no binocular SCTs?

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AntennaGuy United States of America
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Why no binocular SCTs?

#1

Post by AntennaGuy »


OK, here's a simple (to ask) question:
There exist all sorts of binoculars, astronomy binoculars, and even binocular telescopes, priced low to high. They can even become quite large, such as the ones offered by TEC:
https://www.telescopengineering.com/tel ... elescopes/
or by APM:
https://skygazeoptics.com/products/apm- ... gJbYfD_BwE
or Fujinon:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... gK-lfD_BwE
And there are even some binocular Dobsonians!
http://www.lotsofbow.com/bino.html
But I haven't seen or heard of even one Cassegrain-type binocular telescope,whether SCT, classical, Maksutov, or other! Why not? Am I just looking in the wrong places? There certainly exist small SCTs that are as compact as the single-sides of the large binoculars noted above. And some of them don't even cost a lot (e.g., Celestron's 6" regular SCTs) and they are rather compact, lengthwise. So... why wouldn't someone, perhaps with a flare for novelty, build binoculars (and I don't mean just add binoviewers) out of these?
:shrug: :shrug:

p.s. Is it all about central obstruction issues at low powers? But high power use would still be ok, right? Hmm. Maybe alignment becomes too difficult then... But still, none ever?
* Meade 323 refractor on a manual equatorial mount.
* Celestron C6 SCT on a Twilight 1 Alt-Az mount
Prof. Barnhardt to Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still: "There are several thousand questions I'd like to ask you.”
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AntennaGuy United States of America
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Re: Why no binocular SCTs?

#2

Post by AntennaGuy »


Well, never say never! Since that last post, I just found this one:
https://astromart.com/classifieds/astro ... -telescope
* Meade 323 refractor on a manual equatorial mount.
* Celestron C6 SCT on a Twilight 1 Alt-Az mount
Prof. Barnhardt to Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still: "There are several thousand questions I'd like to ask you.”
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Re: Why no binocular SCTs?

#3

Post by JayTee »


I'd rather use one eye for just $680 versus both eyes at $6800! And those are 2013 dollars!

JT
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Why no binocular SCTs?

#4

Post by Bigzmey »


In the smaller sizes up to 100mm, binoculars based on catadioptric design will be in disadvantage compared to refractors in terms of performance and cost.

For the larger apertures, compact size, smaller weight and lack of CA of SCT design in particular could be advantageous for binocular scope builders. Used 6-8" SCT are plenty and relatively inexpensive. If I would be in to larger binocular scopes I would give it a shot. :)
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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helicon United States of America
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Re: Why no binocular SCTs?

#5

Post by helicon »


Sounds like it would be feasible in the medium to large aperture range.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
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Latitude: 48.7229° N
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DeanD Australia
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Re: Why no binocular SCTs?

#6

Post by DeanD »


They would be feasible, but I am not sure about how useful they would be with the large focal ratios of Maks and SCTs.
Telescopes: 12" f5 dob, Celestron CPC800, 150mmf5 Celestron achro, Tak TSA102, TV76, ETX125...
Binos: Steiner Wildlife XP 10x26, Swarovski 8x30 Habicht, Zeiss SFL 8x40, Vanguard Endeavour 10.5x45, Fuji FMTR-SX 10x50, Tak 22x60, Orion Resolux 15x70
Eyepieces: way too many (is that possible?), but I do like my TV 32mm plossl, 13mm Nagler T6, 27mm Panoptic and 3-6mm Nagler zoom, plus Fujiyama 18mm and 25mm orthos and Tak 7.5mm LE
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Sky United States of America
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Re: Why no binocular SCTs?

#7

Post by Sky »


I've always found this patent for SCT binoculars on a 3-axis equatorial mount very interesting. I've been tempted to build the 3-axis mount for my own ... much smaller ... binoculars. Maybe, one of these days ...

https://www.freepatentsonline.com/5537250.pdf
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