[SPARKled]

I have 3 binoculars all sourced from the US. My quest for good bins primarily for birding, started out a few years ago and from my experience its almost impossible to get good bins for cheap here in India. I started out with the Olympus 10X50 porro. Initially I was satisfied but soon its limitations got over me and I was looking to upgrade. Its not a very good bin for the money IMHO. If you are looking for quality bins please try to source them from the USA if possible where one can easily get great deals not found here.

[livyodream]

Im thinking/in the process of building an 8" telescope from the scratch (gringing the glass etc). i intend to use it for photography. I do not want to invest thousands of money for a branded hence this process.
Has anyone tried this ?

[bblost]

^The only one I know was a gentleman in Italy.
Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please maintain a complete coverage of your project. Pictures, prices and how you sourced the materials. I am very interested in learning this.

[Rotorhead]

While in US I was very much tempted to buy one of the bushnell telescopes and a binoculars but t since i was already running out of luggage limit I postponed it to the next trip which never happened though. How i wish i had brought them afterall .
Recently got one of the play telescopes from sapphire's in brigade road for Rs 500 for my 5 year old son and it was 500 bucks down the drain. It looked snazzy while in the packing but its absolute junk. Also people looking for telescopes and binoculars might want to check out this place next to Bhima jwellers towards the end of kariappa road (parallel road to MG Road). I remember seeing quite sometime ago, but not sure if the shop is still around there.

[it_inspector]

Originally Posted by bblost

^The only one I know was a gentleman in Italy.
Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please maintain a complete coverage of your project. Pictures, prices and how you sourced the materials. I am very interested in learning this.

No offence but just a google search reveals a large number of people dedicated into diy telescopes.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by it_inspector

No offence but just a google search reveals a large number of people dedicated into diy telescopes.

None taken.

Not everyone remembers history and it may not be your cup of tea.

I mentioned Galileo (born: 15 February 1564) because, while he did not invent the telescope he did construct quite a few without even seeing them. He did it just based on the description of the device.

I doubt if you would have heard the name Hans Lippershey. He is often credited with making the first telescope.

Now, lets get back to the topic.
Thanks.

PS: If you had read that wiki link in my first post you may have understand the context.

[it_inspector]

Originally Posted by bblost

None taken.

Not everyone remembers history and it may not be your cup of tea.

I mentioned Galileo (born: 15 February 1564) because, while he did not invent the telescope he did construct quite a few without even seeing them. He did it just based on the description of the device.

I doubt if you would have heard the name Hans Lippershey. He is often credited with making the first telescope.

Now, lets get back to the topic.
Thanks.

PS: If you had read that wiki link in my first post you may have understand the context.

Actually, quite opposite, i have heard of both since you cannot go through physics classes without galileo`s name. Its just from my point it felt like you were making a joke on livyodream`s comment to make a telescope from scratch. But now you replied its clear that it was just a misunderstanding.

Thanks

[prasadka]

Hi
Just spotted this thread.

Recently I was looking at shipping my scope back from England. I managed to bring my 100mm refractor- but my 8" Reflector, the mount and the drive proved just too big. I was thinking that we might be able to buy/build a suitable tripod, or a cement base, but an EQ5 mount, usually adequate if you are not into serious astrophotography, is adequate and can be brought with check in baggage in a flight. A new EQ5 mount, an 8" celestron and tripod with about 3-4 eyepieces , a barlow and a T ring adapter for Nikon set me back in the range of 350 GBP back in 2006-2007. The cost may largely remain unchanged though.

During that time, I was also investigating the option of buying something from Tejraj. The gentleman gave me a quote for a GEM in the range of 750 GBP then, which I safely shelved.


On a more practical note, I have looked at some deep sky objects using my 100mm ED refractor (Orion), cost about 120 GBP, pre owned- easy to carry along and can be mounted on a photo tripod. I have had fantastic views of Saturn with this, and have looked at the nebulosity around the orion, the ring nebula, other planets like Jupiter and Mars. I have gone crazy with magnification in this, by simply piling on Barlows and have gone upto 250x. So, I can safely suggest that a beginner can look for a 100mm refractor, and if they are travelling from the US/UK, ship a used kit from there. It is also extremely easy to piggy back a camera on to this one, and use it as a telephoto lens and use it with a suitable tripod. This can be used for low exposure astrophotography, by plonking a webcam at the back and by hand tracking, usually works for things like the Moon, Jupiter and Mars, while for things like the Messier objects and other deep sky objects, you would need to go for longer exposures.

Regards
Prasad

[abs]

Originally Posted by livyodream

Im thinking/in the process of building an 8" telescope from the scratch (gringing the glass etc). i intend to use it for photography. I do not want to invest thousands of money for a branded hence this process.
Has anyone tried this ?

A few years back, the Birla planetarium, Chennai had announced a build your telescope program charging about 5 k for materials and help you build your own telescope using their equipment. over 3 - 4 week ends. I missed it and regret it very badly.

Check out your local planetarium for such program.

[Chandrainsky]

Originally Posted by livyodream

Im thinking/in the process of building an 8" telescope from the scratch (gringing the glass etc). i intend to use it for photography. I do not want to invest thousands of money for a branded hence this process.
Has anyone tried this ?

Making an 8" scope starting from the scratch is not all that difficult. One place you can get help/advice is ABAA (Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers). The members meet in the basement of the planetarium on Sunday evenings from 6 pm onwards. It takes about a week to grind and polish the mirror. That's the most demanding part. Rest of it is making the hardware like the tube assembly and mount and can be done/got made. An 8" is a very good size for planetary/deep sky observations and can be made at less than a tenth of the cost of an imported 8" SCT.

The difficult part is using that for astrophotography. Its a lot more demanding that you imagine. There is plenty of stuff on the net but doing it practically is the ONLY way to learn that.

[benbsb29]

Reviving this thread.

We are looking at buying a telescope since my FIL is interested in celestial objects. What are features we should be looking at?
I had gone through this thread, and wanted to know if Tejraj was still the best option to look at. What is the budget we would be looking at?

Thanks in advance.

[ak916]

Hello Benbsb29,

Buying a telescope is a decision that can easily become a very complicated one if you start looking into too many priorities and trying to get the best one. So I will try my best not to complicate this for you.

1) Tejraj is still the best/reliable option in my opinion. Whizz and pixetra are other options as well, the benefit being you can see what you want to buy unless you go to Mumbai and visit Tejraj.
2) Assuming this is your FIL's first scope, there are two options depending on if he wants a point and shoot scope or he doesnt mind sitting down for 30 mins, preparing the scope and tuning (Collimating) a telescope. I think P&S is good cos you can use it more often.

Refractor telecope - P & S, images are upright, can be used for land based observation etc. 100 - 120 mm is a good start but dont go lower than 90 MM. Insist on very very stable "tripod". it should be in the vicinity of 30k

Reflectors: More aperture for the money, but heavy and requires some attention, nothing scary but more attention than refractor. Images are at an angle, but doesnt matter for looking at the sky. you could get a 150 MM for lesser than the cost of a 100 MM refractor. 150 MM is ideal start point, dont go lower than that. look at Orion for good ones. The "stand" is very stable.

Forget about other types of scope.

remember, bangalore will give you bad views of the sky due to light pollution and you would want to travel outside (100 kms away) to get really nice views and my recommendation is a 100- 120 MM refractor with a super stable "tripod" or mount.

let me know if you need any more help.

[shiva_shaan_5]

I have a 8" (200mm) custom made Scope. Got it done by Mr.Dileep here in Bangalore 3 months back. He was with the Bangalore Astronomy Society(BAS). His prices were moderate and he also helps me out with basics on the usage of the scope.

The Mirror Dia is 8" ( 200mm)Focal Length 68" ( 1727 mm)
F ratio is 8.5

The package I got was 8" Reflecting Telescope. 12.5mm & 25mm eyepiece, AltAz Mount all for 25000/- INR.

As ak916 put it, Bangalore sky is not scope friendly. but on a good clear night I am able to view most of the objects(planets, galaxies, etc.)

Trying my hand at Astrophotography now, working out on options to add GOTO with a EQ3/5 mount (all depends on how much the cost would reach to).

I purchased the variable Webcam Adapter and a variable Barlow from Tejraj.

I can share Mr.Dileep's contact Details if any one is interested.

[kaushik_s]

Have anyone used Nikon Action EX series binoculars? Planning to get the 8x40 one. Mainly it'll be for birding and jungle safaris. Thinking about buying it from Amazon but also open for getting it here provided there is not much difference in price. Also heard that EX series is much better than the regular Action series? How true is that?

[thalavoy]

Hello!

Don't know if this belongs here? I am not able to get a good lead on this.
I and another friend have about 3 or 4 binoculars between us that needs servicing repair work.
Has anyone done any binocular repairs in Bangalore? Your help will be much appreciated. Thanks

-Siva