Bushnell Voyager (IT) Review Part II
It arrived Thursday, well boxed, protected and intact. The fact is it took awhile to disengage It from all the bubble wrap. That’s good.
Once I got It unwrapped I discovered that a 5mm Ramsden is included. I had not heard from the seller that the 5mm was included. That’s good.
I set It up on the picnic table. Not tall enough. So I set It on a table on top of the picnic table. That elevated it high enough for me to espy highway signs about half a mile off to the north.
Even though It’s tube was parallel to the ground, It had no trouble holding steady as I went through a number of eps, focusing on the signs. The eps were nothing heavy, the 27mm that comes with It, a 7-22mm zoom and 12.5mm Ortho. It did not flop over while I was changing eps. The tube stuck horizontal to the ground. Never budged. I thought, It could be a good birding scope if one could put up with the upside down images.
All the eps came to focus including the zoom throughout the range. Images seem pretty good considering the heat waves coming off the roads under the signs. Loop was readable at 7mm. So the daytime viewing was a success in terms of sharpness and eps coming to focus. There did seem to be noticeable field curvature with the 27mm but I can live with that. Remember, low expectations.
Tonight I shall try some larger eps, like X-Cels, my biggest 11/4 eps. However, there is no need to stick a big old 18mm X-Cel in It, when It is parallel to the ground anyway. Why would I want to do that? If It will hold steady and not flop over at 45 degrees with X-Cels I shall be really happy.
So far so good. Oh! It, like the seller said, lacks a strap. I am not sure It needs a strap. Maybe, It needs a bag. But that shall be addressed anon, depending on whether It passes Its average amateur astronomy nocturnal equipment test.
Later.
Well the shit pretty much didn’t taste as good in the dark. That’s right. It is out of collimation. Never got to put in an X-Cel. Plus, the collimation of It may be beyond my capacity. But maybe not. I shall try, try, again. Like today, Moon, is up all day so I tried Moon for collimation. Noper. Don’t work. But Moon looks OK.
Later.
Well I jiggered around with the collimation screws. Not sure if I did anything. However, Saturn looks a little better, particularly in some parts of the FOV. I can see Titan. That’s not bad. Hmmm.
What’s this thing good for? I know, open clusters. M41, M48 and M44 are not bad. I should have checked out M46 and M47 but I forgot.
I did not espy M108 in It. But I tried. Oh well!
So far I have decided to keep It as a telescope for awhile as opposed to turning It into a planter. That’s because It is super cute and easy to operate, especially since I rigged up a Rigel base for the Rigel. However, I am not sure I would ever take the trouble to go to a dark site with It as my only scope. On the other hand, if I was out anyway and wanted an average amateur astronomer looksee, I might like to have It along. It might benefit a lot from darker skies.
OK. So I would like to get It collimated a little better. I shall keep fixing to figure that out. I don’t think the eyeball in the middle methodology is quite good enough for such a fast scope. Or that may be the best I can do. We shall see, anon, maybe
Once I got It unwrapped I discovered that a 5mm Ramsden is included. I had not heard from the seller that the 5mm was included. That’s good.
I set It up on the picnic table. Not tall enough. So I set It on a table on top of the picnic table. That elevated it high enough for me to espy highway signs about half a mile off to the north.
Even though It’s tube was parallel to the ground, It had no trouble holding steady as I went through a number of eps, focusing on the signs. The eps were nothing heavy, the 27mm that comes with It, a 7-22mm zoom and 12.5mm Ortho. It did not flop over while I was changing eps. The tube stuck horizontal to the ground. Never budged. I thought, It could be a good birding scope if one could put up with the upside down images.
All the eps came to focus including the zoom throughout the range. Images seem pretty good considering the heat waves coming off the roads under the signs. Loop was readable at 7mm. So the daytime viewing was a success in terms of sharpness and eps coming to focus. There did seem to be noticeable field curvature with the 27mm but I can live with that. Remember, low expectations.
Tonight I shall try some larger eps, like X-Cels, my biggest 11/4 eps. However, there is no need to stick a big old 18mm X-Cel in It, when It is parallel to the ground anyway. Why would I want to do that? If It will hold steady and not flop over at 45 degrees with X-Cels I shall be really happy.
So far so good. Oh! It, like the seller said, lacks a strap. I am not sure It needs a strap. Maybe, It needs a bag. But that shall be addressed anon, depending on whether It passes Its average amateur astronomy nocturnal equipment test.
Later.
Well the shit pretty much didn’t taste as good in the dark. That’s right. It is out of collimation. Never got to put in an X-Cel. Plus, the collimation of It may be beyond my capacity. But maybe not. I shall try, try, again. Like today, Moon, is up all day so I tried Moon for collimation. Noper. Don’t work. But Moon looks OK.
Later.
Well I jiggered around with the collimation screws. Not sure if I did anything. However, Saturn looks a little better, particularly in some parts of the FOV. I can see Titan. That’s not bad. Hmmm.
What’s this thing good for? I know, open clusters. M41, M48 and M44 are not bad. I should have checked out M46 and M47 but I forgot.
I did not espy M108 in It. But I tried. Oh well!
So far I have decided to keep It as a telescope for awhile as opposed to turning It into a planter. That’s because It is super cute and easy to operate, especially since I rigged up a Rigel base for the Rigel. However, I am not sure I would ever take the trouble to go to a dark site with It as my only scope. On the other hand, if I was out anyway and wanted an average amateur astronomer looksee, I might like to have It along. It might benefit a lot from darker skies.
OK. So I would like to get It collimated a little better. I shall keep fixing to figure that out. I don’t think the eyeball in the middle methodology is quite good enough for such a fast scope. Or that may be the best I can do. We shall see, anon, maybe
posted by ray pistrum at Saturday, March 21, 2009
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