instruction Manual
IN 276 Rev. C 01/09
orion
®
BinoViewer
#52071
Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion
BinoViewer.
The binoviewer provides superior contrast and
detail for planetary, lunar, and even solar vistas. If you are try-
ing to tease out extra features on Saturn or the craters on the
Moon, the binoviewer will deliver the view in 3D-like majesty
unavailable with monocular vision. Planets will appear less like
flat discs, and more like floating spheres. The lunar landscape
will look like it is flying underneath the window of your space-
craft. All this in greater viewing comfort, since you won’t have
to strain to close one eye.
The binoviewer will work on any telescope with approximately
4" of inward focus travel. If your telescope has less focus travel,
you can use the included 2x barlow lens with the binoviewer;
this combination only requires approximately 1.5” inward focus
travel.
How to use the BinoViewer
Take the binoviewer out of its case and remove the cover caps.
You will need to install the eyepiece securing thumbscrews into
the eyepiece holders. Each eyepiece holder takes three of the
thumbscrews. Simply thread the thumbscrews into the holes
along the perimeter of the holders. These nylon thumbscrews
will ensure proper centering of eyepieces in the holders,
resulting in a sharper, merged image at high magnifications.
Unscrew all of the thumbscrews until there is space to insert
your two eyepieces. The eyepieces must be identical to get a
clear image. After inserting the eyepieces, secure all thumb-
screws equally and bring the binoviewer to the focuser of your
telescope.
connection to the telescope
Before inserting the binoviewer into the focuser, make sure
any adapters or diagonals in the drawtube are secure. The
binoviewer weighs much more than an average eyepiece,
therefore all connections must be extra secure to support it.
Place the binoviewer’s chrome barrel into your star diago-
nal (if using a refractor or Cassegrain) or focuser (if using a
Newtonian) and secure it with the thumbscrew. Now, adjust
the interpupillary distance of the two eyepieces. Adjust the
binoviewer so the center of each eyepiece glass is directly in
front of each of your pupils. This is done by grasping both sides
of the binoviewer and bending them together or apart. When
the image from each eyepiece becomes a single merged
image, the interpupillary distance is set for your eyes. You may
also rotate the entire unit in the focuser so your neck is at a
comfortable angle.
Focusing
Now you are ready to focus. First focus with your telescope
focuser. If the image looks a little soft, you can adjust the focus
of each eye individually with the helical focusers at the base of
each eyepiece holder. Cover your right eye and focus the left
eyepiece holder by rotating it until the image appears clearest.
Then cover your left eye and do the same for the right eyepiece
holder. The binoviewer is now focused.
If you rack the focuser all the way inward, and still can’t achieve
focus, the included 2X barlow lens threaded onto the front of
the binoviewer's barrel will usually solve this problem. This will
likely occur in Newtonian reflectors and some refractors, but
rarely in Cassegrain telescope designs.
image orientation
As the light travels through the binoviewer, the image will be
rotated 180°. If you observe a mountain scene through the
binoviewer, the sky will be on the bottom of the image, and
the mountains will float on top. However, this image rotation is
hardly noticeable when viewing the night sky.
use of the 2x Barlow lens
As an extra bonus, the Orion binoviewer comes standard with
a high-quality 2x barlow lens. This lens threads onto the front of
the binoviewer’s chrome barrel, and doubles the magnification
of any eyepieces used in the binoviewer. As noted previously, it
also reduces the amount of inward focus travel required for the
binoviewer to reach focus in a telescope.
Keep in mind, however, that when the barlow lens is employed,
the field of view and image brightness will be reduced. This is
fine for viewing objects such as planets, as they are small yet
quite bright. On the other hand, some deep sky objects, such
as nebulae, can be dim and wide, so using the barlow lens
might not yield the best view.
using Filters
Your binoviewer’s chrome barrel is threaded for Orion 1.25"
filters. Simply thread the filter onto the barrel and re-focus.
The binoviewer’s excellent lunar and planetary views can be
further enhanced by color filters such as light blue, yellow, or
red, and the classic Moon filter to block excessive glare. Since
the binoviewer works best for brighter objects, a light pollution
filter may only work on the brightest deep space objects. A
broadband filter, such as the Orion SkyGlow, may improve the
contrast and eliminate distracting haze from city lights.
