Why not more DIY “big eyes”?

[SikaSeeker]

 

[SikaSeeker]

Set of Kowa 822 I saw for sale in Deadwood South Dakota, of interest is the bracket design . These are more difficult to make and some say less capable of holding collimation than AA type design. kowa have repainted these I think, as they use the “820“ stencilled design on repainted scopes of this generation.

 

[BBob]

Over the years the adjustable inter pupillary designs seem to have come more from back east. Out west they’ve mostly been adjust and fixed in place designs.

 

[Antares]

I'm selling my Adam's Adapter Kowa 884 plate if anyone is interested.

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/kowa-884-big-eyes-plate-adams-adapters.355336/

 

[SikaSeeker]

Managed to obtain a set of Highlanders, I’d also considered the 884 paired but that’s on the long finger for another day.

The highlander eyepiece eyecup is compatible with other kowa eyepieces , I had to replace the rubber pieces as they’d went a bit gummy. I’d hazard a guess UV exposure did this.

Thus far I’ve not gotten ideal conditions to test but already the Highlanders are impressive, they give a depth of field you don’t have with one eye.

The optics in the highlander differ to the Kowa 824 which is a straight forward porro arrangement. The highlander uses a Schmidt pecan arrangement, a 45 degree prism and a rhombus prism for the IPD adjustment mechanism. Also has a neutral density filter. The tubes have more girth Vs the 824 and subsequent filter thread of 95mm(same as 884). It seems the main reason for this is manufacturing process designed for robustness.

I was lucky the example I found for sale is mint condition throughout as it has sat indoors looking out across a port.

The major downside is of course the weight, they are brutes. 6.2kg

The little aiming spike is useful enough.

I am on the lookout for Docter 40x 80 Aspectum ED as well, had a swap deal (for the non ED version) fall through this week.

 

[Antares]

View attachment 718869
Managed to obtain a set of Highlanders, I’d also considered the 884 paired but that’s on the long finger for another day.

The highlander eyepiece eyecup is compatible with other kowa eyepieces , I had to replace the rubber pieces as they’d went a bit gummy. I’d hazard a guess UV exposure did this.

Thus far I’ve not gotten ideal conditions to test but already the Highlanders are impressive, they give a depth of field you don’t have with one eye.

The optics in the highlander differ to the Kowa 824 which is a straight forward porro arrangement. The highlander uses a Schmidt pecan arrangement, a 45 degree prism and a rhombus prism for the IPD adjustment mechanism. Also has a neutral density filter. The tubes have more girth Vs the 824 and subsequent filter thread of 95mm(same as 884). It seems the main reason for this is manufacturing process designed for robustness.

I was lucky the example I found for sale is mint condition throughout as it has sat indoors looking out across a port.

The major downside is of course the weight, they are brutes. 6.2kg

The little aiming spike is useful enough.

I am on the lookout for Docter 40x 80 Aspectum ED as well, had a swap deal (for the non ED version) fall through this week.

Jealous of the Highlanders! Nice score. Congratulations!