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Finder scopes on spotting scopes? (1 Viewer)

Cyclops

1 eyed tree hugging nature nut!
Just looking at an ad in Birdwatching mag for a couple of Nikon RA III 65 AWP and 82 WP spotting scopes, and I see things sticking out the side that look like finder scopes. As a bit of an astronomy fan I'm used to seeing such things on astro scopes but on a spotter??
 
Add ons

They've been around for a while in various guises. I took mine off my Swarovski telescope, but it did come supplied. At the other end of the comment, some birders add on a finder/sighter, usually a cable tie that acts like a basic rifle sight thingy.
 
I tried out the 65mm Prostaff at L.L. Bean last weekend specifically to see if the finder was useful. It wasn't.
 
I could probably see the point if your scope has a 45º eyepiece, and with high power, but other than that it seems pointless!

Oh, is it me or does this site looks lightly different!?
 
Yeah, I had a Swaro and took off the finder thingy, it never really pointed exactly to where the scope did so it was bit hit and miss. Easier to find your bird directly with the scope. Now I have a Nikon ED82A (Brilliant!), it has a finder groove moulded into the body, I don´t use that either.
 
Yeah, I had a Swaro and took off the finder thingy, it never really pointed exactly to where the scope did so it was bit hit and miss. Easier to find your bird directly with the scope. Now I have a Nikon ED82A (Brilliant!), it has a finder groove moulded into the body, I don´t use that either.

Some ten years ago I stumbled upon an elegantly simple and effective finder solution which I have been using ever since. I wrote about it first to ALULA and then to Birding, and I've been meaning to bring the article to Birdforum as well but haven't gotten round to it until now. It is a pretty long read, but I think you all might find it worthwhile. I first used the sight described here on a Fieldscope ED 78 A and am now using it on an ED 82 A, and have about ten years of experience with it. I still haven't seen or used anything better, and am simply at a loss as to why the principle has not been adopted by scope manufacturers.

Kimmo
 

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that sounds a neat little solution if you have higher powers!
Cheap too(I have a ton of those things somwwhere!)
My scope is at 27X so I dont really neeed a finder, but if I do I find I can use the press stud on the ever ready cases's lens cover which clips to the side of the case, near the objective, and gives a point of reference.
 
Thanks Kimmo!

I had heard of the cable tie sighting device many times but never knew exactly what it was. After your explanation I already have one installed on my new ED 82 A and the only thing that remains to be done is the calibrating.

I noticed, however,that a cable tie can easily be opened by pushing in a small screwdriver and pulling the tail. So adjustments are easily made.

Heikki
 
I'll see if I can come up with a photo. A friend had taken the ones for the original articles, so I don't have those but could ask for them. Otherwise, I'll take some of my own and post them eventually.

Kimmo
 
Sincerest thanks, Kimmo, just tried that at home and it works beautifully. I´m sure it´ll be just as easy to use in the field. You should have patented the idea! Like most brilliant ones, the concept is elegantly simple, and we should all have thought of it, at least those of us who had toy cowboy rifles to play with as kids!
 
Sancho,

I'm glad you found it useful. You'll find it even better once you are out and have some birds to look at.

As for patents, well... Firstly, it is not my idea, I only saw it and copied it, and then wrote instructions on how to do it. Secondly, it is so cheap and easy to do with a cable tie that coming up with a commercial add-on kit just does not seem worth the hassle.

But, I do think that scope manufacturers should seize the concept and use it to engineer truly useful sighting systems into their scopes. I assume the chief reason they have not done that is that the culture of using scopes for tracking birds in flight has not been that familiar outside of the Nordic countries, and so the benefits of being able to aim very quickly to a moving target and getting the magnified image instantly have not been sufficiently acknowledged by them.

Kimmo
 
A simple aiming device for scopes from Finland

Here is an alternative to the cable tie aiming device for scopes. It consist
of a "pike-jaw" clip (used e.g. for curtains) and a vertical part attached
to it. The aiming principle is the same as for the cable tie device - you
aim behind the eyepiece (read Kimmo Absetz's detailed explanation from an
earlier thread). As this is an detachable clip it has to be put into place
every time you start using your scope (or at least it has to be calibrated
every time). This "calibration" process, however, takes only a minute.
 

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Here is an alternative to the cable tie aiming device for scopes. It consist
of a "pike-jaw" clip (used e.g. for curtains) and a vertical part attached
to it. The aiming principle is the same as for the cable tie device - you
aim behind the eyepiece (read Kimmo Absetz's detailed explanation from an
earlier thread). As this is an detachable clip it has to be put into place
every time you start using your scope (or at least it has to be calibrated
every time). This "calibration" process, however, takes only a minute.
Having tried a cable tie sight before, I can confirm that this little device really works.

HPI
 
Here is an alternative to the cable tie aiming device for scopes. It consist
of a "pike-jaw" clip (used e.g. for curtains) and a vertical part attached
to it. The aiming principle is the same as for the cable tie device - you
aim behind the eyepiece (read Kimmo Absetz's detailed explanation from an
earlier thread). As this is an detachable clip it has to be put into place
every time you start using your scope (or at least it has to be calibrated
every time). This "calibration" process, however, takes only a minute.

hehehe thanks and yep it looks really simple :-O
 
Kimmo,

Thank you very much for your effort explaining this cable tie sighting.
I bought a bag of these things today and put one on my scope. It works brilliantly!
Even with mag 45x I found distant objects and sitting birds instantly. And at low mag it's soooo simple to find and track flying birds, quite a revelation.

I put the bag of 100 cable ties in my rucksack to distribute amongst interested fellow birders. I have never seen anything like this being used here in Holland.

Greetings, Ronald
 
Ronald,

Now that you are a convert, perhaps you can utilize your marvelous drawing skills and provide us all with instructional illustrations. Actually, Kanuuna's photos of the pike-jaw clip version also illustrate the principle for the cable tie. Except that I have not found it necessary to use a marker on the eyepiece, although there is certainly no reason not to use one as it is very simple to add.

And yes, once you try the sight there is no going back...

Kimmo
 
Ronald,

Now that you are a convert, perhaps you can utilize your marvelous drawing skills and provide us all with instructional illustrations.

Kimmo

Sure thing, Kimmo, no problem.
I'll need a little time but I will post them as soon as possible.

Greetings, Ronald
 
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