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Attaching a laser to my Vortex 85mm HD scope (1 Viewer)

ibirdeverywhere

Swarovski 8x32EL Swarovision Swarovski CL8x30 Comp
Has anyone ever seen some type of bracket that I could readily adapt to attach a pen laser to the side/top of my Vortex scope to aid in quickly locating a specific subject in the eyepiece at higher magnifications?

Some of the older scopes included a small plastic peep site on the side, however, the Razor does not include that accessory. Thanks--Ed
 
Excellent idea: a laser finder. Avoid hikers and pilots.

Just a tip before you start: I did tape a laser on some binoculars, and it was very educational.
I shimmed the angle with a little putty at first, and I was glad I did: turns out the laser dot
from a $5 or $30 laser pointer is a bit messy 100 feet out. So the first thing is: don't
take the quality of the dot for granted...it might take a better pointer. I got a good green one
for $60 eventually. 1-1/2" at 150 ft.

For aiming, don't forget that at 300 ft, 0.1 degrees is 6.3 inches.
In other words, attaching the laser to a fixture or platform a few inches away is a lot
easier and barely matters for your field of view. Then you can have the precision
and fun of using screws and wedges and such to aim the thing on a plywood or other base.
You can't see center that precisely with a 2 degree view.

You might also draw some inspiration from little finder scopes, maybe mounting the
laser in one of those 3-screw mounts. People are often selling off their little finder,
and you could tape that on with some stability. Oops, now I'm going to fiddle with this.
 
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red dot finder to scope

Has anyone ever seen some type of bracket that I could readily adapt to attach a pen laser to the side/top of my Vortex scope to aid in quickly locating a specific subject in the eyepiece at higher magnifications?

Some of the older scopes included a small plastic peep site on the side, however, the Razor does not include that accessory. Thanks--Ed

This page shows it can be done.
http://www.actionoptics.co.uk/Red Dot Finder.htm
 
That looks a lot better than the laser.
Looks like a guide scope bracket. They did all the homework, though.
A laser is fantastic for looking at shake, but that matters little for spotters,
except to say get a good tripod.
 
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My 85mm Razor HD came from Vortex with a little peep scope on the side. I wonder when they discontinued that feature. I've had mine for a couple of years.
 
Evidently Vortex did provide the peep site on their scopes at first, but Swarovski supposedly sued them for patent infringement, and Vortex felt they had to remove it from the scope.
 
Anyway these little sights on the side of the scope are pretty useless. Not sure what you have in mind with the laser pointer (finding birds?), but as long as you have an angled scope, you should try the cable tie aiming device before anything else. Costs nothing and works perfectly.
 
My main intention was quicker sighting in of my Vortex angled scope on a target. I have always used a non-angled scope, so for some reason, I find it harder to sight in a target, such as a shore bird etc.

It might just take more practice learning how to sight in the angled scope- if anyone has any hints of faster sighting using an angled scope, I would appreciate it.
 
I do love using the 'red dot' guide on the Celestron scope. It made it very easy to set up
tracking for following an eagle and a jet today at 70x. I set the red dot where the airplane or
the bird was headed and jumped to the eyepiece. The eagle was about 400 yds away when I started.
The airplane was a mile but it's a big object.
 
Anyway these little sights on the side of the scope are pretty useless. Not sure what you have in mind with the laser pointer (finding birds?), but as long as you have an angled scope, you should try the cable tie aiming device before anything else. Costs nothing and works perfectly.

:t:

This is the best advice a birder with an angled scope will ever get. Cheap, deadly effective, and opens up a whole new high speed world for a scope.
 
IMHO, attaching a laser to an optical instrument may not be a very good idea.
Accidentally painting someone or something could land you in trouble, especially if it paints an aircraft, vehicle or person.
Having an FBI Swat team kick your door in and haul you off in handcuffs makes it very unattractive...murphy's law and all that.
It is illegal in many states and the statutes don't allow for "accidental" use.
Heads up display sights are very cheap, SWFA or Cameralandny can get you a sight and mount or your nearest Cabela's, Bass Pro, et al.
Art
 
It's the green lasers that get the avaiators and govt. riled up.
People flash pilots.

I think the cable tie would be handy at 60x or 40x,
but it's nice to have the precision of the red-dot sight at 80x.
And...looks like the laser, but no angry agents.
 
I don't think it is a laser. You first focus the telescope on a distant object (church steeple is good) with the device on it. It projects a red dot onto a mirror which you then line up with same object the telescope is focused on and you lock it in so you can use it as an aiming device -- if I remember correctly. I haven't used mine for a while. It's not hard to figure out.

Bob
 
I tried a variation on the "cable tie aiming device"
for an astro telescope (70mm f/10).
(Disclaimer: a 70mm f/10 scope is mainly useful for driving-deployment/short hike/greater-than-200-yd range watching:
not as quick or close-by as with spotter)

Anyway, there are two main differences going from spotter to astro:
1) horizontal sighting is trivial by looking along the barrel
2) the height of a sighting device is much lower as seen from 'just over the eyepiece' than for a spotter.

The adapted result: The "twist-tie aiming device"

You simply tape a baggie twist tie on the front top with a little loop twisted in it.
Adjust the loop height easily...it's a wire twist tie. Similarly awesome results.

The red-dot is nice, but I had a dust bag on it and it takes some time to place the eyes
to see the dot. Removing the red-dot from the telescope makes it less awkward to
put in the back seat or the trunk.

I'm sold on cable-tie now, but I had to adapt it. A little 'L' of thin metal might be even better.
 
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Yes, I agree, if the Razor had a picatinny rail attachment, then you could easily mount a red dot sight. I did come across a system that used to be offered by birdwatching.com that consisted of using an epoxy to glue a rail on the sun shade of a scope that would allow a red dot sight to be mounted on it. The system that they offered was only for a very limited number of scopes and it was not suitable for the Razor.

Does anyone else have any ideas about mounting a red dot scope on a Razor, 85mm? This option seems much safer than a laser, and more consistent that a cable tie. Thanks
 
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