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Scope setup for quadriplegic birder (1 Viewer)

R

RunningBirder

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Hi all,

I'm looking for suggestions for a midrange scope and tripod that'll work when birding with a quadriplegic friend. (Zero movement below the neck.) Maybe someone here goes birding with mobility-restricted friends and has figured this out already.

Money is an object. $500 for the scope, not including tripod, is the absolute max. Straight scope is easier for him to wheel up to and look through, but angled works fine with my phone attached.

We've been birding with my phone attached to binoculars via a digiscoping adapter to create a monitor, but we need more power and a tripod to get him seeing more shorebirds and waterfowl, especially at low tide.

The ultimate would be to find some genius who can create a voice- or Siri-operated compact scope that mounts to a wheelchair. Then he could bird on his own!

Thanks in advance for your "accessible birding" ideas!
 
If your friend is in a wheelchair, a monopod would probably be easier to install than a tripod and much cheaper. Your existing digiscoping setup could work with that. Start with an inexpensive scope, maybe a Celestron or a used model from a dealer. You'll need a fluid head to move the scope smoothly, fortunately they too are available used.
Your idea for some sort of voice controlled driver for the scope is surely feasible. The hobbyists flying drones have the needed actuators on the cameras they hang from the drones and I've seen wheelchair controller units that are tongue operated, but I don't know who actually sells such a device or at what price.
Your friend is lucky to have you. All the best.
 
This doesn't address your specific question but is an alternative arrangement that you might consider.

You could attach a camera or Olympus Air to the scope and then use the control app as a remote monitor on your cell phone or other tablet. Advantage is that the phone/tablet is not mounted or attached to the camera/scope. So you're completely free to place the monitor in one location that's best for your friend while you're also free to position the scope for the best view of birds/wildlife. Using the remote connection means that the problem of getting your friend into position is solved.

Downside is your friend is viewing pixels instead of photons but it seems like that's working now with your binoculars.

Will think more about this! What you want to do is good and do-able!

Best,
Jerry
 
Hi,

I think your solution with the smartphone and digiscoping adapter is going to be very good for a spotting scope too. Where you able to try positioning of your friend directly in front of a straight scope and tripod?

I think having the scope attached to the wheelchair is going to be problematic due to lack of stability...

If you want to dream about going roboterized some day with your friend on the controls, getting astro stuff is the way to go since there one half of the work has been done already in the form of a motorized altitude azimuth mount and small ED refractor with a motor focus. You then "only" need to work out something to enable your friend to close the circuits for moving the scope and the focus.

Also astro stuff is usually quite cheap as compared to spotting scopes of equal quality.

Joachim
 
Lots of interesting ideas! The Olympus Air is new to me. I'll look into that. My friend already has an iPhone mounted on his chair that he controls by voice and breath.

He can roll up to a straight scope, but the chair and his restricted head movement can make it challenging to get his eye close enough. The digiscoping setup makes viewing a lot easier.

Hadn't thought of monopods. I bet we could fashion a bracket to attach a monopod and compact scope to his chair. Maybe a nice portable setup for our bike/wheelchair birding excursions.

I knew this group would have creative suggestions. Keep 'em coming!
 
That's good news on the iPhone! It's not just the Olympus Air. You can attach any camera, even modified webcam, to scope/binoculars with viewing on the iPhone screen. Digiscopers have all the attachment issues worked out so really it's much easier than trying to get your friend physically at an eyepiece.

On the other hand, I've tried to attach a photo of a parallelogram used by astronomy hobbyists to mount binoculars for ease of viewing. Extremely easy to use and scopes as well as binoculars can be attached.

If you PM me with an email address I can forward several examples. I think it's ideal if you want to bring the eyepiece to your friends face.

Best,
Jerry
 

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An Opticron clamp and/or Manfretto Magic Arm could very well work for an on-the-go setup that would allow my friend to view directly through bins or compact scope.

For now, I bought a scope and tripod: Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 20-60x80 and sturdy Celestron tripod. I have compact bins in the Legend line that work great with the digiscope adapter/smartphone setup and took a chance that the scope would offer similarly fine viewing. It does—nice scope for $400!

The tripod doesn't allow his chair to get close enough for his eye to reach the scope, but attaching my phone to the scope has allowed him to add a ton of lifers to his list now that he can see all those shorebirds and ducks. Yesterday was a 4-lifer day at a local marsh!

Thanks to everyone for your brilliant ideas and support. I'll keep you posted on our progress toward a mobile accessible-birding rig!

I'm including a couple photos we took with my Samsung Galaxy S6 in a Snapzoom digiscope adapter mounted on the scope. The bald eagles were about 3/4 mile away (edited from 1/4 after reviewing Strava data).
 

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Hi,

this sounds great, good to hear you got a decent example and get nice views.

How is the view at maximum magnification? The bald eagle pic shows some CA in an admitedly tricky lighting situation, which could be from the scope or the camera lens.

Enjoy!

Joachim
 
Hi Joachim,

The CA in the eagle pic is mostly from my phone and heavy-handed image futzing. Still figuring out the best phone settings for these scoped pics. My Strava data shows that these birds were closer to 3/4 mile from where we were standing. Dots near the top of an evergreen on a gray-backlit hill in real life.

View at max magnification *without the phone attached* is surprisingly crisp and bright with very little CA for a $400 scope. The ED glass makes a nice difference in this lower-priced scope. Compared with a couple similarly priced models I tested at my local birding shop, the quality of this Bushnell is miles ahead. Definitely not the coolest brand among the birding set, but I can't afford that sort of peer pressure!
 
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