Windy weather (1 Viewer)

[Binastro]

The last 24 hours have been very windy.

The nearby electricity substation entrance gates have been blowing wildly in the wind.

Children are back in school and I didn't want them playing with transformers etc. which are marked Danger of Death.

As usual nobody does a thing about helping the community including traffic wardens, building workers etc.

So I tried to read the phone number on a transformer with the Swift 8.5x44 HR/5.
No luck at all. The numbers are too small and I am looking into the Sun.
A hand held Kowa 20x50 not much good into the Sun, although possible maybe.

So took the Canon 18x50 IS out of its case.
Brilliant.
Very easily read numbers and in a completely different league to normal hand held binoculars.
Almost into the Sun makes little difference to this binocular.

I rang the number and someone will come to secure the wild open gates.

Regards,
B.

 

[james holdsworth]

I’m wondering how a glass like that handles the jostles and vibrations of observing (outside) in such winds...it is these conditions that are just about the only time I pine for stabilization.

 

[Binastro]

Hi James.
I was observing from inside because of Covid risks in a busy street.

The Canon 18x50 IS benefits from steady holding, but I think the stabilizer would help even in the wind
I would probably use the Canon 10x42L IS outside in strong winds.
Both of the binoculars are heavy so they resist movement.

However, in the really strong winds involved I would not be steady myself, so I wouldn't use a binocular at all.

The angle I was observing would not suit a tripod mounted scope or binocular, which is part of the beauty of a good IS binocular. It works in any position at any angle.

Two hours after I read the phone number a Power supply van and engineer arrived.
He checked the site and secured the gates.

If the wind was strong enough it could lift the gates off their hinges, but I haven't seen such winds normally.
In the 1980s maybe a tree missed my car by a foot.
We lost 15 million trees in that storm.

Also I was very close when the whole library roof came off in one piece in a 90mph gust.
It would have killed anybody unlucky enough to be in the way.

I found that the Canon 730 HS camera resolved even better than the Canon 18x50 IS, but the photos were flat with poor contrast into the Sun.
The Canon 18x50 IS showed no sign of flare at all.

Regards,
B.