Observing the starry sky in the High Alps for a night with Fujinon 25x150 giant binoculars is a truly special experience. It remains an unforgettable memory for me, as I was given this opportunity by Martin Birkmaier during a visit to the ITT Star Party in the late 1990s.

I had really wanted an instrument like that, but it was out of reach for me due to the price of 12000 Euros.

Years later, I was finally able to fulfill that wish by building my own binocular telescope using two 120/600mm comet seekers. By purchasing used optics, I managed to keep the cost under 1,000 euros.

I adopted the design by Herbert Zellhuber (Nirosta), who arranged two refractor tubes as a binocular telescope, offset in both height and longitudinal position.

The offset provides the observer with a suitable interpupillary distance. To align the focal planes of both tubes, the light path from the lower tube must be diverted slightly earlier; this is achieved using an adjustable 70 mm deflection mirror at the lower end of the tube.

The design looks somewhat unusual but offers the advantage of having only a single redirection in the light path. This results in lower reflection losses compared to a commercial binocular with a 90° viewing angle, which involves three redirections per side. As an additional option, eyepieces with a 2-inch barrel diameter can be used.

This allows for wider fields of view! Equipped with two Zeiss wide-angle eyepieces derived from military optics, the "Twin" offers a true field of view of 4.25 degrees at 20x magnification. This is unsurpassed and provides magnificent views of the night sky.

To further emphasize the distinctive look, I mounted a section of handle from a broken garden hoe as a guide handle.

I saw something similar on William Bradfield's "Billscope." Chapter: "Legendary Stargazers."

That way, you've got this twinscope well under control! :-)