We all know the drill for buying diamonds, everything hinges on cut, carat, clarity, and colour. Though cost is curiously absent from that equation, I applied similar principles in my quest for the ideal binocular mount.  Instead of four “C’s”, however, I went with four “P’s”: portability, practicality, posture, and, naturally, price.
     Binoculars cover that observing gap between the naked eye and the telescope.  Unfortunately, apart from the Canon Image-Stabilized models which are pricey and still have their drawbacks, even the modern, lightweight bins are susceptible to the ubiquitous handshakes.  However, astronomers are a creative lot and solutions are just clicks away.
     One of the better configurations pairs a tripod with a parallelogram type arm.  Functional, but more than I wanted to spend.  Narrowing my search to low-tech alternatives, I found gizmos with broom handles or crutches, bowling balls and plumbing pipes, lawn chairs and bunji cords, and inflatable dinghies.  Red Green would love astronomy.
     In turn, I rejected each one on grounds of zenith neck strain, constant hand contact or, simply, negative wife polarization - never underestimate the importance of spouse-friendly equipment.
     Enter the Sky Window (http://www.tricomachine.com/skywindow/).  Designed and patented by Dr. Emmanual M. Carreira, a member of the Vatican Observatory, the machined aluminum unit points binoculars down at a swiveling first surface mirror.  Set on a tabletop there is no neck strain and only minimal hand contact.  But wait, they want $269 U.S. ($2.5 million CDN) - plus shipping and handling and duty, Oh my!
     The fact I even considered making my own attests to its simplicity.  My handyman skills are so inept that if I’d built the Ark, Darwin’s theory would have been based on strong swimmers.  Certain there’d be other versions around, I soon found printable plans for a wooden “binocular box” at the Fraser Valley Astronomers Society website (http://www.fvas.net/bino.html).  On the same page was also a source for reasonably priced first surface mirrors.
     While contemplating the project, I identified two weak areas: 1) the binocular box still required a table, and 2) a first surface mirror ought to be covered when not in use.  Since the unit was just a flat base with supporting stands for the mirror and binoculars, I realized that by making it a true box, with a cake stand style lid, I could protect the mirror and provide storage space for our binoculars.  Going a step further, if the base sat on the lid, a table would not be necessary.  I could add a set of legs to raise the unit to a comfortable height - good posture translates to longer and better observing.  The legs could also be stored in the box – practical and portable.
     Making a mock-up out of ½” spruce to find the ideal measurements for our 10 x 50 Carton Adlerblicks, it became apparent that thicker wood might be more robust and, after all these years, I still can’t cut a straight line.
     Noah would have loved Home Depot.  With plan in hand, I got them to cut all the wood from a single ¾” pine board, 16” x 96”.  All I had to do was glue, screw, and paint.  In fact, I completed the box before the mirror arrived.  Well-packed, the ¼” thick glass was a true 10” x 5” rectangle though, advertised as pristine, I found one edge a little rough and there were two small scuff marks along another.  However, these flaws would not affect performance and, confident that Bill (William Bixby – fsmirrors@att.net) would replace it if I wasn’t happy, I fixed the mirror to its platform with five blobs of silicon adhesive.  A word to the wise: a first surface coating is a delicate thing – clean it as you would a telescope’s primary.
     So, how well does it work?  Brilliantly.  The different colours of binaries pop right out and a miniature M 31, The Andromeda Galaxy, showed us lovely wispiness around its bright core – and this from our backyard’s mag. 4.6 skies!  Gail commented on how comfortable it was to use, and we both liked the ease of sharing the wide, stable, views.  This would be an ideal instrument for children.
     In summary, the whole package weighs just over 20 lbs with binoculars aboard and, satisfying all four “P’s”, the price came to about $90 U.S. ($135 in Canadian Tire coupons) only because I needed to buy everything (except binoculars).  No doubt it could be made for much less depending on what you have floating around your workshop.  Look to the HAA website ( http://www.amateurastronomy.org ) for pictures and plans of this project ( or go directly to http://home.primus.ca/~gmuller/skybox.html ) and remember; if I can make this – you can too!

UPDATE: When Bill received my e-mail, outlining the flaws in the mirror, as expected he offered to exchange it - sending the new one before I have to return the flawed one so, in his words, "there will be no down time".  He also mentioned that for those with 60mm, 70mm or larger instruments an 8" x 10" mirror is available. Visit Bill's website at: www.fsmirrors.com