johnbaz

Hi again

In regards to a smaller  binocular, I bought this Russian 8x30 Komz porro for just £10 at a local carboot sale, Have to say, It's every bit as good as my Zeiss 8x30 Jena, The Komz bins turn up on fleabay for a little more usually, They're small but not tiny!

Smaller are these Nikon 9x25, Again, Out of production but turn up frequently, Smashing li'l pocket sized glasses! (Lost their badge at some point in the past!)

John 

Hi all

I went and bought these Zeiss Dekarem 10x50 today for a tenner, They're really cosmetically challenged but boy!- They're nice to look through and are dated between 1965 and 1969 according to the serial number

When I got them through markentplace on facey the eyepiece lenses were really dirty, When I looked rthrough the objective lenses it really showed, I thought it was internal but when I cleaned the eyepiece lenses the bins became really bright and clear, They have a fabulous smell to them too, Several of my bins have the same smell, Not sure if it's the lubricants!!

There was no lens caps or case, I have a spare case that fits them fine, I'll have to see if I have any lenscaps now 

John 

I've several zoom bins, I was warned off them years ago by an old friend that has forgotten more about optics than i'll ever know!!

Have to say, He was right, I thought I would focus in and low mag then zoom in!

In reality, Once zoomed, They had to be refocussed and sometimes even balanced again for my eyes!!

I eventually learned my lesson and skips traigh past 'Zoom' in the binocular listings!! 

By the way- The big massive zoom bins (I have some that I think are 15-70x zoom- They're worse than useless!!

This is about the best zoom bin I have, Still has to be refocussed after zoom but don't have to mess about doing one eye then the other!!

I bought some Tecnar 10x50 from fleabay on buy it now, They're very lightweight (Plastic body!), They were useless when they landed, I noticed the right side objective bell was slanting slightly due to being replaced cross threaded at some point throwing the collimation way off, I unscrewed it (Which was really hard to do!), Found the start of the threads and screwed them back together, Absolute spot on collimation then!!- I was seconds away from putting them in the bin!!
They're not top end bins by any stretch but they turned in to a very nice bright and clear set of bins!!

They were very clean otherwise!

John 

A few recent additions!

I got these off ebay and described as 'Working well', In truth they were far out of collimation, I messaged the seller, Then again a week later and gave another week but no reply so I left negative feedback and put a claim in for my money back, It happened a couple of weeks later, Last night I was pondering putting them in the bin but had a look through my loupe to find the adjisting screws, Found two and uncovered the black plastic from them, I couldn't find the other two on the underside but I noticed that there was a slight gap where the left objective bell screws in to the body, It took loads of removing as it was badly cross threaded, Also, There was something like dried glue on the threads, Some had come off inside the prism chamber, I blew most out but some seemed stuck!, I had several attempts to get the threads aligned and eventually managed it, It was overcast last night so no chance of trying them on the moon so I went outside and was amazed at the improvement!, I looked at cars at the top of the road and they were in full focus!!

Swift 10x50 Tecnar, There's still bits of black stuff inside!

Nikon 9x25 compacts, These are cracking little pocket bins!!

Yashica 8x40..

Bushnell 10x42 Birding series..

Swift Trilyte 8x40 mk3

John 

Well!

I had a go and they were still doing it with the shaft out!!, I put a small amount of oil on the tube and it seemed to do the job! For five minutes!!, It needs the whole tube taking apart!

I'll wait until East Coast repairs are taking work again although i've had OptRep recommended recently so may have to get in touch with them!!

Regards, John 

On 31/12/2020 at 16:06, BinocularSky said:

About 20 years ago I used to have the Swift-Newport Mk II 10x50, which is the big sibling of the Audubon (no, the damage was not caused by me; it was the reason I got them for a fiver ). These pics may help - I'm not certain that they are constructed the same, but I'd be surprised if they weren't.

Remove the cover cap at the distal end of the hinge:

Use a screwdriver with a bit of blutac on to remove the screw in the shaft:

 

Use the focus mechanism to drive the eyepieces and shaft clear; use two hands to support the eyepieces while you do this:

They look identical, I nay have a go now!!

Thanks, John 

On 25/12/2020 at 08:56, DaveL59 said:

Hi John

I've yet to pull the pair of those I have completely apart, the focus movement is a little scratchy so must get round to doing that one day. One thing worth checking is are the two eyepieces straight and level and securely held by their centre clamp bolt at the pivot. If they are free to tilt/rock then they can bind on the tube they ride over and can give the impression of the focuser mechanism binding.

I've only taken these apart as far as removing the eyepieces and top plates, then the prisms & carriers so I could do a full clean of the glass surfaces at this time. Given the big improvement and that the focuser was working ok I've not gone any further yet, I believe there is a pin in helix type arrangement under the large focuser wheel so its possible that pin has come loose. I recall some information on that somewhere on the web, will post if I do find it in case it helps.

Yours do look in pretty good shape otherwise, they are a very nice bino and very solid build quality so hopefully you can get them sorted to enjoy them properly  

Hi Dave

Both parts look to be nicely tight and moving squarely fore and aft, They will actually get past the tight spot with a bit of extra umph but I dislike forcing them!, It appears that the shop I found has actually closed down, I looked on the google maps and it's just not there any more (Signs are removed from the shop front), Couldn't even find the website when I looked for it again!  - If it wasn't for bad luck i'd have no luck at all!!

I'll wait and find someone else as I opened a set up years ago, They went in the bin!!  I used to take watches apart, Clean them in a parts cleaner and rebuild them lubricating as I put them, together as a hobby but bino's scare the life out of me!! 


John 

15 hours ago, MrZuiko said:

Hi John,

Like the double pun regarding the camo tape as my surname is Field!

Tried that Copydex glue it stank.......but didn't hold, 0.8mm thick leatherette I thought would have worked,I used duck permanent double sided tape whci was cleaner than using contact adhesive as you didn't get and massing and causing a ridge under the leatherette etc etc but the next problem came while I was gently heating up the leatherette with a hair dryer to help with the contours......it left the tape on the body.

So I thought enough is enough and went with the black bandage tape. Like I've mentioned gonna apply another layer and then seal them job done!

 

Ash.

Hee hee!! 

Sounds good Ash 

I can reacall when I was quite young using copydex on sofas and chairs that had got damaged in the warehouse although they had a hot welding contraption for vinyl but no one knew how to use it!! 

It always did a good job, I wonder if it's been changed now due to COSHH or something, It was in the mid 70's I worked there!!

Regards, John 

Hi all

A couple of weeks ago I bought a Swift Audubon Mk2 binocular locally, I tried them at the house and they were bright and crisp, The focus was very smooth but as soon as I arrived home and looked down the garden, The focus developed a stiff spot which became quickly to a full on jam!, It seems to me that something is stuck in the threads of the shaft, maybe a bit of muck held in the grease!

Has anyone split binoculars on the shafte before?, I'm wondering if i'll do them in completey if I try to clean and re grease the shaft!! I found a shop locally that say they repair binoculars but i'm not sure if they're open due to covid!!!

Cheers, john 

Hi Ash

Glad you didn't use the cammo tape as if you put them down in the field, You'd probably never find them again!! 

Years ago I worked at a furniture shop, Carpets and fabric repairs were glued with Copydex, I just googled it and it was also stick metals so it's safe to say that it will probably stick fabric to the aluminium tubes!, Also, I wonder if the leather used for book binding is thinner than the stuff you bought?, May be easier too apply, That said, I think you did a good job with the black tape 

John 

I have a Skymaster 25x70, Whilst it's quite lightweight and easy to hold, The 25x mag is hard to keep still enough to hand hold!!

I also bought a Swallow 15x80, These are quite heavy compared to the Celestrons but a little more steady, The image is much less lively!

John 

5 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

wow that's a great find! Very nice condition too. Only thing with them is close focus is around 15ft but otherwise a very good bino. I've an older model 7x35 and they are nice to use, as well as a Chinon 10x40 that are made by the same manufacturer I believe, given the similarity and IIRC the same makers markings.

I think someone may have messed with these as the nearest focus is around a hundred feet! 

Beyond that they're fine!! 

Cheers, John 

Hi all

Had an amble around the local bootsale last week and dropped on these Swift Trilyte 8x40 for the princely sum of £10 

I feel sure they've been in the case for most of their life as the condition is very good!!

John

Just now, John said:

Without a diagonal mirror or prism between the scope and the eyepiece the image will appear upside down and left - right reversed.

Ahh, Thanks, Pretty sure I have a 90° prism somewhere!, I'll try and find it tomorrow! 

Cheers, John 

Hi all 

Dragging up an old thread, I decided to take the lenses out to clean them as they were stained and I recently bought an adapter so I can use my 1.25" lenses in the .965" tube!

It was a fair old job unscrewing the part that carries the lenses!! 

The stain from condensation between the lenses!

The lenses were quite tight in the tube and when I put them back in, They scraped small bits of black paint from the inside which ended up between the lenses, Had them out several times but got fed up as they scraped the paint off every single time, Can see two bits at around 9 o'clock..

Don't have a mount for the scope so I rested it on a towel on some boxes, The view was nice and clear but upside down! Wasn't expecting that!!, Is this how they work??, It's so long since I looked through a refracting astronomical scope that I can't remember!! 

There is a lens mounted down the tube which I thought was to correct the orientation!!

I'll have to search fleabay now for a set of 76mm rinngs so I can get rid of the boxes!! 

Cheers, John 

On 12/06/2020 at 19:05, Ruud said:

Good idea - ask before buying. Zoom binoculars promise a lot, but they are crap really.

There's another type of binoculars we warn against: "auto focus" or "focus free" binoculars. Those are no more than binoculars without a focus mechanism. Focus is fixed to one distance and if you want to study  something at a different distance you're out of luck (a swan's nest that's 15 m away for example).

Hi Ruud

I had a couple of these focus free, The first ones (Jason perma focus, A company owned by Bushnell) I gave to my lad as I couldn't focus at all through them, I never thought to try looking through my glasses with them!, Anyhow, My lad could see fine so he had them!

I bought another focus free (Dowling & Rowe 7x50), These were only a fiver at a bootsale,  Again, I couldn't focus (Bad eyes!!) so I tried through my specs and WOW!!! They were great but they focus at any distance, The others which were the same as it turned out, He still has them and uses them!!

They're quite a bit bigger than the Tasco 7x50 that I bought from another stall! (They were a fiver too!!!) 

John 

I was warned against buying zoom bins by a mate that's forgotten more about binoculars than i'll ever know, Still went ahead and bought some, He was right!!  When I zoomed in, I had to re focus, I've had a few sets now and had the same thing with each set! One set I even had to readjust the eye bell on the right as one lens was in focus but the other was out!! 

I bought these lovely old Tasco zooms for just £14 at a local antiques emporium, It's best to keep them set on one adjustment and use them as non zoom!!

A couple more!!

John 

23 hours ago, Nakedgun said:

Do you plan to mount them for use, if so, how will you attach them?

Hi David

The front focus shaft screw removes to attach a bracket for a tripod, I'll probably not get around to mounting them though!!

John 

EDIT- I thought i'd posted in this thread before but apparently not!! 

Anyhow, My binoculars are HERE, Don't want to post pics as it caused a bit of trouble last time! 

It seems i've not kept my Flickr up to date as I bought these last year..

Both are 7x50, One is Tasco, The other is focus free Dowling and Rowe..

I didn't add these old Tasco zoom to Flickr either!

Crikey, Here's another set that wasn't put in to the album!

Celestron 25x70..

The Swallow 15x80 arrived, It looked like someone had tipped old smashed plasterwork in!!, Had to spend 20 mins washing and drying everything but at least the lenses were protected with caps!!

There is a fungal bloom in one objective lens although it can't be seen whilst viewing!!, Er, They're a bit big compared with my Monarch 8x42 rp's!!

I found this receipt for a new focussing shaft and other work in the bottom of the case from 1997!!

John 

Hi all

Found these on facebook for £30, The seller responded to my message concerning postage, They quoted £13.75, I sent them £46 to cover the Paypal fees, They should be getting posted in the morning..

It's a bit chancey buying bins untested as so many seem to have bad collimation or mould in the lenses or have been knocked about generally!

I've a smaller set of Swallow, 8x30 and they're so sharp and bright that I suppose i'm presuming these will be the same!- It won't be the end of the world if they're not up to scratch!

I can't seem to find much info on Swallow stuff, One result actually led me to here and another sent me to Cloudy Nights forum, When I googled images for 15x80 Binoculars some turned up with the small hinge at the objective end but the prism cases are much fatter, Others that have the slimline case but no hinge so i'm unsure if these are by a manufacturer that sells to different companies with different names on!!

Looking forwards to them arriving!

Cheers, john 

I think i've around fifty bino's but my fave are the Nikon Monarch 8x42 roof prism ones, They're just soooo crisp and bright and not unwieldly 

John 

1 hour ago, Paul M said:

You can never have too many pairs of bins. I've only got 5 or 6 pairs.

I'm holding out now until I find something like this at a boot sale:

https://www.altairastro.com/Altair-100mm-90-Giant-Astronomy-Binocular-18mm-UF-1.25-eyepieces.html

 

If they don't come with a reasonable tripod I'll not be offering more than £25

WOW!! Those look the Biz! 

I've never counted but I think I must have around 50 bino's now!!


John 

Here's a set of Tasco zoom bins that I bought this year, They seem a cut above other zoom ones that i've owned, Could be that they don't zoom loads like some others that I have (They're 7-15x)

A nice quality case with them too!

These on the other hand are naff by comparison, The mag starts where the Tasco's end!! 

John 

Hi all, After recovering from a knee replacement around 12 weeks ago, I've been having a steady amble around our local bootsales of a sunday and brought some more bins home with me!

A while ago I picked these Tasco 7x50 armoured set up for £5, More recently (Last weekend) I found these Dowling and Rowe 7x50 focus free and armoured for the same price, The fella said he'd been a while wondering how to focus them!!

John 

Replying to an old thread, I realised these weren't auto focus after using them for a while, They're individual focus but as Ruud said, they hardly need to be refocussed!!

Cheers, John