Binoviewer Repairs?

[Neil P]

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone knows of anywhere that can repair and re-collimate binoviewers?  Last night was a disaster, I dropped my Baader Mark Vs to the ground. At first I though I had got off lucky as there was only a scratch on them but when I re-seated them the images will no longer merge. I am too scared to try and work on them myself and was wondering if anyone knew of anyone who can collimate binoviewers.

Thx

Neil

[Highburymark]

Bad luck Neil - the MkV is very heavy and easy to drop. Going back to Baader is one option - they’ll probably ask for it to be handled through the retailer who sold you the MkV in the first place. The good thing about this route is they’ll return it in a pristine state. The bad thing will be the expense - I’ve seen quotes of well over half the MkV’s value new if the damage is substantial - and a long waiting period of several months. 
A much cheaper option would be to contact a binoviewer expert called Denis Levatic who lives in Croatia and has been working on Baader MkVs and many other Zeiss BVs for years. Denis does contribute to SGL every now and then, but he’d be much easier to contact through US astronomy forum Cloudy Nights where he posts regularly. If you do a bit of searching you’ll find him, and if you become a member of CN you’ll be able to PM him. As far as I know he doesn’t have a website, but I’m sure he’d help - even if just to give you expert advice.

[Solar B]

That's a good call regarding Denis , Mark I'm pretty sure he is now listed as a "Vendor"

on CN ... he's certainly a BV Guru ... it probably wouldn,t hurt to post about the issue on

CN as well Neil as your bound to get some more advice ... there's another guy 

on there called Edgie (i think) who also really knows this stuff.

Brian 

[Space Hopper]

@Neil P sorry to hear you've had a mishap.

If you go down the route above with Denis, let me know how you get on.

My own Mk5 has taken a few minor knocks over the years, it could do with recollimating i think, and i know it could use a good stripdown and clean.

 

[Stargazer McCabe]

5 hours ago, Neil P said:

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone knows of anywhere that can repair and re-collimate binoviewers?  Last night was a disaster, I dropped my Baader Mark Vs to the ground. At first I though I had got off lucky as there was only a scratch on them but when I re-seated them the images will no longer merge. I am too scared to try and work on them myself and was wondering if anyone knew of anyone who can collimate binoviewers.

Thx

Neil

Neil
I have used Denis and have sent Leica and WO Binoviewers to him for service. I have his email address if you want it. PM me if it's a route you want to explore and I'll send you his email privately if you haven't found it from elsewhere
Simon
 

[Davey-T]

These folk in UK don't know if they do bino' viewers

http://binocular-repair.co.uk/

Dave

[Neil P]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice, I think I will reach out to Denis to see if he still does repairs and recollimation, there was a post on CN that said he might have stopped because he got some complaints.

Thanks again

Neil

[Stargazer McCabe]

14 minutes ago, Neil P said:

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice, I think I will reach out to Denis to see if he still does repairs and recollimation, there was a post on CN that said he might have stopped because he got some complaints.

Thanks again

Neil

No, if you ask nicely he will still help you. His wife was poorly a while back and he thought about stopping because of that. But didn't if you contacted him and he had the time / inclination...

Edited August 15, 2020 by Stargazer McCabe

[Highburymark]

50 minutes ago, Neil P said:

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice, I think I will reach out to Denis to see if he still does repairs and recollimation, there was a post on CN that said he might have stopped because he got some complaints.

Thanks again

Neil

Hey Neil - just remembered I contributed to a very similar thread on CN in the last week or two - which Denis was part of too. Check out the binoviewer forum. 

[Space Hopper]

On 15/08/2020 at 17:52, Davey-T said:

These folk in UK don't know if they do bino' viewers

http://binocular-repair.co.uk/

Dave

Thats an interesting one.  

I've not seen or heard of them before, but i will certainly make some enquiries. Thankyou for sharing the link.

Its rather a leap of faith to send a £900 binoviewer all the way to Croatia, and then hope it makes it back again....

 

[Neil P]

Well I sent my binoviewers off to Denis to be re-collimated and we agreed he would supercharge them while he had them. First class service from Denis they are back better than ever, he even repaired the paint chips on the casing.  Would highly recommend Denis to anyone thinking of supercharging their binoviewers.

[vineyard]

11 minutes ago, Neil P said:

Well I sent my binoviewers off to Denis to be re-collimated and we agreed he would supercharge them while he had them. First class service from Denis they are back better than ever, he even repaired the paint chips on the casing.  Would highly recommend Denis to anyone thinking of supercharging their binoviewers.

Late to this thread.  Sorry to hear that Denis' wife was poorly.  Glad to see he's back in action & that he fixed your BV.  I got mine from him last year I think (time just blurs into one lump pre-virus) and they're brilliant.  He's v responsive so I would echo your endorsement of him for anyone else thinking of BVs.

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, vineyard said:

time just blurs into one lump pre-virus

Here in the States, we liken it to being in the movie Groundhog Day.