Trilyte Collimation
I realise this is an old thread, but today I was looking into alignment on a Chinon 10x42 trilyte-alike that I'd acquired as it was slightly out of alignment. Appears to be probably the same OEM given it also has the >S< mark on the focus wheel tho its not multi-coated.
I can't vouch for which prism screw, mine's the painted on leatherette finish and I didn't want to damage that unless I really had to.
Inspecting the objective end, I found that this one has a single eccentric ring to shift each of the objective lenses, accessible by removing the outer lens rim. Note that this isn't threaded nor a double ring arrangement. You adjust by loosening the regular 2-slot lens ring slightly and then you can carefully adjust the eccentric using a jewellers screwdriver in the slot on this inner ring. It'd be very easy to slip and scratch the lens so take great care. Unless you have a suitable jig, I doubt you can't really do this reliably with the 2-slot ring removed as the eccentric and lens are then loose and tilt as you adjust and then check.
Once you have it all aligned you can then tighten the main lens ring to secure, you may need to hold the eccentric in position with the screwdriver while doing this as it can/does rotate a little.
I guess its possible that at some point in its past life one of the lens rings had worked loose and the alignment drifted when it was tightened back up.
Hopefully this info is helpful to someone else in the future.
edit: my bad, the makers mark is a stylised W rather than the >S< - memory failing with age lol
Since you’ve resurrected this thread, I would like to chime in, I’ve worked on less than a dozen Trilytes. But I THINK they collimate at the eyepiece. Attached are two illustrations of the predominant methods of attacking that problem, at least if that’s the convention.
Three things said earlier cause me a bit of concern.
— First, I think the “single eccentric ring” is really just a retainer for the objective—since real eccentrics come in pairs—and that it actually collimates via one of the methods already addressed.
— Secondly, Osidesailor said, “I suggest trying only to adjust one barrel.” That’s the kind of fuzzy thinking that can make alignment worse or even damage the binocular. Suppose only the right side is out of alignment and the observer chooses to start his willy-nilly work on the left side. Now he has a bino that is doubly out of collimation! If the error is small or the observer’s spatial accommodation is great, that method might lead to a good—often more than adequate—conditional alignment for THAT user or others with his IPD, but clinically it is not collimation.
— For very minor adjustments, following Ben’s advice might do the trick. In so doing, you need three pieces of information. First, you need to know WHICH side needs the adjustment. Secondly, you should know that that unit has a set screw which must be loosened before the objective housing will turn. Finally, before turning an objective housing, you should scribe the objective housing AND the prism housing so that, if necessary, you can get things back to the original position.
While I’ll probably get yelled at for mentioning either of my books, both have the largest treatises on 3-axis collimation in the English language and because of that, I am not shorting anyone. In addition, I have given this information away dozens of times in the last 20 years just trying to be helpful to those who need it. :cat:
Bill
PS Lee, if I have stepped over the line in trying to be helpful here, please just delete or have me delete the post.