So last Friday I finished work early and somehow ended up in a local charity shop. First thing I saw sitting in the window was a pair of Regent 8x30 ‘coated optics’ binoculars, probably 20 or 30 years old. Looking through them it was hard to tell whether they were really worth the £3.99 asking price, that’s how bad the view was! Well I thought, take a chance I might be able to clean them up. They were never going to replace my Sworovski 8x30 SLCs, but they seemed well made and would sute my young four year old son - unless they really did clean up well and so would sute the window shelf that faces the birdfeeder!
Got them home and started straight away. (Bulls and china shops come to mind). I have never taken binoculars apart before and did not know what to expect. Off came the objectives and they were in super condition after proper cleaning, same with the oculars, like new. So the cloudy view was down to the porro prisms. Well out they came and cleaned up beautifully. So all the parts were laid out on a nice clean cloth ready to be reassembled. I was now beginning to get excited as I could see a real bargain coming together!!
Putting them back together seemed a doddle. I couldn’t believe how easy this was! Until I finally look through them!! No culmination what so ever. I tried all ways to refit the prisms. There is a recess built in to the two halves of the body that locate the base of each prism - you cannot go wrong. These things were made in a factory by the hundred and so the prisms would have had to just ‘drop in’. There could not have been a ‘dark art’ to putting these things together otherwise the production line would have ground to a halt! So why can I not put them back correctly? I am completely stumped! Any suggestions? Important lessons learned. 1) Take carefull notes during the dismantling stage. 2) Remove one prism at a time and replace it one at a time checking collmination as you go. Any technicians out there that can help?
Got them home and started straight away. (Bulls and china shops come to mind). I have never taken binoculars apart before and did not know what to expect. Off came the objectives and they were in super condition after proper cleaning, same with the oculars, like new. So the cloudy view was down to the porro prisms. Well out they came and cleaned up beautifully. So all the parts were laid out on a nice clean cloth ready to be reassembled. I was now beginning to get excited as I could see a real bargain coming together!!
Putting them back together seemed a doddle. I couldn’t believe how easy this was! Until I finally look through them!! No culmination what so ever. I tried all ways to refit the prisms. There is a recess built in to the two halves of the body that locate the base of each prism - you cannot go wrong. These things were made in a factory by the hundred and so the prisms would have had to just ‘drop in’. There could not have been a ‘dark art’ to putting these things together otherwise the production line would have ground to a halt! So why can I not put them back correctly? I am completely stumped! Any suggestions? Important lessons learned. 1) Take carefull notes during the dismantling stage. 2) Remove one prism at a time and replace it one at a time checking collmination as you go. Any technicians out there that can help?
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