Finally got my bino's

[WestAusChris (Chris)]

Hi All

Finally got my new bino's, im not going to even touch the zoom side of it as the image just gets too small to look at so im keeping them as a 25 x 80 set.

I have looked through them today and with terrestrial viewing the image seems very clear.

Im still not quite sure how to check to make sure the collimation is ok after shipping so i followed this website http://www.oberwerk.com/support/collimate.htm

Im still not sure im doing it right, i moved my eyes back 4 inches from the bino's and each lens seems to make the images line up but who knows, maybe i will just wait for a clear night and try them out on a bright star and hope i dont see double.

Even if i could tell if they were out id have no idea hw to adjust the screws or which ones to turn lol

P.S any tips on achiving the correct focus using the centre wheel and the diopter adjustment would also be greatly appreciated

[erick (Eric)]

Yes Chris, that is a good description of basic collimation checks. The main thing is the vertical collimation, so look at a distant ( a hundred metres or more) distinct horizontal line - a fence line or a gutter or roof line is good.

Re adjustment - see where they are tweaking the adjustment screw in the image? Look in the same location on your binoculars. There is probably a rubber cover - just lift it up carefully and have a look to see if you can locate those screws - one on either side. For simple adjustment, you normally need to just tweak one of these a little. But don't worry about doing this if, when you test as they explain, you see that horizontal line (roof, gutter etc.) line up fairly well between left and right.

[erick (Eric)]

Re focus - close right eye and focus on an object in left eye using centre wheel. Then close left eye and focus same object in right eye using the right eyepiece diopter adjustment. In theory, then both eyes should be in focus and you just have to adjust the centre wheel to focus between close and far away. In practice on cheaper binos with poorer mechanicals, you may find it a bit of an iterative process - when you go back to left eye it is a bit out of focus and you need to go around again tweaking a little. I have a pair of Pentax binos that behave this way (!)

Of course, for the Moon and beyond, focus should be the same - making life much easier, compared to terrestrial viewing - but you may find it drifts somewhat as temperature changes through the evening.

[WestAusChris (Chris)]

Thanks very much for the info Eric.

I will give it a go tonight weather permitting and see how well they perform.

Couldnt help adding a pic of them

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...3/P1000186.jpg

[Liz]

A nice looking set Chris, you will fun with those.
Similiar to my bins, but bigger.

[erick (Eric)]

Some binocular grunt there Chris

Yes, I expect that the prism tilt grub screws will be under that rubber coating.

The additional zoom mechanism might make focusing a little more touchy - more mechanicals that might move slightly as you adjust focus?

[WestAusChris (Chris)]

Thanks Liz, im hoping to see some nice things if the clouds ever clear up

And yes Eric i think i might leave the zoom alone, i have found that at full zoom its just too hard to see much as the view seems to get smaller and smaller the more i zoom in.

Its like looking through a tunnel and they are closing the gates at the other end and the light is getting smaller.

Strange but these are my first ever bino's so maybe it normally does that

[erick (Eric)]

25x is more than enough magnification.