Binocular Collimation - DIY Optical Bench Method. Colimación de Binoculares. Collimation Jumelles

[@123reivax123]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. People like you are the best of social media. Thanks again.

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi Frank, sorry for my lateness in replying, but I hadn't seen the notification for your comment, which is really kind and very much appreciated. I'm still not sure that this is the best method for alignment, it sure took me some time to set everything up but it was successful and helped me to understand more about the optics. Did you see my other video on the same subject, quicker and less complicated? Here's the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM Best Wishes from Normandie and thanks for watching and commenting, Andy.

[@RTFM70]

Great video and well done for showing us how to make a practical binocular collimator. Thanks 👍👏

[@luisfernandoocampoochoa1065]

Thanks for this fantastic explanation to build this great apparatus with basic tools and materials; and, of course, with for the detailed tutorial. Great.

[@Organikmechanic]

Many thanks for your kind comment. This project was a real challenge and I enjoyed undertaking it, but for all normal optical alignment needs I have found the 'quick' technique to be ideal and a lot easier! I demonstrate this here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@ChrisNYPilot]

I took my first pair of binos apart yesterday to address a fungus on the prisms issue. I did remove the prism plates from the binocular body to better clean the prisms. Note I was not quite so foolish to remove the prisms from the prism plates. HOWEVER, upon attempting to put the prism plates back I "discovered" that the three screws that hold the prism plate down also seem to play some role in the prism plate tilting as there are grub screws next to each main screw which seem to be causing various tilts when tightening up the prism plate. And it seems that the order in which you tighten the screws to put the prism plate back affects the final tilt of the prism plate. Ok fine, so I put everything back together as best I could and then found my alignment was off. This was fixed with an eccentric ring collimation of the main lenses using stars at night. This worked but presently an interesting observation. Turning the right lens did not improve collimation at all. In fact, all if did was cause the star I was using for collimation to either disappear all together or reappear as I turned the lens. Turning the left lens did work well and allowed collimation for a single star image. However, I read somewhere that messing with the prisms for collimation would reduce the image quality. And the incident where turning the right lens caused the star to appear and disappear makes me think the light path of the prism could be really out whack. Am I understanding that wrong? Which lead to the question, how does one properly re-install a prism plate to get the optimal light path (independent of what might happen later if eccentric ring tweaking is needed). Thank you.

[@MrJdsenior]

Not only is the video useful and well done, but also you apparently know how to use the word comprise, and that is somewhat rare, in my experience. Most people think compose and comprise are synonyms. They are not. Good job on setting up a cheap and dirty optical bench. 🙂 Yeah, the thing that really demonstrated how far off mine are (cheap pair) was watching the Falcon launch and recovery a few weeks ago. The object wasn't star sized, obviously, but I could see two very distinct images. The distance was about 14 miles. It was so bad that I just had to close one eye, which totally negates the benefit of the bi part. I probably should just by a good pair, but maybe at least these will be usable next time out. The launch and recovery was spectacular day before yesterday, viewed this time from the house, about 40 miles. Coolest part was you could see the staging and the booster a very significant part of the way down, as it was evening, and all the action was happening up in full sunlight (yeah, the Earth really is round, for the morons reading this). You could even see the pulses from the reaction control jets moving out in circular waves, flipping and reorienting the booster on reentry...spectacular. I can't wait to see a Falcon Heavy. And I may even go to Texas to see a Starship full up launch. I remember the Apollo Sat V launches and they were AMAZING from the Cape. You could feel the sound waves in your chest and in the ground. Close enough to them, they are actually deadly, as I understand it. Lithotripsy X 1000, basically.

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi John, apologies for not getting back sooner but I was changing over the location of this computer and I had to set up the ethernet link and even make a new desk that would fit the spacw. Glad you enjoyed the project and the grammar! I do tend to still use the 'quick' method as keeping this bench set up in place is not possible. I envy you being able to observe the launches, something I've never experienced. I remember the Saturn V launches and when I was in the US for a conference some years back I visited NASA at Houston just to see Mission Control and incidentally the Saturn V , what a machine! The sound wave problem was huge at the time of the launches way back in the 60's and even the concrete structures at the launch pad could not have withstood the shock waves if they had not come up with the brilliant solution of using water spray to absorb the energy and this is still used today. Again, to be there at the Apollo launches is something I would loved to have experienced as opposed to watching the launches on TV. This qualifies you to be, like me, of mature years. Lang may yer lum reek, as the Scots say. Best Wishes from Normandie, thanks for your kind comments and for some interesting accounts of the launches. Andy.

[@guitarjoel717]

Absolutely brilliant! I really appreciate your attention to detail in this project.

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi Joel my apologies for not replying sooner. Delighted that you've found the video useful. BTW did you check out the blog post that goes with the vid? Many thanks for watching and commenting, I really appreciate it. Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@guitarjoel717]

Organikmechanic - Making Stuff from Pallets etc., | Greetings, Andy! Thank you for replying. I did not check out the blog post - but I shall ...now that you’ve brought it to my attention! I hope you and yours have a lovely holiday and a fruitful New Year. Cheers!

[@Fk67Lg]

Thanks for the instructive and very interesting video. I also think your little red chicken stamp at the end is cute.

[@marcelomayorga4778]

Gracias Sirmpre quise conocer este metodo , en operación. Habia comentado Bill Cook en Cloudynights pero algunos detalles no los había entendido.Ademas está la barrera idiomática que las imagenes superan. Muchas gracias por compartir

[@Organikmechanic]

Saludos Marcelo. De nada. Descubrí que el banco óptico funciona, pero prefiero el método 'rápido'. No estoy seguro de cómo se configura comercialmente un banco óptico para la colimación ni conozco los métodos utilizados en las instalaciones de prueba de un fabricante de binoculares. Sé que usando mi configuración, no puedo asegurarme de que el eje mecánico de los binoculares sea paralelo al eje óptico de los binoculares. Así que creo que hay margen de mejora en mi arreglo. Muchas gracias por ver y comentar. Mis mejores deseos de Normandie, Andy.

[@marcelomayorga4778]

@@Organikmechanic Pienso hacer un banco. La mejora que le harîa en lugar de desplazar la lámpara y la mira trataría que se desplace el binocular. Es decir una sola corredera. Que opinas?

[@Organikmechanic]

Hola Marcelo, tomé el diseño original del libro de Seyfried donde el autor indica que los binoculares deben estar fijos y el colimador y el visor se mueven paralelos entre sí y los binoculares en prueba. Sin embargo, aún sería necesario un ajuste vertical en la montura binocular para poder adaptarse a diferentes marcas y para varias configuraciones interoculares; de lo contrario, el colimador y el visor tendrían que tener esta función. Como observación, no creo que el método descrito en el libro sea exactamente correcto. Buena suerte con el proyecto. Si es de alguna ayuda, escribí 3 artículos relacionados con este proyecto en mi blog, el enlace está debajo del video. La primera parte está aquí: thegreenlever.blogspot.com/2018/11/diy-table-top-binocular-collimator.html#.W_sd5NJG2kB Cuéntame cómo vas progresando, me interesa mucho. Mis mejores deseos Andy.

[@ARCSTREAMS]

hello again, i enjoyed watching this again ,something about your soothing voice and watching the whole process is like asmr therapy lol , but i believe there might be a flaw in this technique when you are using the optical lever method you are adjusting to make sure the beam reflecting off the mirror and going back on the collimator target cross is square or parallel to each other ,ok but the problem is you are only moving the vertical and horizontal axis of your binocular and i believe this is a problem because all you are doing is making the cross hairs superimpose on each other at a certain cross sectional point of the beam , if you think about it the reason there is misalignment is because the beam reflecting from the mirror is off by some angle because the face of the mirror is tilted away from a perfect 90 deg back towards the face or the collimator lens or cardboard cross target and by shifting the vertical and horizontal axis you are not fixing the problem since the beams (ie one coming from collimator and the other from the mirror reflection) are not parallel or both 90 deg to each other thus you are only crossing the beams at a specific section and still have them diverge from each other in the far field instead of having them parallel or becoming one solid beam , you should use a tilt adjustment in both axis on the bino mount ,this will be a more precise adjustment than what you have ,there must be a tilt fault in your mount to begin with causing the error ,it could be vertical tilt error by the look of it

[@ARCSTREAMS]

hmm ok wait now that i think about it the only way you were able to superimpose those crosses is because you must have been able to make tilt adjustments ,that is the only way they would have moved but you said the bino mount only moves on horiz and vert axis so im confused, do you not have tild adjustment as well for both axis? if you only moved vert and horz axis the image would not move ,so there must have been tilt motion for this to work

[@stevenbidwell4897]

Outstanding article. I have the book and a 4x rifle scope in my 'junk' drawer. Can't wait to get the 'Honey-Do' list to the point where I can try this. I have a set of binoculars bought at WalMart several years ago that just never seemed right when viewing the cosmos. Sitting on my lanai watching birds last week I focused on a tree and a telephone pole about a tenth of a mile from me and realized that, at that distance, the right side was converged to a point 10 or 12 feet to the left of the left side. (horizontal error is a best estimate knowing the width of the telephone pole, of course) From the specs in the book this instrument's alignment is nearly eleven times the tolerance for it's magnification. Ouch. Bookmarked you to see what other cool stuff you're into! As a side note I didn't expect NASA telescope precision from a WalMart instrument but I didn't expect 'worthless' quality either. The shot-from-the-hip estimation of the collimation error did prompt me to buy a set of Nikon Monarch 7 8x42's for my backyard bird watching so... all-in-all... not a total loss. Hope they get here soon!

[@Organikmechanic]

Thanks Steven, I really appreciate your comment. Have you seen my less sophisticated but satisfactory technique here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM I think you should be up and running more quickly using this method. The Monarch 7's look like a good choice but it'll be worth getting the WalMarts up and running anyway. It took me some time to realise that the binos in the film were out of alignment and I just attributed the eye discomfort down to a bad purchase, they were second hand and for a few minutes use they were fine but prolonged use yeuch! I'd consigned them to a cupboard until I came across this 'simpler' method. Good luck and very best wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@Patat0four]

I see you worked hard creating the collimator, wouldn't you have to be able to reuse an old slide projector for that ? Maybe just by replacing the light source which would have been too powerful. You then would have a compact, precise and adjustable contraption ?

[@Organikmechanic]

That is an idea, although I'm not sure how collimated the light coming from the projector would be, but it would be a good starting point! Thanks for watching and commenting. Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@jokycrack]

Hola amigo, muy bueno lo que hiciste, me gusto el uso del buscador para la colimacion. Una cosa solo para acotar, como los binoculares tienen una movilidad que permite el ajuste de distancia entre ambos ojos, al cambiar la posición podrían quedar descolimados entonces para resolver ese problema bastaría con repetir la colimacio en 3 ángulos de apertura interocular del prismáticos si todas coinciden. Esta perfecto. Que opinas ?

[@jokycrack]

He leído que hay que ajustar en la posición mínima de la bisagra y luego ver el resultado en la posición máxima así reducimos el error al variar la apertura interocular. Por otro lado cuando mueve el binocular en lugar de mover la fuente de luz no se afecta la convergencia de las lentes?

[@Organikmechanic]

¡Hola amigo! Tu hecho un muy buen punto. Idealmente, colocar los binocuars en todas las distancias interocualares los hará perfectos, pero la construcción mecánica también debería estar libre de errores. He leído que es mejor establecer la alineación para una distancia interocular, que es la distancia más cómoda para usted, el usuario más frecuente de los prismáticos. También es justo decir que una vez alineado para su distancia interocular, es poco probable que cualquier otro usuario casual note algún error en su distancia interocular. Muchas gracias por tus comentarios. Mis mejores deseos desde Normandía, Andy.

[@Энтропиявезде]

отлично и грамотно

[@trappist8895]

This is the closest I've come to a video presentation of the homemade US Navy Mk5 collimator as described in W. J Cooks book on binocular collimation, in which he faults Seyfried for not mentioning the importance of 3-axis collimation in relation to having the collimation working across different interpupillary distances. I'd love to build myself a Mk5. The description in Cooks book is, sadly, rather crude, and I've not understood why I need to combine a rhomboid prism to the auxiliary scope. Any ideas as why this is necessary? Anyway, kudos on the video :)

[@danielcampbell1687]

Thank you for your collimation lesson. I was wondering if I could make it work, on my Barska 10-30×60 porro prism's binoculars? I would like to make the table, if I can. Thanks again. Clifford Campbell. 🇺🇸 🇬🇧😶

[@das250250]

@7:41 You are assuming the bino rim of the objective is parallel to the objective lens and the adjacent objective. Is this a fair assumption?

[@Organikmechanic]

Actually, I'm assuming the rim is at 90 degrees to the optical axis of the instrument. I couldn't think of another way to do it! Cheers Andy.

[@JJ-hb4js]

Thank you Sir! I will try to build a similar device. Nice binoculars, is it Sanjo 10x40 7.5° ?

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi, these are Frank Nipole 10x40 7.5. They're great now they're correctly aligned. After working with this set-up, I would still recommend using the'quick method' that I illustrate here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM Thanks for watching and commenting, I really appreciate it. Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@JJ-hb4js]

@@Organikmechanic Absolutely agree that, this binoculars are great. Have the same, with different name but looks like the same body, coatings, parameters, and my favorite here: great wide field of view. Of course I saw your tutorial, it's just brilliant. I will use both, it will be very useful to me. Thanks again for the great content, well done. All the best to you from Poland.

[@das250250]

My first question regarding this topic : I suspect my bino is not collimated as I cannot obtain a perfect sphere when focusing on the planets even when focusing the LHS diopter followed by the RHS focusing ring . However , I'd like to obtain a more dependable 2nd opinion method that confirms I am right before tinkering with it. Do you know of a dependable way to determine this ? Thanks for your videos. I love the DIY way you solved these problems but need to watch a few times over to thoroughly absorb each step.

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi there! Sorry I haven't replied earlier but I've been away. Has this always been the case with your binoculars? I would suggest that you do a star test on them. This is normally only done with telescopes, but I have checked binos the same way. First you need a pin point light source, I use a flashlight with a cover on the lens which has a pin hole in it. Next, you will want to look at this bright pin point of light in a darkened room, ensuring beforehand that the binoculars can focus at that distance, otherwise you may have to make the distance greater by performing this outside at night. With the flashlight on you should see your 'star'. Looking through one eyepiece at your star, slowly change the focus such that you get an unfocused image either side of a sharp, pin point image of the star. Is this image circular? Repeat with the other eyepiece, is the result the same? You can obviously compare the view with that obtained with other binoculars. If you're not getting circular images then there is a more serious problem than just alignment. Good luck, Andy.

[@ARCSTREAMS]

so this apparatus you built is from plans in the book? then how come there is no mention about how to use a mirror or what way to make sure the light is square to the binoculars in the book?

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi, you've obviously not seen the book. The author had written a small but interesting book on the subject of binoculars. Sadly, the description of the bench method was 'vague'- more detail was given over to the construction of the collimator rather than the actual alignment process. Personally. I prefer his other method ('the quick method') which I demonstrate elsewhere on my site. Thanks for commenting, cheers from Normandie, Andy.

[@ARCSTREAMS]

so it is like i said he only gave info on how to build the collimator but not how to properly use it to make sure the light is square to the binos, this is what i figured even though i have no read the book you are not indicating anything otherwise @@Organikmechanic

[@imarcom8193]

interesting video and very constructive. I will also try to build this collimator to collimate binoculars taken at flea markets. binoculars are 30 years old with eccentric rings. I hope will project work?

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi, sorry for not replying sooner. Whilst this setup did work, I was not totally sure I had eliminated all the potential errors that could exist. Personally, I would advocate the other method I have a video of; kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM I find this is quicker and will certainly correct major alignment problems. Thanks for watching and commenting, I do appreciate it. Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@Семён-р4ж4м]

Hello. Can you please tell me if you can make a stand for adjusting and collimating binoculars yourself?

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi, If you watch my other video you can see that I made a bracket to fit onto a telescope tripod : kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM I explain in the video that I made this bracket specifically for my astronomical telescope tripod but you can make one to clamp to a table. Best Wishes Andy.

[@RaptorFPV]

Genius!

[@das250250]

I googled about to see what people thought of the technique and saw this about his method : " In addition, the device appears to allow for "collimation" at only one interpupillary distance. Since a truly collimated binocular will be aligned for all distances, the result is not collimation but conditional alignment." Would you agree with it or not and comment if you have the time or desire. Thanks again .

[@Pavlovafowl]

N.B. note to self - do not film at chickens' dinner time!

[@JeffLearman]

What kind of lens is that in the collimator? From a magnifying glass?

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi Jeff, A thousand apologies for not replying sooner, I can only use the excuse that I had visitors for much of August and I'm only just catching up (one of the penalties/pleasures of living in a touristy area). Anyway, the original lens was a magnifying glass but I did have problems with it.being too powerful so I changed it for a weaker and smaller objective lens which I think came from either an old telescope or old binos. This turned out advantageous as the experiment progressed. I have written three articles on my blog relating to the project and the first one is here: thegreenlever.blogspot.com/2018/11/diy-table-top-binocular-collimator.html#.W_a5qNJG2kA There should also be a live link to the blog in the notes below the film - I've just tried it and it works. Thanks for watching and if you want any further clarification please get in touch. Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@JeffLearman]

Thanks and no worries, no hurry! Thanks heaps for the video and explanation.

[@uktony1525]

Andy, are you ok as no films lately?.

[@Organikmechanic]

Thanks for your concern Tony - I did my shoulders in last May gardening and it's a long haul back but I'm just uploading a new film this minute! All the very best, Andy

[@viewfromthehighchair9391]

Ironically, you left the "C" out of "Optical" in your video title. Tell me that is not the definitions of ironic ("C" and "see"). LOL

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi Michael, well I thought I'd proof read all of the written text but nope I hadn't 'ceen' this one! Thanks for pointing this out. Also thanks for watching the video, I really appreciate it. Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@viewfromthehighchair9391]

@@Organikmechanic I was just kidding around and I am constantly having to edit my own comments due to those pesky little mistakes I make. I really hate Twitter because I can't edit my Tweets when I find mistakes and am then faced with deleting and re-tweeting or just ignoring the mistake. We both know I delete and re-tweet. LOL Someday I hope to try the apparatus you describe in your video. Currently I have two sets of binos with double images (one a fairly expensive pair) so I appreciate people like yourself who take the time to help the rest of us. Thank you from Toronto. Cheers!!

[@Organikmechanic]

@@viewfromthehighchair9391 These typos are always bugging us, no matter how many times you read something they still sneek in. With regard to realigning your binos, I would recommend trying the other, simpler method I describe here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM I am much happier using this simpler method and I reckon it will solve most alignment problems without spending the time on the apparatus described above. Good luck and if you need any more information, don't hesitate to contact me. Cheers from sunny Normandie, Andy.

[@viewfromthehighchair9391]

@@Organikmechanic Oddly enough, I was able to fix (however temporaryily) one set of binoculars by simply pulling the larger end outwards and pushing in on the smaller end. There was also a very slight up/down misalignment, so I fixed that too. Don't think I'll try that with the more expensive (and much larger) set. I'll look at your other video and see how that works. I thank you very much for being such a good sport and reaching out to help me. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

[@rondoc1936]

too much work ..buy a new pair...sorry!

[@Organikmechanic]

Yeah, it was a lot of work, but it was fun for me to give it a go. Personally, I much prefer the 'quick method' which I refer to in the video and is here : kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmLXhHiOra94mqM . Anyway, thanks for watching and commenting. Cheers, Andy.

[@rondoc1936]

@@Organikmechanic I have an old Bell and Howell pair. I cleaned everything and thought I put it all back! Of course they are now useless..you can have them for free!

[@Organikmechanic]

@@rondoc1936 Hi, I'm afraid I'll have to decline your kind offer as currently I'm reducing my inventory of optical 'stuff'. I don't know which country you are in but if in the UK for example you could donate your Binos to a charity shop, I believe they can raise some money on sales of items 'for spares or repair'. Best Wishes from Normandie, Andy.

[@hotjigax]

What are you using as a light source? 🤔

[@Organikmechanic]

Hi, I used a LED light bulb 6000k. I put more details about the equipment on my site 'The Green Lever' the link is below the video. Thanks for watching, best wishes from Normandie, Andy.