Erik D
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/03
Posts: 4066
Loc: Central New Jersey, USA
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I am tempted to order a pair just for the bright orange color. ;-)) The same color as the very first car I ever owned. A 73 Pontiac Ventura 6 cyl. Also the most unreliable. Bought it in 75 with 16K miles. I must have replaced everything except the transmission by the time I sold it in 82 with 109 K miles. I used to drive it 900 miles between NJ and Ga Tech in Atlanta every 3 month. Stopping only for gas and restrooms. Most people take 16-18 hrs for that drive. I did it by myself in a little over 14 hrs once. Top speed was about 87 mph with pedal to metal
I ordered this pair in bright red this past summer:
LL Bean Discovery 8X25
It was supposed to be a gift for friends we were visiting in Costa Rica. My friend's daughter liked it so much Daddy obliged her. I gave him my Pentax UCF 8X21 reverse porro instead.
The specs of the LL Bean 8X25 say: "Multicoated lenses and premium Bak-4 prisms" I found the internal reflection annoying in day time viewing. Nice size and interesting color choices but that's about it. Don't think I will pay $49 for another pair.
ERik D
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KennyJ
The British Flash
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 20139
Loc: Lancashire UK
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Erik ,
It could work out cheaper to just buy lots of junk binoculars for a few dollars and paint them all fancy colours yourself ! :-)
Kenny
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Milton Wilcox R.I.P
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Simon S
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/07/07
Posts: 2206
Loc: Crawley West Sussex UK
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Well may I be the first to say, I hope Santa brings you lots of exciting old binoculars that you can show off here.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all the regulars and thank you all for making this post a realy great read!
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All binocular repairs are undertaken at your own risk. I cannot be held responsible for any damage to any instrument resulting from my suggestions.
My binocular collection
Binoculars by date of addition
Binoculars in Alphabetical order
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hallelujah
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/14/06
Posts: 3980
Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains
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Quote:
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all the regulars and thank you all for making this post a realy great read!
Thanks,
and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE 
Stay Warm and Dry. 
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Nikon7x35GoldSentinel 9.3*(2)+Pentax8x40PCFWPII+MinoxBD10x44BP+FujinonFMTRSX7x50
Nikon10x50GoldSentinel+Pentax12x50 5.5*Japan+Pentax12x50PCFWPII+Vixen8x56Geoma
Fujinon12x60HB+Pentax16x60PCFWP+Pentax20x60PCFWP+Pentax20x60PCFWPII
Tento20x60USSR+Orion12x63MiniGiant+Spectrum I 20x65+Orion15x70LittleGiant II
Orion20x70LittleGiant II+Orion16x80Giant+Orion30x80MEGAView+Barska30x80X-Trail
BurgessOptical20x90SeriesII
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desertrefugee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 1874
Loc: Arizona
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Well, everyone else is posting pictures of their older binoculars, so I thought I'd throw mine into the mix. While I've had binoculars for decades, I never really paid much attention to them until the last ten years or so. And the last couple of years following exploits of the kindred obsessed on this forum, I've acquired quite a few older Japanese units. My budget won't allow premium optics, but I'm having fun all the same and have learned a ton - by following action here on the board and by buying, trying, disassembling and improving.
Here is a stack of some of my favorite older Japanese binos. Top to bottom, they are 1) Stellar 6x30, 2) Mayflower 7x50, 3) Manon 16x50 and 4) Tasco 20x60. Each of these has crisp views and clean optics. And each has its place. The 6x30s (IF) stay in the console of my car. I love them. The 20x60s are fine astro-binos - but the hardcore astro-duties go to my 22x100 Oberwerks.
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-Darrell
"Look now upon the river of heaven, Sky-Road of the Immortals, White with the star-frost of a billion years." - from Burnham
NS11GPS, C8 (x2), ES ED127/CI-700, SP-C6/C80, some classic Japanese stuff
N. Phoenix, AZ
Edited by desertrefugee (12/25/08 09:14 AM)
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desertrefugee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 1874
Loc: Arizona
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Oh yeah. The business end:
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-Darrell
"Look now upon the river of heaven, Sky-Road of the Immortals, White with the star-frost of a billion years." - from Burnham
NS11GPS, C8 (x2), ES ED127/CI-700, SP-C6/C80, some classic Japanese stuff
N. Phoenix, AZ
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orbitaljump
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 508
Loc: Charleston, SC
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Hello deserrefugee,
Nice binoculars you have there. Thanks for sharing.
How are those Tasco 20x60s? They look interesting.
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My God, it's full of stars!
.
Edited by orbitaljump (12/24/08 07:16 PM)
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hallelujah
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/14/06
Posts: 3980
Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains
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Quote:
Thanks for sharing?
How are those Tasco 20x60s? They look interesting.
I am curious about it as well.
How old is the Tasco 20x60?
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Nikon7x35GoldSentinel 9.3*(2)+Pentax8x40PCFWPII+MinoxBD10x44BP+FujinonFMTRSX7x50
Nikon10x50GoldSentinel+Pentax12x50 5.5*Japan+Pentax12x50PCFWPII+Vixen8x56Geoma
Fujinon12x60HB+Pentax16x60PCFWP+Pentax20x60PCFWP+Pentax20x60PCFWPII
Tento20x60USSR+Orion12x63MiniGiant+Spectrum I 20x65+Orion15x70LittleGiant II
Orion20x70LittleGiant II+Orion16x80Giant+Orion30x80MEGAView+Barska30x80X-Trail
BurgessOptical20x90SeriesII
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desertrefugee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 1874
Loc: Arizona
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The Tascos are a very nice unit. I'm actually quite proud of them. They exhibit a bit of pincushion, but are sharp, I'd say, out to 80% or so of the field. As Glassthrower, I 'm sure would tell you, they're a wee bit short on eye-relief, but I'm used to that and don't like wearing my glasses while observing anyway. They're well-made, in exquisite condition...and they have a nice smell.
What more could I ask?
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-Darrell
"Look now upon the river of heaven, Sky-Road of the Immortals, White with the star-frost of a billion years." - from Burnham
NS11GPS, C8 (x2), ES ED127/CI-700, SP-C6/C80, some classic Japanese stuff
N. Phoenix, AZ
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desertrefugee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 1874
Loc: Arizona
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Oh, and I'm really not sure how old they are. I sort of assumed they were 1960's vintage. Maybe someone else might be able to narrow that down based on the script. They do have metal eyepiece guards which is something I haven't seen too much of.
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-Darrell
"Look now upon the river of heaven, Sky-Road of the Immortals, White with the star-frost of a billion years." - from Burnham
NS11GPS, C8 (x2), ES ED127/CI-700, SP-C6/C80, some classic Japanese stuff
N. Phoenix, AZ
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DJB
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/23/05
Posts: 1742
Loc: Lisle NY
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Hi,
I believe you are correct in the circa. 1960s era. Tasco didn't produce much, if anything, after that time frame. I have a few Tascos myself, but nothing in that mag. range. Enjoy. Just to note, the TASCO base name did exist afterward.
Best regards,
Dave.
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brentwood
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/04/05
Posts: 2042
Loc: BC Canada
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IIRC those 20x60 were advertised, way back, as being used by the Skylab astronauts!
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Big telescope.Small telescopes.
Ridiculous binocular collection
Be sincere, even if you don't mean it.
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desertrefugee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 1874
Loc: Arizona
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Quote:
IIRC those 20x60 were advertised, way back, as being used by the Skylab astronauts!
I don't remember seeing that, but if so, that would place them into the 70's. They seem older than that just based on the construction and the design features - notably the eyepieces (both the metal ring and the silver squares around the perimeter.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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-Darrell
"Look now upon the river of heaven, Sky-Road of the Immortals, White with the star-frost of a billion years." - from Burnham
NS11GPS, C8 (x2), ES ED127/CI-700, SP-C6/C80, some classic Japanese stuff
N. Phoenix, AZ
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orbitaljump
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 508
Loc: Charleston, SC
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Here are some intersting long focal length Swift 20x80s . I bet these are fantastic...wonder if the barrels are collimated well. These are different than the more modern Satelites.
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My God, it's full of stars!
.
Edited by orbitaljump (12/26/08 01:48 PM)
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brentwood
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/04/05
Posts: 2042
Loc: BC Canada
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These look exactly like my Celestron DeLuxe 20x80. At the time they were about $100 more than the 'Standard' 20x80s that were shorter & did not have the central bar.
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Big telescope.Small telescopes.
Ridiculous binocular collection
Be sincere, even if you don't mean it.
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Simon S
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/07/07
Posts: 2206
Loc: Crawley West Sussex UK
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On the subject of high magnification binoculars, this is my largest pair. They have a great image and are fairly wide angle. They so suffer a small amount of CA when looking at the moon, but they feel well made. I would be intrested if anyone else has a pair and what they think of them.
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All binocular repairs are undertaken at your own risk. I cannot be held responsible for any damage to any instrument resulting from my suggestions.
My binocular collection
Binoculars by date of addition
Binoculars in Alphabetical order
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orbitaljump
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 508
Loc: Charleston, SC
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Swift Neptune 7x35 AND Swift Nighthawk 7x50 with nice condition cases buried in listing....plus a nice camera gear case and Canon FT and some lenses and a Garmin GPS 176c. Probably go for real cheap, advertised very poorly...thought some of you might be interested.
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.
My God, it's full of stars!
.
Edited by orbitaljump (12/30/08 05:39 AM)
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Mark9473
Postmaster
Reged: 07/21/05
Posts: 6459
Loc: 51°N 4°E
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Simon, I have the same Swift Satellite 20x80. I've reviewed them for this forum - see the link in my signature line.
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Mark
Leica 8x20; Nikon 7x35; Vixen 8x42; Orion 15x63; Docter 15x60
WO Megrez II 80 FD / APM 107mm f/6.5 / Mewlon 210 on DM-6 + Berlebach Planet
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Mark9473
Postmaster
Reged: 07/21/05
Posts: 6459
Loc: 51°N 4°E
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Oh I'm mistaken - mine are joined at the objective end. Mine are model 846 and I bought them in 1997. How old are yours?
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Mark
Leica 8x20; Nikon 7x35; Vixen 8x42; Orion 15x63; Docter 15x60
WO Megrez II 80 FD / APM 107mm f/6.5 / Mewlon 210 on DM-6 + Berlebach Planet
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Simon S
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/07/07
Posts: 2206
Loc: Crawley West Sussex UK
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Hi Mark, not sure of the year but the model number is 806. When i bought them there was no tripod cover on them. I would guess they are an earlier model and yours have been improved to prevent collimation errors. It could be that mine where designated for Europe.
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All binocular repairs are undertaken at your own risk. I cannot be held responsible for any damage to any instrument resulting from my suggestions.
My binocular collection
Binoculars by date of addition
Binoculars in Alphabetical order
|
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