450 replies to this topic

[Terra Nova]

It is a shame!  Soligor camera stuff gets good reviews.

Yep. Back in the 70s, I had a nice Soligor telephoto lens for my Miranda 35mm SLR.

[Kasmos]

Very, very bad.  Both of us replaced the objective with a RAO 60/1000.  The rest of the scope is excellent - very much like an early Unitron.

 

Original objective DPAC:

 

soligor dpac.jpg

 

With the RAO objective, it's a great performer.

The original objective really stigmatized this scope for a period of time. It took some time to get over it, but given it's rarity, it's good looks, the replacement RAO objective, and the rest of the build quality now makes it a prized possession. 

[csrlice12]

Anybody know who the maker is for "diamond NB" binoculars

Edited by csrlice12, 19 July 2021 - 11:48 AM.

[RalphMeisterTigerMan]

Hey Steve_N_N...I absolutely love that 4mm (Sorry, what type of eyepiece was it again?). The Eye lens looks like it has a diameter of 3 - 4 MM and seems to be more or less flush with the rest of the rear of the eyepiece. Have you been able to calculate the eye-relief?

 

I can't imagine that your eye would be very far from the eyelens. All you need is a female who is a big fan of the "super-thick" eyelash "tar" which is applied to the lashes to give you a "100% thicker lash". Try cleaning that off!

 

Seriously, what is it like to view thru this "eye-hugger"? I remember the Clave plossls which became quite popular in the early to mid-1980's. The short eyerelief was bad enough but to add insult to injury, the eyelens was purposely "recessed" into the eyepiece. I imagine at some time in the future they were going to start selling a "matching" magnifying glass to make the eyepiece easier to use.

 

Don't get me wrong, the Claves are good eyepieces but to put the eyelens further "into" the eyepiece? Never could figure that one out.

 

Clear skies and keep looking up!

RalphMeisterTigerMan

[BillinBallard]

I was wondering if anyone recognizes this symbol.  It is on a cemented 62mm doublet from a late 50’s/early 60’s Palomar.  Thank you,  Bill

 

 

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[Kasmos]

I was wondering if anyone recognizes this symbol.  It is on a cemented 62mm doublet from a late 50’s/early 60’s Palomar.  Thank you,  Bill

It's not uncommon for objectives to have some kind of Japanese glyph. Probably the assemblers note of it passing inspection. 

[Kasmos]

I recently purchase a ATCO 1252 with a Diamond OTS mark.

There's no info yet telling us who that is.

 

Other than a few gray 1252s and two Monolux 4380s (mention in the link below),

I can't remember seeing any other scopes marked as such.

https://www.cloudyni...bols/?p=9240095

 

This unusual mark on page 6 might also be another way of marking OTS? 

https://www.cloudyni...bols/?p=9169742

 

Some of the older ('50s) ATCO 1252s are marked Yamatar on the cell and some are not. 

I believe others might have been marked Circle K and are a slightly different design.

 

 

[strdst]

I picked this one off of eBay in 2011. Sheesh. Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

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[Orion68]

In this thread the circle W logo was mentioned. Is there consensus on which manufacturer used it?

 

 

 

 

[aoirotukiko]

Diamond OTS mark is Ohtake Seiki Seisakusho.
In addition to the manufacture of binoculars and binocular scope parts, the business is the manufacture of astronomical telescopes.
Sales included Carton. (1967)

The president, Mr. Senzo Otake, was a director of Columbiakougaku .
The brand name of Columbiakougaku  is Yamatar.

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[semlin]

interesting.  j-b77 is the mark for colombia kk (also known as koronbia kk) for binoculars.  jb17 is otake kogaku kogyu. not sure is the same company, but there is no ohtake.  otake shows up fairly often as a "je" assembler for good binoculars.  i have one j-b77 binocular and i can't recall which one it is.

 

if those are in fact variations on or relatives of yamatar that is good to know.

[aoirotukiko]

Hi 

 

The director of Columbia Optical also ran the company.
The next company had the LJ-B code.

 

Toho Koki Co. Ltd.

Taiyo Kogaku Seisakujo Inc.

Muraki Koko Co. Ltd.

Daito Kouki Seisakujo does not have a LJ-B code, but I will attach a photo.

 

LJ-B is a binocular assembler and LJ-E is a binocular body manufacturer.
The Japanese government enacted a law to ensure the credibility of export products, making it mandatory for businesses to register.

It is believed that registrations were made in order of application.

It seems that there were about 80 companies registered with LJ-E.

I hope there is a record of LJ-E registrants somewhere.

 

 

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[semlin]

Hi 

 

The director of Columbia Optical also ran the company.
The next company had the LJ-B code.

 

Toho Koki Co. Ltd.

Taiyo Kogaku Seisakujo Inc.

Muraki Koko Co. Ltd.

Daito Kouki Seisakujo does not have a LJ-B code, but I will attach a photo.

 

LJ-B is a binocular assembler and LJ-E is a binocular body manufacturer.
The Japanese government enacted a law to ensure the credibility of export products, making it mandatory for businesses to register.

It is believed that registrations were made in order of application.

It seems that there were about 80 companies registered with LJ-E.

I hope there is a record of LJ-E registrants somewhere.

yes, we have shortened it to "jb" and "je" in the binocular forum.

 

there is a list of numbering compiled by north american enthusiasts found in the link in this thread below.  i have been able to cross-reference it many times and it has never been wrong,  it also seems pretty clear the jb and je numbers were the same for each maker.  (jb21=je21)

https://www.cloudyni...acturers-codes/

 

i have a taiyo.  it is a great binocular.

 

daito kouki is new to me.  i have not seen it in the wild.

[Kasmos]

Diamond OTS mark is Ohtake Seiki Seisakusho.
In addition to the manufacture of binoculars and binocular scope parts, the business is the manufacture of astronomical telescopes.
Sales included Carton. (1967)

The president, Mr. Senzo Otake, was a director of Columbiakougaku .
The brand name of Columbiakougaku  is Yamatar.

Great information!

This helps explain why most of the older versions of the Atco 1252 have Yamatar on the cell retainer.

[aoirotukiko]

I've been doing some research on ATCO and found its trademark. The application has become Takehiko Yamada. Takehiko Yamada was the president of Columbia Optical Co., Ltd. and the president of Taiyo Shokai Co., Ltd. It is unknown which company used ATCO, but I believe it was Taiyo Shokai Co., Ltd.
The business of Taiyo Shokai Co., Ltd. is the export of optical-related machinery.
ATCO's filing date is May 13, 1957, and its publication date is October 28, 1957.

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[Kasmos]

The other day it was remarked that Unitron was selling some new old stock items on Ebay.

One of the items was a small brass telescope that can sometimes be found branded as Tasco, Nashica, Kenko, and Copitar.

 

This Tasco and some others have a 'A' shaped mark that I was wondering about and thought of posting in this thread.

Here's a good shot of the 'A' on a Copitar.

 

Today I was surprised to find these two marks representing Eikow Optical Co.

At first glance I thought Eureka!

But they are slightly different than the mark on the brass scopes

Even if these and the mark on the brass scopes have no connection they are still interesting.

 

 

 

 

[pierce]

Who was circle NJ? (or maybe circle NU?)

 

I just came upon a Tele Vue 24mm Wide Field, which I believe is mid to late 80s, with that same mark...

 

 

 

I'm very curious what that means.

Edited by pierce, 19 May 2023 - 05:46 PM.

[ccwemyss]

New Jersey

 

Chip W. 

[Werckmeister]

Rare 0.965'' MAS eyepiece

 

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[Werckmeister]

Till you flip it around. 

 

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[galakuma]

Hi.

I open U＆Y data of Japanese 1980s

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Edited by galakuma, 20 May 2023 - 10:10 AM.

[deSitter]

Hi.

I open U＆Y data of Japanese 1980s

Hi galakuma, long time no see! Good to see you!

 

-drl

[Werckmeister]

Thank you Mr. Galakuma. You put me on the right track with Yamamoto Seisakusyo Co. And following that, I found a very interesting post by Masvingo (link) about SYW history to which you also contributed. It seems like Masvingo 's TeleVue eyepiece was made by Universe Optical Industries Co. Ltd. and Kasmos' brass Copitar by Yata optical Instruments Co. I have never seen a SYW telescope in the Netherlands by the way, the eypiece posted was the first SYW product I encountered here.
Greetings, André

[CharlieB]

Very nice to see you again, Mr Galakuma.  Thank you for all of your very good information.

 

Charlie

[deSitter]

Like this? It's a space ranger so I had to have it.

The objective on mine put up good images after I replaced the diagonal and eyepieces. 

 

You see the Beetle symbol on K-mart FOCAL optics. Makes sense too, B-level like Jason scopes - good enough but not top shelf.

 

-drl