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BINOCULARS: FALLACY & FACT

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WJC View Drop Down
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    Posted: September/05/2017 at 15:39
I been away for months because the program would not let me in. I had to get through to Skylar at SWFA to get it worked out.

Whitefire et al:

BINOCULARS; Fallacy & Fact, the Instruments, The Industry, and You

is now available from Amazon.com and I would be pleased if you could make your members aware. It is 196 pages, with more than 50 photos and illustrations, and a 64-word glossary. It’s not another sub-rudimentary rehash of what’s on the market ... this week. Instead, it deals with many unknown or unconsidered realities of optics, the binocular industry, and the physiological compensation for certain visual acuities.

Further, I believe at 38 pages it addresses binocular collimation more than any other consumer treatise so far in print. As part of this lengthy vignette, the difference between collimation and conditional alignment is explained, as well as offering a description of how the amateur can make a navy-type Mk 5 collimator. The Internet is replete with articles on how “easy it is to collimate your binocular.” So far, they are all WRONG, in that they deal with conditional alignment only.

I have given 45 years to military and civilian optical instrument design, repair, restoration, calibration, and collimation. I edited and published Amateur Telescope Making Journal (ISSN 1074:2697) for 10 years, designed the Cook-Houghton and Baywatch telescopes and was the creator of and, for 21 years, was the manager of the precision instruments and optics department at Seattle’s Captain’s Nautical Supplies.

Bill

PS I would like to INSERT an image of the cover and a ToC, but I find this program is still doing what it wants to do ... and not letting me.

Those wanting such, please send me your REAL email address.

wjc1111@hotmail.com


   



Edited by koshkin - September/05/2017 at 17:13
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 15:58
Looks good Bill.

You going to do a Kindle version?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 16:24
I'm going to look into it, as soon as I get the print version off the ground. I don't even know if you will see me tomorrow. I think this program was coded by third graders. When I tried to post the covers and ToC, I was led to believe it was still trying to post 2 images from MARCH!

Of course, you just delete them ... right? Well, there was no way to delete them or get back to the main menu without shutting down all open windows and starting from scratch. It's maddening.

Bill

PS And now it sees that EVERY TIME I invoke Opticks Talk I'm immediately transformed to that same idiotic window for graphics with no logical way to get out of it. 


Edited by WJC - September/05/2017 at 16:35
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 16:44
I have never had an issue posting pics.  Maybe clear your browser cache or try a different browser. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 17:12
Bill,

I ordered the book.  Should be an interesting read.

Also, I copied the image of the cover and ToC from Amazon and added them to your original post.

I am not sure what browser you are using, but there is nothing clinically wrong with the forum interface.  It is not the most modern interface I have seen, but it work fine.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 17:41
Thanks Ilya:

But, you posted the FRONT cover and PART of the ToC. Send me your email and I will send you the full meal deal. But, anyway,you did MUCH more than I could do. Further, Skylar said it might be my browser. But, what I don't understand is why it worked flawlessly for months and then went wacky.

Right now, I'll try posting them, again.

Bill


Edited by WJC - September/05/2017 at 17:53
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Peddler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 18:00
Bill, I didn't know if you were in prison or had passed away. Great to hear from you again. I'll pm you I'd like an autographed copy.

👍🥃💥.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 18:01
Well the two photos from MARCH disappeared! THat is a good thing. But the back of the book, which was uploaded ALSO disappearedd. I'll try with this post.

Bill

Now, I am told I have already uploaded that image. Which, of course is true, but it didn't bloody show up anywhere. I'll change the name and try again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NDhunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 19:00

Bill:  I have ordered your book, and it should be here soon.  I am looking

forward to it. 

Jerry

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/05/2017 at 20:28

Hi Jerry:

 

Another thing this program has done for me, from day one, is DELETE simple messages before I’m finished typing them. Of course, that’s me. I swore to stop trusting it YEARS ago, but haven’t been bright enough to follow up on that promise.

I hope you find something useful in the book. At 38 pages, I believe my vignette on binocular collimation is the largest ever treatise on the subject. It is the first on clinical collimation—as opposed to that bull you see all over the net—since Doc Hanna’s work in 1953.

I know some reader will want to burn me in effigy for not being over the top with pedantry. But, that wasn’t the market I was going for. Anyway, while I was in no way flippant, I wanted to have fun and make the comments memorable.

Thanks again,

Bill

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/06/2017 at 01:08
Thanks for the heads-up on the book, Bill! I will likely order a copy as well.
Ted


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/06/2017 at 10:11
I hope you, Jerry, and others will let us know what you think.

Bill
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Whitefire Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/07/2017 at 21:04
Bill, so good to see you among the living!

Ill order your book tomorrow, and look forward to reading and learning.
Wf
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/08/2017 at 21:14
First of all, thank you for your years of service… and thank you for writing this book.  
I've read 19 chapters… very well written, very good information.  I must say, it has not changed my opinion of binoculars… not a big fan… but it verifies much of my understanding and justifies my thoughts on many of the talking heads who expound relentlessly on the subject.  
I read the introduction, which I normally just scan, and the forward… valuable to the entire treatise.  

I will finish it tomorrow and probably read it again.  I normally read things I like two to three times… I read "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" every year for over twenty years.  Never grew tired of it, just ran out of time.
You've done us a service, writing this book.  Much appreciated.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/09/2017 at 14:06
Finished the book.  Excellent read.  Humor was excellent and information invaluable. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MZ5 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/09/2017 at 21:07
This may be an interesting read.

I see a section discussing making a collimator at home.  Can one collimate one's binoculars at home, or does such an instrument merely tell the owner whether they are well or poorly made?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/09/2017 at 23:25
With the information in the book, one can see there are many ways to make a worthwhile collimator. This is opposed to the myriad methods espoused on the Internet, in which conditional alignment is attained at the expense of fouling up clinical, 3-axis alignment even more. Just because something is easy there is no necessary link to being, in any way, accurate. 

Bill 

Edited by WJC - September/09/2017 at 23:54
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“Social media everywhere but not a thought to think.” — me

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MZ5 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/11/2017 at 15:01
That sounds great!
What I mean is, can the average pair of binoculars be 'adjusted' at home, or is that generally something one does not accomplish at home?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/11/2017 at 17:16
Yes, you certainly can. Without a bit of information, though, the best you will accomplish is conditional alignment. But, if you are going to be the only one using the bino, that may be all you need. For some people—and if the error is small—that may be all you ever need. I just get wrapped around the axle at the myriad Internet “Tips” that tell people how “easy” collimation is when they are really CLUELESS about what is involved in a clinical 3-axis collimation job!And, unless you are going for a full collimation job, you will need to learn to stare.

 

Go for it; it will be fun. Please, though, just call the level of alignment what it really is.   Bandito

Bill


“Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“Social media everywhere but not a thought to think.” — me

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