My orion 10x50s are misaligned. I contacted orion to see what can be done, long story short it will cost about 70$ to fix binoculars worth 80$.
At that point im thinking i might as well save up for a different pair and see if i can fix these myself. What do y’all think?
I know nothing about repairing binoc’s, but I agree with your assessment, save for new pair. I was recently looking for myself, I wanted something that could be used in handheld or tripod configuration and I think this fit the bill.
Those look like very good binocs!
I’m a big fan of binocular observing. The last three years a pair of 10x42 is all I took to Okie-Tex and it’s been fantastic. You can see an absolute ton of stuff; you can easily see enough of the AL’s bino observing list to get the certificate.
One thing I’d keep in mind is that “astronomy” binoculars is mostly just marketing and can lead to overpaying. I’d recommend just skipping the whole “astronomy” thing and just getting the nicest pair of binoculars you can afford. I personally would recommend the Vortex brand, which was also recommended to me once upon a time by bino-observing maestro Jerry Taylor. Really good, solid binoculars with long eye relief and super sharp optics. Mine don’t have a tripod connection, but there are plenty that do and would fit pretty much any astronomical observing need.
I see those Orions come with solar filters, so if you really want that, sure go for it, but I personally think you can do much better for the same price. You can spend that $200 on just binoculars and then just get a $5 sheet of solar filter material and cut it to fit the bino lenses if you want it for solar viewing. I personally do not like Orion’s stuff in general, but plenty of people do.
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Ive managed to “allign” by adjusting the screws on one of the barrels. Not perfect but will get me through until i find a pair that catches my attention.
I have made solar filters for the 10x50s i have using 3d printed frames, works fantasticly.
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There was a retired Navy guy that came to Okie-Tex and aligned anyone’s binocs for free. Haven’t seen him since the shutdown though. I hope he’s okay! If he’s still with us, I suspect he’d align them, but the cost might be more than a new pair costs. (only free at Okie-Tex). Does anyone know his contact info?
He is no longer able to come to Okie-Tex. He got long covid real bad, if I recall correctly and can no longer travel. I believe he’ll still fix your binoculars if you send him to him though.
I think Brad and Mike M have his info.
Sorry to hear that. I had a pair of binocs that I bought at a pawn shop for $10 that were in bad shape. I took them to him, he took them completely apart, cleaned everything, put it back together, and realigned them. Would not take any money that I offered. They’re now my favorite pair of binocs!
Another club member just emailed me the information for binocular repairs.
Cory Suddarth is the gentleman who donated his repair services for free at Okie-Tex for many years. His website is: https://suddarthoptical.com/
For anyone having binocular problems, I urge you to use Cory for your repairs. He’s been a good friend of the club for many years. I hope he is well. I’ve missed him at Okie-Tex!
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Yep to all advice already said. You can make adjustments yourself. The elements might have rotated a bit out of alignment. Start with one (the left probably) and do what you have to do to get it in focus, then the right to bring them together. Yes, I know this is how you normally focus them, but it’s also how you “collimate” them. 
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I had a similar problem on a pair of binoculars. The screws on the front/ocular end of the barrel are adjustment screws (if I remember correctly). I know there were screws I tweeked some and improved the alignment. If you try this look for screws that are not snubbed up like you expect them to be. Adjust slowly. Slowly. That way you can see if the adjustment helped or not. I might add be gentle…
One of the sides is what I’d call the main focuser and the other is independent of the main. I’d probably look for problems on the independent side and assume you are trying to adjust towards the main side.
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