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NTC Kogaku No. 6586 J.E.S |
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longp2000
Optics GrassHopper Joined: February/26/2012 Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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Posted: February/26/2012 at 18:56 |
I picked up some binoculars at a swap meet on a trade worth about 20 dollars.
The binoculars came with a nice light colored leather case. On the binoculars it says NTC Kogaku No. 6586 J.E.S When I look in them on the right eye piece there is a cross hair with a zero at the middle and various tick marks. The left eye is clear. An army buddy of mine said they put him in mind of field artillery glass/binoculars but he didn't know about the obvious Japanese maker. Has anyone seen this and know what they are, I really like them and spent time using them yesterday looking at the moon and such. I figured I'd throw it out to the experts and see if anyone can help me get more information about these. Thanks, Pat |
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Klamath
Optics Master Joined: May/20/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1308 |
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Kogaku is Japanese for Optical, so the maker is the NTC Optical Comany, whoever that is. look for manufacturers marks located on the front hinge there may be a J-B ### or there may also be a J-E ###. In either case, the J will be leaned over on its side, propped up by the - mark. The J-B number will tell who made the finished binocular. If there is a J-E number, that will indicate which company did the metalwork.
I have the list of the several hundred Japanese Optical manufacturers, but forget the link to the information off the top of my head. Tell me what there is , or is not in the way of J-B or J-E and at least that is a start. Somebody may recognize the NTC mark as well, but it does not correspond to anything in the N's in the mfr list, which may not mean anything. The rangefinding reticle definitely sounds military, which may mean it may have Individual Focus rather than a center focus. |
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Steve
"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted". William Bruce Cameron |
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longp2000
Optics GrassHopper Joined: February/26/2012 Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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NTC is Nippon Typewriter Company of
Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
This company was a major typewriter manufacturer and its mark used to be that of its optics division. There are no markings on the hinges, the only the binoculars where most markings are located on binoculars. The J.E.S. has three Japanese characters after it that sort of look like an X, a backward 6 and a 5, but that is not what they are. These may just end up being a mystery. Thanks for the help though, Pat |
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longp2000
Optics GrassHopper Joined: February/26/2012 Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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NTC is Nippon Typewriter Company of
Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
This company was a major typewriter manufacturer and its mark used to be that of its optics division. There are no markings on the hinges, the only marks on the binoculars are where most markings are located on binoculars above the looking glass. The J.E.S. has three Japanese characters after it that sort of look like an X, a backward 6 and a 5, but that is not what they are. These may just end up being a mystery. Thanks for the help though, Pat |
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Klamath
Optics Master Joined: May/20/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1308 |
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That being the case, I wonder if NTC did wartime (or even postwar) production runs placing it before the emergence of the Japan Telescope Inspection Institute, or if it is later and came after the cessation of activities of JTII. Any clue as to age? Are there bluish relflections or tints on the glass or not? I think JTII was active from the late 50's through maybe 80's sometime.
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Steve
"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted". William Bruce Cameron |
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longp2000
Optics GrassHopper Joined: February/26/2012 Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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This is what I found out about the company NTC has been around since 1917, I am not sure if the optics division has been around as long as that though. They made military scopes for military rifles for the years of 1937-1943. The last like is J.E.S which means Japan Engineering Standard. Supposedly NTC became the Canon Nippon Typewriter Company (Canon N.T.C., Inc), a part of Canon Group.
I just left my lodge where I was talking to a retired Army Colonel who told me two things that were interesting. First, the "No 6586" is not a model number it is a serial number, and second he was almost certain that these were made for use within a military capacity. He said you put the "zero" on the target and you give instructions based on the "tick" marks and that he'd looked through many with the same marks in Korea and Vietnam. According to my friend the Army would purchase equipment, say a thousand pairs of binoculars and they would get serial numbers 6000-6999 when the shipment came in they would distribute them based on a chart they'd have which said 6000-6199 goes to squadron A, 6200-6299 goes to squadron B and so forth. I like these, they aren't too heavy and they are cool. |
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Klamath
Optics Master Joined: May/20/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1308 |
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I got curious and did a little google searching and your dates match wat I found. Interesting typewriters too! At any rate I'd say the WW II time frame is right for those binoculars. After the war they likely would have been labeled "Made in Occupied Japan". Military style products would have been unlikely then I think. After the Made in occupied Japan was the start of the JTII labeling with the J-B and J-E numbers.
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Steve
"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted". William Bruce Cameron |
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