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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...

Did Unitron ever make an RFT?
#5624349 - 01/15/13 12:53 PM

Hi friends,

Does anyone know if Unitron ever made an RFT? I've never seen on or a reference to one (discounting the little Satellite Tracker). I do know that they made spotting scopes, but I wonder if they ever made an astronomical, white-tube, rack and pinion focusing version. A. Jaegers had such objective lenses available in 1960.

I ran across a 1960 listing of one (78 mm F5) in an astronomy "pulp" Fawcett publication of that year in conjunction with an article on building a "richest field hand telescope" with a baffled tube and 1.25 inch r&p focuser- parts supplied from Jaegers Optical. So there was interest in those kinds of instruments, at least in the ATM scene at that time.

So how about it? Ever hear about a short tube (not folded) Uni in the "wayback machine"?

Post Extras:

mustgobigger
Post Laureate

Reged: 06/12/07

Loc: Michigan

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: terraclarke]
#5624539 - 01/15/13 02:33 PM

Yes...a reflector and Refractor.
More info later when I look in my
Dealers book.

Post Extras:

terraclarke
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: mustgobigger]
#5624621 - 01/15/13 03:11 PM

Cool. Thanks Brian, I look forward to hearing more, esp. about the refractor.

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Napersky
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/27/10

Loc: Chicagoland

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: terraclarke]
#5624624 - 01/15/13 03:15 PM

"Dealer's Book" cool

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starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: Napersky]
#5624713 - 01/15/13 04:03 PM

dealers book? Brian, where did you get that from? Did not even know there was such a thing.

Post Extras:

mustgobigger
Post Laureate

Reged: 06/12/07

Loc: Michigan

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: starman876]
#5624908 - 01/15/13 06:09 PM

yes it has scopes i didn't know Unitron made.

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starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: mustgobigger]
#5624932 - 01/15/13 06:27 PM

You mean like a telescope blue book?

Post Extras:

Darren Drake
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/09/02

Loc: Chicagoland

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: starman876]
#5624943 - 01/15/13 06:37 PM

They made a 50mm satellite tracker. It has a very short fl.

http://lvaas.org/mediagallery/media.php?s=20100903150158747

Edited by Darren Drake (01/15/13 09:00 PM)

Post Extras:

Happy-Idiot
Stuck with it

Reged: 04/06/06

Loc: 3rd Rock

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: starman876]
#5624964 - 01/15/13 06:55 PM

Yes they did make some Richfield scopes. They are extremely rare and very cool.

The Unitron E-758 is a 3" rich field (f/6.7) eq. refractor made in the mid-80's (with the 128 eq. mount).

And the A-755 is a 3" rich field (f/6.7) alt-az refractor from the mid-80's (with the 114 mount)

A local gentleman(kinda somewhat friend) is a BIG TIME Unitron nut and has one along with many other Unitron scopes he doesn't want to part with.

He promised to sell me one awhile back but i don't want to be pushy with him ,he is old school(thats what i like most about him). We did barter some parts and later a complete 3" Richfield OTA, but i sure would love to get the whole set. I managed to make a replica with the parts we bartered, both the replica and the original OTA i have gives me pinpoint stars on a velvety black sky from center to edge. Next time he hits me up for some carpentry work i will keep him to his promise, he is a tough Unitron nut to crack.

Post Extras:

terraclarke
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: Happy-Idiot]
#5625012 - 01/15/13 07:24 PM

Wow, that is cool Happy. I would love to see one. Did you use a Jaegers objective and stock Unitron parts, cutting the tube down for your replica?

Post Extras:

Happy-Idiot
Stuck with it

Reged: 04/06/06

Loc: 3rd Rock

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: terraclarke]
#5625046 - 01/15/13 07:38 PM Attachment (17 downloads)

Nope the lens and inner cell are original Unitron 75mm f/6.7, But the tube was cut from a parts 75mm F1200 and the focuser was from the same F1200 ebay parts buy.(i didn't destroy any good scopes for the replica). Focuser knobs are also not correct.

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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: Happy-Idiot]
#5625079 - 01/15/13 07:53 PM

It's still very cool Happy. That is neat that you were able to also use a real Unitron objective. I am sure you will be able to get exact Uni focuser wheels one of these days. Did they come with finders? I wonder if the did, if they used the finder from the 114 or 140

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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? *DELETED* new

[Re: Happy-Idiot]
#5625080 - 01/15/13 07:53 PM

Post deleted by RLTYS

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starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: terraclarke]
#5625151 - 01/15/13 08:37 PM

I still have a few of the 80mm spotting scopes that were a F6. Very nice lens. I could always take off the lens and put it into a spare 75mm tube. Does that count

Post Extras:

CHASLX200
Post Laureate

Reged: 09/29/07

Loc: Tampa area Florida

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: starman876]
#5625172 - 01/15/13 08:47 PM

I had their short focus 3" refractor on the 2.4" mount back in the 80's. It was a great star sweeper.
I can post a pic of it if anyone wants to see it.
Chas

Edited by CHASLX200 (01/15/13 08:50 PM)

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BarrySimon615
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 03/01/04

Loc: New Orleans, LA

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: CHASLX200]
#5625436 - 01/15/13 11:24 PM Attachment (12 downloads)

I also had the Unitron 3" f/6.7 rich field refractor. These pre-dated the Orion short tube 80's by a few years and were optically and mechanically much better scopes.

I purchased mine in 1986 from RVR Optics as part of a package deal with the 60mm f/15 equatorial refractor (#128). My thinking was I would have two tube assemblies that I could interchange on the same equatorial mount.

I brought this scope to the 1992 Texas Star Party where it was tested by Peter Cerravalo and he found it to have a very nice figure. Great little scope but I sold it back in 2001 to a fellow member of the UnitronTelescopes Yahoo Group. There is a very interesting story about that sale; see Message # 4104 on that group site for the details, but basically I was offered $1900.00 for it and I could not refuse that price. I had not considered selling it at all but that was an offer I could not pass up.

Here is a photo.

Barry Simon

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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: BarrySimon615]
#5625836 - 01/16/13 09:21 AM

Wow, cool little scope Barry, but that was a deal that would be hard to resist. Was that for the mount too or just the OTA?
I'd love to see a picture Chas

Johann, go for it, that would be cool. I'd do it if I had the parts.

Post Extras:

Happy-Idiot
Stuck with it

Reged: 04/06/06

Loc: 3rd Rock

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: BarrySimon615]
#5626615 - 01/16/13 05:16 PM

Quote:

I was offered $1900.00 for it and I could not refuse that price. I had not considered selling it at all but that was an offer I could not pass up.

What a coincidence did i mention mine was for sale?

Post Extras:

Happy-Idiot
Stuck with it

Reged: 04/06/06

Loc: 3rd Rock

Re: Did Unitron ever make an RFT? new

[Re: Happy-Idiot]
#5626624 - 01/16/13 05:21 PM

All joking aside i had two objectives in inner cells and i sold one. I practically gave it away, i wish i would have seen Barry's selling price earlier.