Telescope Reviews: The Evolution of a Lightbridge 16.

Bart,

I understand completely about putting this mod off. For what ever reason it had me a bit nervous too. I didn't want to wreck the stock boards or mess up my friction/stiction/motion balance. Ultimately I knew that if I blew it I could build a whole new base from plywood. I guess someday I will be building a new base anyway but hoped to put it off until this one is unusable. This base has lived a low humidity life and is still as strong as the day it was made. Anyway, I finally found the time and did it. I am very, very, very, happy I did.

I also thought I would just notch and angle the pads too. However, I found that once I had it done the bearing fit too snug in the sideboard opening, specifically at the top of the opening. The two corners were right against the bearing and rubbing ever so lightly. With the felt it would have made it way too tight. I had already taken it off and the bearing was just rubbing ever so lightly. After fretting about it I just decided to use the sabre saw and go slow and easy. It worked. Letting the saw do the work and not forcing it kept the blade square and the cut had a nice rhythm to it. It went way easier than I thought. Be sure to tape the surface of the white melamine board with masking tape to protect it. I got so absorbed I forgot to on the first cut. The saw left a scratch on the surface that is small but noticeable. I taped everything up afterward and no other scratches happened.

To answer question one I find the motions since making the mod are incredibly smooth. Buttery is a good term here. I would now compare the freedom of motion in altitude to be similar to the freedom in azimuth the Lightbridge has with the ground bearing. That being said I cannot give full comment. I have the mirrors out of the telescope for testing and possible refiguring. I only had the lower cell without mirror, bearings, and upper rings attached to the lower OTA for this mod and testing. I cannot speak to how it will behave once fully loaded. I expect it to be wonderfully easy. Perhaps too easy even. I have thought perhaps I should have gone with the larger 2" x 3/4" pads. I still may change. I thought I would wait until I had this set up fully loaded to decide.

In question two you wondered if the mod changed my ALT balance. No. The balance will be the same. However, the new freedom will expose any imbalance. I expect it will take some fiddling to get the balance just right. I will have to wait to do this until I have mirrors and the rest of my load on. I also will be running with a large finder and some extra up front weight. I am sure my balancing needs and efforts will come later. That being said I think this mod will improve functional motion so much that working out perfect balance will be easier and is a small trade off for the wonderful motion it has now. Really, it is nice. I foresee getting the balance to within two or three pounds of permanent weight and then using some sort of slide or removable weight system to make up for changes in eyepieces or positioning in the sky. This really is an evolution.

Question three is easy. I do have ptfe pads stapled between the ground boards. I took the ground boards apart to tighten the fittings of all the sideboards. While there I noticed the pads. I also ran a micro fiber over the bearings well and cleaned all of the surfaces that normally miss dustings while I had it apart.

Question four is also hard to completely answer since I don't have the whole scope assembled. However, I have an idea. I think that the overall feel of the scope with the PTFE mod is and will be wonderful. I am sure that the amount of effort I had to push to overcome the friction of the felt is gone. I would rate the motion in Alt and Az to be more equal and balanced comparatively to each other now too. At higher magnifications there was that over shooting of the target you had to do with the rebound after with alt motions. I had gotten used to it and I am sure this is what people mean when they talk about to getting used to a scope. This really feels like a different telescope now. It moves in altitude and azimuth so easily. It has a very polished, professional, constant, smoothness now in all ranges of motion. I personally love it. It will be a joy to track by hand at high mags now. I can see how others may feel it is too easy and in a wind there could be something to that. However, when the winds pick up enough to move the telescope my eyes water and I quit viewing. I personally like an easier moving telescope and think this will improve my high power viewing noticeably.

Maybe some other Lightbridge owners who have done the PTFE mod can chime in here and enlighten things too. What say you all?