ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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I recently took in this early 90's Meade LX6 (I'd seen it in person first, thankfully). It has been unused for some time, and has suffered. If anyone here is having any cosmetic issues with their SCT, I thought you folks might like to see this for a bit of...balance. 
I'll start off easy...
Imagine if the lens cap hadn't been there?
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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What do you mean, dust isn't good for my SCT?! 
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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The LX-6 declination motor:
wait a minute...where'z it gone!
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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Rusty tripod...
...yeah I know...that's an easy one.
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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Bash up that paint!!!
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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Yep, that is an absence of about 40-50% of the coatings you're seeing here...
Who needs coatings anyway...
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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I've spent the afternoon cleaning it up, and while I can't replace missing coatings, it's come up ok. I also plugged it in...and it still runs! While the handset it missing, it still runs automatically in RA...what speed it's running at, I'll have to find out at night!
Dust begone:
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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The dust, and smears are gone, but the coating problems remains. With the severe coating issues, I'm interested to see what views through the scope are like...
Dust-free optics:
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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Just one more...
The mounting bolts were missing, but I've managed to find a replacement, and put it back on its' tripod for the first time in years (probably).
No dec. motor, so it's now essentially a big F6.3 LX10!
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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Al Canarelli
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/06/07
Posts: 1538
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Half of us would have turned and walked away after seeing the first of your pictures. You should pat yourself on the back for breathing life back into this telescope. Please tell us what you paid for it.
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Clive Gibbons
Mostly Harmless
Reged: 05/26/05
Posts: 10237
Loc: Oort Cloud
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Quote:
Yep, that is an absence of about 40-50% of the coatings you're seeing here...
Who needs coatings anyway...
It seems common for Meade SCT's of that vintage to have coating problems.
A local dealer (in Canada) also had a 10" LX-5 of similar vintage and it showed the same sort of missing AR coating on the corrector.
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A few telescopes of dubious value.
Understanding wife and three curious cats.
"Semper ubi sub ubi"
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mikiek
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 10/10/07
Posts: 923
Loc: SE Texas
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Quote:
Yep, that is an absence of about 40-50% of the coatings you're seeing here...
Who needs coatings anyway...
Dumb question but how can you tell the coatings are gone? Maybe I'm just blind.
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___________________________________________________________
May there always be starlight on the path - R.Burnham
___________________________________________________________
Celestron CPC 1100
Radian 3mm, 5mm, 8mm, 12mm
Panoptic 22mm, 27mm, 35mm(the brick), 41mm (the cinder block)
Nagler 3-6 zoom, T4 17mm
Ethos 13mm
Everbrite Diagonal 2", Powermate 2X
FeatherTouch Crayford, Microfocuser
Telrad Finder, SV 9x50 RACI
Kendrick Dew System
TV NP-101(riding the CPC)
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rmollise
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 1558
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Quote:
Yep, that is an absence of about 40-50% of the coatings you're seeing here...
Who needs coatings anyway...
As I've said before, DON'T assume the coatings are GONE. They are very tough and it is much more likely what you are seeing is film/scum/oil/grease. Get a gross of Kleenex and a gallon of Windex and have at it.
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Uncle Rod
Watch for Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using the New CATs--coming soon!
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Dumb question but how can you tell the coatings are gone? Maybe I'm just blind.
On the first corrector plate picture, there's a fairly obvious 'smear' from about 4:00 to 7:00. This could be interpreted as a light reflection, but it's not, this is where the coatings are missing. The effect fades, but you can see it continue around to the right, up to 1:00, where you'll see a clean(er) bit...this is the point where I did a bit of cleaning to assess how recoverable the corrector might be.
How much did I pay...well, this is the UK, where everything costs too much, so you're unlikely to be impressed!
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 589
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Quote:
Yep, that is an absence of about 40-50% of the coatings you're seeing here...
Who needs coatings anyway...
As I've said before, DON'T assume the coatings are GONE. They are very tough and it is much more likely what you are seeing is film/scum/oil/grease. Get a gross of Kleenex and a gallon of Windex and have at it.
Uncle Rod...I appreciate your input...I was referring to your guide when I identified this scope! This was the first LX-6 I've seen. I've got the manual for it, and it refers to it as simply a Meade 2120...this threw me off the scent.
There was no sign of shifting with alcohol & water...I've not invested heavily in this OTA, so I'll have a go, and see what happens! 
Watch this space...
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Richard
1890 (ish) 3" T. Cooke Achromat
1970 (ish) Polarex 75mm Photoequatorial
1980's Carton 100mm
...& a few others
www.skylightelescopes.co.uk
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sang33ta
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 539
Loc: UK
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Quote:
This could be interpreted as a light reflection, but it's not, this is where the coatings are missing.
Same thing I think. Aren't the light coating there to stop internal reflection in the glass?
You did a nice job. How much did you pay for it?
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov
Celestron Advanced CG5-GT Mount (Mr Noisy!)
Meade 4000 Super Plossl Set
Casio QV-2900UX
Got fed up of waiting for Meade ETX-150 so put this together for £500/$1000 
Edited by sang33ta (07/11/08 03:20 PM)
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rmollise
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 1558
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Yep, that is an absence of about 40-50% of the coatings you're seeing here...
Who needs coatings anyway...
As I've said before, DON'T assume the coatings are GONE. They are very tough and it is much more likely what you are seeing is film/scum/oil/grease. Get a gross of Kleenex and a gallon of Windex and have at it.
Uncle Rod...I appreciate your input...I was referring to your guide when I identified this scope! This was the first LX-6 I've seen. I've got the manual for it, and it refers to it as simply a Meade 2120...this threw me off the scent.
There was no sign of shifting with alcohol & water...I've not invested heavily in this OTA, so I'll have a go, and see what happens!
Watch this space...
Even IF the coatings are damaged, that will make very, very little difference. Usually the killer for the 6es is the optics. Some were quite good. Some said "bow-wow" in the dark. Took Meade a while longer to start doing consistently good f/6.3 sets (some LX200 classic LX200 f/6.3s are excellent). There ARE good LX6es out there, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for you. If its images--on the deep sky at least--are decent, I think you will be a happy li'l camper. It can be a nice scope.
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Uncle Rod
Watch for Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using the New CATs--coming soon!
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CHASLX200
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/29/07
Posts: 687
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I dont know for sure when the LX6 came out, i am guessing around 1989.
Chas
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desertrefugee
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 514
Loc: Arizona
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Quote:
Even IF the coatings are damaged, that will make very, very little difference.
Let's assume for a minute that the coatings ARE damaged to the point of serious light scatter and image degradation. (I have a point here).
What is the best method for a home-stripping job? Can corrector plate coatings be effectively removed at home with readily available chemicals/materials?
I have an old Celestron SCT that has what appear to be etched coatings brought about by what I believe was prolonged damp storage.
Can it be done?
Thanks!
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"Look now upon the River of Heaven, Sky-Road of the Immortals, White with the star-frost of a billion years".
-Darrell
Reflectors (old & new), Refractors (old & new), an MCT, Binoculars (a bunch), and Wonder
Cave Creek/Carefree, AZ
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RogerRZ
Whatta you lookin' at?
Reged: 01/09/06
Posts: 2127
Loc: West Collette, NB, Canada
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A friend of mine had a MTS SN8, and from the factory, the corrector plate had a huge smear, just like you describe. He used it as is, as the downtime he would have had to take in sending it back would have been too much for a budding 15 year old astro-nut...
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-Roger Pitre-
1 X 7 binocular
Meade 2080 LX10
5" Celestron SCT
Skywatcher Equinox 66
Starblast OTA
EQ6 Pro mount (spiffed up with ADM stuff)
8X42 Bushnell binos (pretty decent for 25$)
Canon Rebel XT (AKA 350D)
Starshoot autoguider
Tolerant Spousal Unit (AKA The Lovely Mrs. RogerRZ)
----------AJP Observatory----------
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