nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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The story of this telescope restoration begins in April 2008. The scope shows up on ebay in California. The seller stated he bought it the weekend before at a garage sale and didn't know anything about it. 'doublestar' first correctly identified as a mount made by Bill Schaefer and this was confirmed by 'tim53'. The thread to the discussion can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/lv7rjp
The scope was purchased by a gentleman in Long Island, NY with the buy-it-now option and was shipped from CA to NY. Soon after receiving it however, the new owner felt the project was more than he wanted to undertake and the scope soon appeared on Astromart. Regrettably for me the Brandon eyepieces that came with the scope were sold separately.
I had followed the ebay auction and discussion here with interest. When the scope appeared on Astromart, I contacted the seller and proposed a trade for one of mine. A deal was struck and I came into possession of the Schaefer scope last spring.
During the discussion on CN in April, Clive Gibbons was first to reference the great website dedicated to Bill Schaefer by Larry Adkins which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/mjt83h Larry has very kindly given me permission to reproduce photos from his website in my posts here. He has also sent me high resolution files of the website photos. I won't go into Bill Schaefer's history here as everything I know I learned from Larry's site. However, I can confirm with almost 100% certainty what others have suspected, that this scope is perhaps the earliest known example of a Schaefer mount and telescope.
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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2
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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3
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Charlton Flats 1957 (or '58) courtesy Larry Adkins
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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close-up
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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The owner before me had posted that the mirror was an 8" f/8 and was signed "J. Ballas 1/58 F.L. 63 1/4” At the time no one knew of a J. Ballas. Has this changed? Is there a way to research membership in the astronomy clubs in that area from the late 50's?
My personal hope was that Mr. Ballas was a long forgotten optician who worked for Tom Cave. Alas, that's probably not the case. The mirrors needed recoating and I sent them to Cary at Optic Wave Labs. Cary tested the primary and reported that overall smoothness was good but it had a turned down edge and a Strehl ratio of .858. Cary refigured the mirror at my request and it is now 1/12 wave with a Strehl of .98! The guy is an artist!
So my working hypothesis is that J. Ballas was an amateur who ground his own mirror and commissioned Bill Schaefer to build a telescope around it. I wouldn't think a commercial optics producer would have sold Bill a mirror with a turned edge. What do you think?
The pier and legs are obviously Cave. It appears the tube is as well (or Parks) with a lovely riveted aluminum trim ring on top. See the thread on the 1952 Cave here http://tinyurl.com/kqgonl
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Just about everything else looks to have been made by Bill. As an amateur machinist myself, I really can appreciate the time that went into this scope. The mirror cell is a casting that removes from the tube with 3 knurled bolts. The rotating tube rings are machined castings as well as the mount of course. The finder and rings are completely home brew with illuminated reticule. The focuser is helical. At first I figured Bill made that too. However it bears many similarities to a helical focuser I had on a 6" f/4 Cave. Any thoughts?
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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and the focuser from the cave 6" f/4.
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1390
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Awesome!
I'm glad to see this one surface again! I had considered buying it myself, but decided that the BIN price was too rich for my blood at the time. Before I could change my mind, though, it had sold.
It's sad that the original eyepieces aren't with it. But I doubt that will detract from it's value, considering you know it's history pretty well.
I don't think I'd restore it. Unless there's some damage that's not visible somewhere, I'd just clean it up and enjoy using it!
I seem to recall that the original ad said that the drive motor didn't work? it might be possible to find an original replacement, or if not, a bolt-on new motor that won't require modification of the original scope, to get it fully functional again.
Thanks for posting!
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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The overall condition of the scope was good, just very dirty. The tube is a wonderful retro robin’s egg blue. It appeared to have been painted as opposed to having a colored gel coat. There were the remains of a typed list of messier objects which had been taped to the tube, a remnant of star parties gone by. The aluminum parts had a weird greenish cast to them. It may have been a clear lacquer that oxidized.
So, my intention is to restore the telescope with all the respect it deserves, paint the tube with color-matched paint, polish and paint the aluminum parts, clean, regrease, adjust, etc. The only additions or modifications will be reversible and would likely have been done by Bill himself had it been the norm back then. I hope to bring it to Stellafane in August and enter it in the judging in the restoration category. It will be my first Stellafane in about 10 years and my son’s first (he’s 2)! It’s about 80 percent complete so I think we’ll make it (we better, it’s already registered for judging!).
I’ve got plenty more photos and more to say but it’s getting late. Thanks for reading my post and please ask questions.
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1390
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Hm... I wonder if Ballas was the original owner who ground his own mirror and asked Bill to make the scope for him?
Anybody recognize that name from the olden days?
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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clintwhitman
Caveman
Reged: 01/01/07
Posts: 2404
Loc: ValVerde CA(SoEasyaCavemanCanD...
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The focuser is not a sky Micro like cave sold or even close. The one on your cave looks like one someone polished. I have one of those on my 1960 Cave Criter. The one on your new scope looks like a prototype, I would say Bill or some other awsome ATMer made it. 
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Clint&Debbie Whitman (aveman
1960s 6"F15 Jaegers-Unipons by John Pons on a Byers 812, 1947 4" F15 TINSLEY, 1965 10" F8 CAVE, 1950 5CM & 6.5CM Nippon Kogakus (the twins), 1960s UNITRONS a 152 restored a 160 numbered green lens original mint a 114 original 50s mint, 1950s UNITRON M100 100mm F15 OTA, WO 80mm Florite, ASTROPHYSICS 155 EDFS on LOSMANDY G11, a bunch of Tascos,Sears Mayflowers The list goes on Add infinitum.
Edited by clintwhitman (06/11/09 11:08 PM)
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clintwhitman
Caveman
Reged: 01/01/07
Posts: 2404
Loc: ValVerde CA(SoEasyaCavemanCanD...
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Paul what you have there is the reason I collect telescopes!! Awsome job. Tim and I will be kicking ourselves over and over that we didnt have the time/money/sence to jump on that one. Good job.
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Clint&Debbie Whitman (aveman
1960s 6"F15 Jaegers-Unipons by John Pons on a Byers 812, 1947 4" F15 TINSLEY, 1965 10" F8 CAVE, 1950 5CM & 6.5CM Nippon Kogakus (the twins), 1960s UNITRONS a 152 restored a 160 numbered green lens original mint a 114 original 50s mint, 1950s UNITRON M100 100mm F15 OTA, WO 80mm Florite, ASTROPHYSICS 155 EDFS on LOSMANDY G11, a bunch of Tascos,Sears Mayflowers The list goes on Add infinitum.
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JamesE
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/22/07
Posts: 1074
Loc: Westbank, BC, Canada
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What a great story. Thanks for sharing.
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James
(Thanks to Attilla for the Clear Sky charts)
Current Projects : Tasco 15TEA - 3 inch pier mounted planetary scope
Priorities : Wife, Kids
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Dr Morbius
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/06/07
Posts: 1717
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An historic and soon to be beautiful scope! Good luck on the restoration!!
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Meade ETX-125
NightFire 6" f/8 Refractor with Moonlite focuser
Meade 14" LX200 S/C
D&G 10" f/15 Refractor with Parallax Mount
Little Giant 11x70mm Binos
I'm afraid of dying, but I've learned to live with it. ......Steve Perry
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Lew Chilton
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 10/20/05
Posts: 984
Loc: SoCal
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The focuser looks like an esthetically superior version of the Carle photo-visual helical focuser, as sold by Tom Cave. It can be seen in the 1970s Cave accessory catalog, as viewed at Robert Provin's Classic Telescope Catalog website:
http://geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/classics/cave/caveacc.pdf
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I don't get no respect, but my scopes do! 
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1961 Swift 60mm model 839 (2); 2003 TV-102/GM-8; 1959 8" f/6 Treckerscope; 1959 8" f/7.4 Murray Scope; 1959 Fecker Celestar-4; 1978 4" Edmund Astroscan; c. 1986 4-inch Celestron-Vixen SP-C102; c. 1950 20X60 Saturn spotting scope; 1963 7X50 Nippon Kogaku binoculars; Unitron #114 alt-az mount (Swifty-tron)
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Tim, As I posted above, I agree that Mr. Ballas might have been an amateur that ground the mirror and had Bill make the rest of the scope. However, the dates don't quite add up. The mirror is dated 1/58 but several photos of the scope on Larry's website are dated 1957. It's not clear yet how Larry derived this date and it's not unreasonable to assume they were taken in '58 after completion of the scope. Would Bill have kept the scope long enough after completion to take several photos with it and his other scopes? Maybe Mr. Ballas is the gentleman to the left of Bill in the Charlton Flats photo. Anybody recognize him?
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
|
nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Clint,
Yes the focuser is very nicely made and the more I think about it, the less it reminds me of the Cave unit. Most likely Bill made this too from scratch. It polished up nicely. The helix rides on a ball plunger with a steel ball. I thought about replacing the ball plunger with one that has a nylon ball. It may help smooth out the feel a little bit. I'm only contemplating very small modifications that don't affect it cosmetically, are reversible and help with the function of the scope
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
|
nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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If you'll oblige me to continue, maybe the best approach is to start at the bottom and work my way up. The pier and legs are from Cave or whoever made them for Cave but Bill Made some interesting additions and modifications. Most obvious is the compass he added to the north leg. Obviously to help in aligning the mount. It doesn't swing right now but I'm sure I can get it to work. You'll note the bold "N" painted on the north leg and the corresponding position on the pier.
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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compass closeup
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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