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(Better sneak this one in before the pixel police cut me off)



Still need to do the bottom plate and damper for the fan, add a carrier for the battery pack, update to the 5 degree setting circle, and maybe a flame job for the OTA ... but ... I'm gettin' there!

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I have a Z8. The secondary is oversized, at least for planetary/lunar observing. The 50mm ma yields a 25% central obstruction. I recently replaced mine with the 36mm secondary and diagonal hub made for a 5" Newt I have, which will reduce the CO to 18%.

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I've think I've already proven my willingness to drill, cut, hack, and otherwise hopefully not mangle beyond hope most anything ... <G>

That said ... smaller secondary. Hmmmmm. I gooooogled it (yeah - I feel dirty) and I found some interesting stuff about maybe reducing chromatics and increasing contrast for planetary viewing? More light - more might kinda thing. I also saw some cautions about not undersizing the secondary, as that can cause light reflected from the primary to miss the corner, in effect making for a "smaller" scope. Wondering how you narrowed your choices down to the Protostar?

The three vanes is an interesting idea and would be easy enough to do. I can see where that could definitely allow more light into the tube. Hadn't thought of that - I <almost> was going to try flocking the vanes on mine with some leftovers, but increasing the thickness, in retrospect, would have been a bad thing.

(Hey! I thought my mod list was supposed to be getting shorter!!)

Long as we're on the subject of light, I'm also having second thoughts about a flock shield I stuck around the focuser inside the OTA.



Thumbs up or thumbs down? At the very least I'm thinking I should shorten it up a bit ...

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Zkizoid,

Regarding the secondary, you can go too small and a 2.14" on an 10" F5 mirror is about the smallest "I" would try and go.

My mirror came back, from OWL right at F5 which means I could actually go to a 1.83" mirror but would be restricted to using 18mm eyepieces and under to retain full field illumination if my kakalations are correct:) The original specs on the Z10 were F/4.92, if I am not mistaken.

My kind of observing is mainly planetary, moon and double stars with the Z10 scope so the smaller secondary is not a concern.

The three vane vs four is always a hot topic which I will not dare get into. However, I much more prefer six dimmer spikes over four brighter spikes but this is just personal preference:)

I would not try and flock the spider vanes but rather put a nice coat of flat black paint on them. The focuser flocking is a great idea so long as it does not intrude into the light path!

My current Z10 is basically a prototype. Zhumell sent me two Z10's for the price of one due to some quality control issues. Once this scope is configured exactly, I plan on taking the second Z10 and drilling only one set of holes

Regarding the Protostar decision, they looked like a good alternative to the four vane system and I decided to give it a try. I am not completely happy due to some randomness in the collimation system due to the plastic shaft but I am still working that issue:) When everything is in collimation and ya don't bump the scope, it works!

Respectfully,

Shawn

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Jason,

Wouldn't the fact than you can or cannot see the mirror clips be solely determined by what type of observing you do?

For instance, a purely planetary observer would not mind light falloff with a smaller secondary?

Just curious:)

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PS - who's come up with a super duper easy and least destructive as possible way to clean the primary on these things? I was thinking a swiffer duster (modded of course) on an extension handle would be pretty slick for quickie cleanups ...

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Shhhhhhhh ... was that the "voice of doom"?

OK - so chrome polish and an orbital buffer are definitely out of the picture. Gotcha.

I understand the LESS you clean one of these things, the better. My problem right now is construction dust. Canned air maybe?

I did find this ...

Cleaning your telescope's mirrors

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What you found will probably work great, when the time comes

I am about the pickiest, most perfectionist kind of person you would ever want to meet when it comes to my scopes. However, after battling dust "grannies" over the years, I have relaxed. Don't sweat the small stuff and simply observe.

If your constructing stuff, place the mirror aside, construct, then place it back in. It takes a lots and lots of buildup before you will ever notice image degradation.

Earlier today, I was placing my Z10 mirror cell back into the scope and noticed a "splotch" on the mirror which I thought was coating failure. I literally could not stand it so I placed a drop of "ROR" on a Q-tip and rolled it onto the blob. Lo and behold, it came off with no ill effects along with a lowered blood pressure on my end:)

Btw, if your gonna polish with an orbital polisher, make sure you use 80 grit and nothing more: it will polish much faster!

Cheers, Shawn

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