droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Loc: Conneaut, Ohio
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: SteveG]
#4973762 - 12/19/11 08:54 AM
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If anyone else needs parts for this mount, let me know.
Got the second counter weight??? mine only has one, and the dumb bell weight looks aweful, lol.
If you got the camera adaptor thingy,( long rod that bolts to the four holes in the tube ) that thing is apparently rare.
By the way as for a later post on the mount not being stable....mine is a rock, only problem I've had is the main bolt keeps coming loose, but I've been told that's a balance issue.
Only upgrade I want to do to mine is rings on the mount, as at times you might find yourself straddling the mount, lol.
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droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Loc: Conneaut, Ohio
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: droid]
#4973775 - 12/19/11 09:02 AM
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As for modern eps, my might be different, but I had to move the mirror cell forward three quarters of an inch to focus all my eps.
I have found that a 16mm erfle, circa 1970s, and a modern achromatic, 2x barlow is a killer combo on the moon and Jupiter.
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SteveG
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/27/06
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4974180 - 12/19/11 01:03 PM
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Your O-tube has a lot of holes! Bondo? What paint /primers will you use?
Is your sonotube dew shield fairly light in weight and just held in place by friction fit? I know nothing about sonotube weight / sizes / availability. I see some store-bought dew shields (astrozap) that fix on with velcro and have a rubber trim to stick against the scope barrel - but are $40-$45 in this size range. Neat, but home brew appeals.
I've been looking at ScopeStuff adhesive backed flock material and also Protostar non-adhesive flockboard - one or the other will go into the OTA and also line whatever dew shield I cobble together.
John
Yes John - I drilled many of those holes mounting various finders and focusers over the years. I need to fill them with a metallic filler for powdercoating - no primer required.
The dewshield is light-weight and friction-fit. It fits very snug. Sorry but I made it so long ago I really don't remember how I put it together. I think the sonotube was taken from a large wire roll - I do not remember having to cut it to length.
I used the Scopestuff flocking paper on my 10" scope (12" tube). It's going to be hard to drop it in that 7" diameter tube.
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john gabriel
sage
Reged: 12/13/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: SteveG]
#4974818 - 12/19/11 07:17 PM
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...I used the Scopestuff flocking paper on my 10" scope (12" tube). It's going to be hard to drop it in that 7" diameter tube.
Your point is well taken, Steve. I've considered that the flocking material might be stiff enough to apply "dry" and still cling to the tube wall (without removing adhesive backing). Equally possible would be to selectively remove small patches (~1 square inch) of the adhesive backing at some regular spacings, or even possibly just remove the backing along both sides of the seam. This approach would probably allow for easier insertion and adjustment of the material, before pressing down on the places where the adhesive is exposed. Scopestuff offers to send a sample, so I asked them for one.
Still looking at home-made dew shield designs - sonotube sounds a bit heavy, but there are lots of flexible plastics out there that could probably be adapted with a velcro strip glued or sewn into the edge.
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droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Loc: Conneaut, Ohio
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4974881 - 12/19/11 07:48 PM
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I bought a large sheet of black construction paper rolled it and simply inserted it, while it isnt the deepest black available its, cheap, easy, and fast, no muss ,no fuss. I havent had any reflection, yet...
One slit to go around the single strut holding the secondary.Rather easily done with long scissors.
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john gabriel
sage
Reged: 12/13/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: droid]
#4975344 - 12/20/11 02:02 AM
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Droid, I noted your earlier comment on the camera holder rod and bracket being more scarce on these edmund 6" scopes. The scope I bought has the camera support rod and bracket, but not the edmund "astro camera" that was made to go with it. Those must be much more scarce.
The bracket does have a standard camera mount thread that should fit into the bottom of almost any camera. However, I don't know how the generic camera body is made to fit into /against the focuser. Seems that one would need to have an adapter for that. I don't believe this scope and mount are up to any serious astro photography, but it could be fun to use it as a "learner".
About scope rings: I've been looking into those also. Do you have a good measure of this edmund tube OD? Is it a true 7.0 inches?
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john gabriel
sage
Reged: 12/13/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4975428 - 12/20/11 04:31 AM
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I'm still in a quandary about EPs. In all my reading, there seems to be as many opinions about them as there are people.  I see whole sets of new Meade 4000 plossls selling for $180 that have 6 lenses, a 2x barlow, filters, and a nice case. The lenses range from 40mm down to 6.4mm, but I can find no information on eye relief or field stop. Is that a good price on these?
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droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Loc: Conneaut, Ohio
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4975429 - 12/20/11 04:31 AM
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Im assuming any camera would work on it....in the day that would almost certainly have been 35mm.Though I do not know that for certain.
I dont have a pair of calipers to measure it , but holding a good tape measure across the top of the tube ,it dead on 7 inches.
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droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Loc: Conneaut, Ohio
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4975434 - 12/20/11 04:41 AM
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I'm still in a quandary about EPs. In all my reading, there seems to be as many opinions about them as there are people. I see whole sets of new Meade 4000 plossls selling for $180 that have 6 lenses, a 2x barlow, filters, and a nice case. The lenses range from 40mm down to 6.4mm, but I can find no information on eye relief or field stop. Is that a good price on these?
John; yeah you are right....and that's ok. Everyone's eyes are a little different.
I know those who will swear by top end eps, and those who swear at em, lol.
I know some who love orthoscopics, and others who use plossls, etc.
Its all in users eyes, I like plossls, but orthos are killer on the moon and planets, which is where the f/8 scopes rock.
But my favorite ep on the Super Space Conquerer is an period Jaegers erfle, huge fov, with an image scale to satisfy.Add a 2x achromatic barlow and the moon fills the fov, but still there is black around the edge.
That said I also own plossls, orthos, kelners, and some 2 inch knight owl Utra Wide angles of a design Im sure of.
Like all of them , in varius uses.
But none are the end all to be all of eps.
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john gabriel
sage
Reged: 12/13/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: droid]
#4975480 - 12/20/11 06:23 AM
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Im assuming any camera would work on it....in the day that would almost certainly have been 35mm.Though I do not know that for certain.
I dont have a pair of calipers to measure it , but holding a good tape measure across the top of the tube ,it dead on 7 inches.
Thank you, droid. That will make it easier looking for circles and also for dew shield ideas. I spotted some blank aluminum tubing for ATMs in a 1976 edmund catalog - one entry shows tubing 6-7/8" ID X 7.0" OD - could be from the same source that our scopes were made from.
Agena astro has scope mounting rings - in particular GSO rings at 6.93" ID or Antares rings at 7.2" ID - both about $45 and both looking like they might adapt to the edmund cradle fairly easily with some minor metal removal off the lower rings or possibly also a little off the inner edges of the cradle where it would not show - if nestled together with a little fitting, I believe either of these might be made to bolt squarely into the edmund cradle right through its existing bolt holes. I'll know more when I see the cradle.
I don't know if the dimensions given include felt padding - probably not. The guy returned my call quickly and was very helpful.... he urged not going small in the least, but getting slightly large and padding up. The antares claims to fit scopes down to minimum 7.04" dia. (max 7.16"), but I can't see why a strip of leather in there would not pad up stiffly enough to prevent slippage of a 7.0" tube - felt alone could be a little "iffy" I suppose. Straps are still an option, also, but rings would probably function best.
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SteveG
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/27/06
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4975917 - 12/20/11 12:22 PM
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About scope rings: I've been looking into those also. Do you have a good measure of this edmund tube OD? Is it a true 7.0 inches?
I had 2 different sets of rings. The first, I made myself using 2 wood radius blocks. I painted the blocks black and attached them to my mount. I attached a metal bracket to each block to pass a threaded bolt through, then made some nylon straps to secure the tube assy to the blocks. The insides were lined with felt, and the tube rotated easily in these blocks. (I can take a picture this weekend).
Later I decided I wanted something a little cooler looking, so I ordered some 7" tube rings from Orion. These were just a little too small, so I took them to a machine shop that a friend of mine owns, and he put them on a lathe to open them up - actually had to remove quite a bit. Once we got them sized right I added the felt and they fit nicely around the tube. While doing this I discovered that the tube, which is rolled & welded aluminum, was not exactly round. Because of this, the tube was always a little stiff and did not rotate as easy as when I had the straps.
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apfever
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/13/08
Loc: Colorado
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: SteveG]
#4975999 - 12/20/11 01:05 PM
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I measured my OTA at both ends by way of circumference. Both ends were 22-1/16" circumference which gives 7-1/64" diameter. This should be quite accurate by error reduction but does not attest to roundness.
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john gabriel
sage
Reged: 12/13/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: SteveG]
#4976360 - 12/20/11 04:45 PM
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.... the tube, which is rolled & welded aluminum, was not exactly round. Because of this, the tube was always a little stiff and did not rotate as easy ....
Uhh - Ohh! Sounds like we're in for the luck of the draw on tube roundness. Either that or go back to a strap design.
Neil, your circumference data is useful - thank you for checking that. Looks like the antares mount ring would work OK, but I'll have to see how round my tube is when it finally (sigh!) gets here.
Doesn't sound like anyone here gets excited about Meade 4000 plossls. I can't expect people to have opinions on price, if they wouldn't buy the thing for themselves. I'm getting a sense that your experience with these edmund 6" scopes tells you that there are better lens combos to use in them. I will definitely use the scope for planets, but I have a strong hankering for wide field objects as well, even if this scope is way outgunned by other equipment for that purpose. I just could not resist my adolescent dream of having an edmund 6, but it probably is just the start of my re-inventing that dream. I was an astronomy major at Indiana U. when I first entered college, but I later ended up a geologist (something about its being more "practical"). I have some regrets about not just sticking with astronomy as a life course, in spite of politics and money. 
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greju
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/13/05
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4976381 - 12/20/11 04:58 PM Attachment (11 downloads)
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I like mine just fine, especially the earlier Made In Japan models. Good all-around eyepieces that work well in a variety of telescopes and don't cost an arm and a leg.
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RRPG
sage
Reged: 01/26/08
Loc: North Carolina, Cary 35.908339...
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: greju]
#4976877 - 12/20/11 10:10 PM Attachment (18 downloads)
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I have this old thing laying around, for a while. Still works and it is easy to move around.
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RRPG
sage
Reged: 01/26/08
Loc: North Carolina, Cary 35.908339...
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: RRPG]
#4976879 - 12/20/11 10:11 PM Attachment (12 downloads)
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droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Loc: Conneaut, Ohio
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: RRPG]
#4980559 - 12/22/11 11:45 PM
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So.............John , how goes the new scope??? Id love to hear any updates, and or observing reports.
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john gabriel
sage
Reged: 12/13/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: droid]
#4980619 - 12/23/11 12:41 AM
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Hi droid. Thanks for asking. I DO look forward very much to taking pics of this and posting for you guys - whenever it gets here. Seller was a bit slow getting it off, but it's now been 8 days (....11 hours ...23 minutes, and .......x seconds!!!) and still counting. All of you wonderfully helpful folks in the classic scopes forum will be be the very first I'll want to show this to. Still hoping and praying that the primary is as good as my astronomically uninformed seller says it is ("99 to 100%")
(And I thought I was a patient man..... Do yourself a favor and avoid finding / buying a telescope just before Christmas mail flood tide.  )
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tim53
Postmaster
Reged: 12/17/04
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: john gabriel]
#4981263 - 12/23/11 12:29 PM
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Your O-tube has a lot of holes! Bondo? What paint /primers will you use?
I used "bondoglass" on the "Kludge Classic", which is bondo with glass fibers in it (we used to call this "mish-mash" in the boat-building business I worked in for a while, though we made our own). It's great for filling holes, even fairly large ones. I had to replace a bad mirror, and the replacement was longer focal length (f/10.3 or so, instead of f/9.5), so I needed to drill a new focuser hole and plug the old one:
Kludge Classic thread
-Tim.
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tim53
Postmaster
Reged: 12/17/04
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Re: new member finding his way around - 1970 edmund 6"
[Re: tim53]
#4981276 - 12/23/11 12:41 PM
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I just remembered that the tubes on the Edmunds are aluminum, not fiberglass!
-Tim.
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