Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums
Privacy Policy |
Please read our Terms
of Service | Signup and
Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User
Masvingo
sage
Reged: 01/10/12
Loc: Ayrshire, Scotland
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5583753 - 12/22/12 09:17 AM
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Looking forward to seeing the pictures.
James
|
orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)
Reged: 10/20/07
Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: Masvingo]
#5584217 - 12/22/12 02:50 PM Attachment (36 downloads)
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
I have decided to just add a few pics since Joe is busy..
here is the subject as seen by naked eye
next is through the scope at prime focus
I then just used paint and blew a section of the emblem up to bring out more detail.
the little red check mark is the target
I was very pleased to see the in and out of focus defraction rings were very similar, I didn't have the camera or the OAG adapter cooled down so I got some distortion and flairing from the room temp camera at 2Degrees above zero, plus the wind was blowing about 20 mph.. needless to say I didn't waste a lot of time out there.
A 6mm eyepiece showed a pretty decent looking airy disk
and defraction ring.
I think we can say optically this experiment is a success.
|
orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)
Reged: 10/20/07
Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5584222 - 12/22/12 02:51 PM Attachment (25 downloads)
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
2nd
|
orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)
Reged: 10/20/07
Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5584225 - 12/22/12 02:52 PM Attachment (26 downloads)
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
3rd
|
Escher
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/30/07
Loc: Fenton, MI
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5584305 - 12/22/12 03:55 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Looking great man! You really brought this one back from the brink... The proof is in the views, and these are looking good!
|
Masvingo
sage
Reged: 01/10/12
Loc: Ayrshire, Scotland
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: Escher]
#5584333 - 12/22/12 04:30 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
+1 
Looking good!
James
|
orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)
Reged: 10/20/07
Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: Masvingo]
#5584483 - 12/22/12 06:27 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Thanks guys, I am so happy for the owner, The best part is I
havent even finished with the final alignment of the optical components! and there were some thermals from the Camera body and off axis guider being 70 degrees warmer than the scope.
This project kind of got blown up here and there was some
great tutorials from Dave, and if he ever gets to the Midwest I'd love to take one of his Newtonian Mirror making Classes.
This it was simply a fun thing trying to make " Am Albatross Fly again", without spending money on it.
The owner couldn't believe it when he saw these images.
I tried the origonal optics and they were not a great example of Celestrons work. That was surprising becaus I had found the old "Orange Celestron Pacific tubes to be exceedingly good for a commercial product, One can tell Mr. Johnson took quality control very sreiously.
If I can find my old Eyepiece projection adapter from my film days I'll try to take some Stellar shots for you.
|
Ed Holland
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/16/10
Loc: San Jose, CA and Oxford, UK
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5585219 - 12/23/12 08:40 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Albatross, or (salty) Phoenix?
Great job, sir. Thanks to both for telling Magarita's story for us all to enjoy 
|
Masvingo
sage
Reged: 01/10/12
Loc: Ayrshire, Scotland
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5585286 - 12/23/12 09:46 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Quote:
If I can find my old Eyepiece projection adapter from my film days I'll try to take some Stellar shots for you.
Please do, Larry, that would be great to see, if you can stand the cold - it looks rather icy there (but I guess a summer day to the folks in Alaska).
Keep up the good work, it's great to see a 'scope comin back to life!
James
|
orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)
Reged: 10/20/07
Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: Ed Holland]
#5585726 - 12/23/12 02:36 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Thanks Ed, You are a member I highly respect, and I admire your body of work, I knew this project would work out.
but even I didn't expect this quality of optics to result!
I was expecting at least moderate SA from the set. This just confirms my belief that Celestrons Corrector process
was exceedingly consistant. Or I just got LUCKY.
I need to thank the owner in trusting me through all the posts expressing certain failure in the project.
I truely love these scopes and I have made it my goal to
salvage all of them I can, Being disabled and unable to
work, referbing gives me a feeling of acomplishment that was nearly taken from me, the day that Old Gent ran over me with his car!
I have heard people say that these will never be worth anything.
The people who own one know differently.
|
Joe Cepleur
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/18/10
Loc: Dark North Woods
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5660047 - 02/03/13 02:01 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
A quick update for the fans: This scope is not forgotten, but Larry and I have each had major distractions in our lives that edged us away from telescopes for a while. Larry reports that he is working on literally the scope's final polish. I suspect that, cosmetically, this scope will be better than new, with a combination of clean, shiny surfaces, and the patina and occasional scars of age.
Importantly, Larry took Margarita outside for a star test, and sent this report. Like many of us, he does not claim to be an expert star tester, yet can tell good from bad. Consider the state this scope was in when we started! I'm happy with the outcome:
"My Star tests show it to be of acceptable quality. All I have to compare it with is the Leo Henzl
C8 that was custom figured by Celestron for him. You will be happy with it."
When Leo Henzl was Vice President of Marketing at Celestron, he had his personal C8 built just as perfectly as perfect could be. Larry now has that scope. Mine is not as good (yours likely isn't either), but it's far better than the salt-encrusted mess it used to be! I'm looking forward to spotting eagles across the lake, and exploring the stars with this resurrected classic.
|
Masvingo
sage
Reged: 01/10/12
Loc: Ayrshire, Scotland
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: Joe Cepleur]
#5660150 - 02/03/13 02:56 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Thanks for the update, Joe. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of Margarita in all her refurbished glory. Sounds like Larry has done a great job.
James
|
Joe Cepleur
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/18/10
Loc: Dark North Woods
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: Masvingo]
#5682608 - 02/15/13 11:44 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Larry and I spoke tonight to confirm the shipping address for sending Margarita home. I'm looking forward to first light, and shall of course post a report.
Larry had the scope under the stars in ideal seeing conditions last night. Saw many objects, did a star test. After owning and using many, many C8s, and refurbished thirty, Larry reports that this one is average, or maybe a touch above. "Average" is what one would expect, and with a C8, it's excellent! Weirdly, but most welcome, this one actually performs better with the replacement mirrors and original corrector. Early in the refurbishing, trials of the original mirrors showed they were astigmatic. So, whatever may have been lost in the matching of mirrors to corrector, more was gained by swapping in better mirrors. This vindicates Celestron's claim that their manufacturing was so precise that any combination of mirrors and corrector would work. Imagine this scope if it also had the matching corrector, but that had been broken in the scope that was thereby freed to donate the mirrors.
Shipping will be thrifty, and so slow. Good old U.S. Mail will bring Margarita home in about two weeks, but at blissfully low cost. When she arrives, we'll see you at the same Bat-time (a cloudy night for sure!), same Bat-channel!
Vintage Astro-Physics and Nippon Kogakus, Bah! Just think: I'm going to be the only guy in the world with an Orange Tube C8 that had been salt-encrusted in the air and waters of coastal Maine, only to be refurbished in Iowa by an inductee of the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame. Talk about seeing stars!
|
Joe Cepleur
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/18/10
Loc: Dark North Woods
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: orion61]
#5799013 - 04/14/13 05:59 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Dig this! I woke my netbook from sleep for the first time in several months, and found this entry written but, I believe, never posted!
<><><><><>
Sorry to have dropped out of touch for so long. It's been nearly a week since Larry posted the most impressive pictures taken through my scope. Even if, with further tuning, it becomes no better than it already is, the scope will clearly be fine for low-power views of extended objects. It will be a fine, if bulky, birding scope (perfect for watching bald eagles from over a mile away!), and an entirely suitable companion as I continue to learn to find Messier objects. Whether it will resolve every last star deep in some globular cluster misses the point. As Larry so well describes, our goal was to make a truly useful scope out of a salt-encrusted classic. He has fixed it well. I'm happy with it already, yet it will be interesting to see the star test after Larry finishes tweaking the optics.
<><><><><>
Jumping to today, as of last week, Larry is shipping Margarita back to me. He was so proud of his work that I invited him to keep it for a while, so he could use it for plenty of observing sessions prior to shipping it home.
His tests show Margarita to be an average C8, or maybe a hair better. But, C8s are excellent! Nothing wrong with one being "average!"
|
amicus sidera
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/14/11
Loc: East of the Sun, West of the M...
|
Re: Restoring a C8 After Purchase -- Broken Base!
[Re: Joe Cepleur]
#5799050 - 04/14/13 06:31 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
So, the Margarita will be returning home - excellent! It's been a long road; very glad you'll have it back soon.
|
|
5 registered and 14 anonymous users are browsing this forum.
Moderator: RLTYS, BRisley
Print Thread
|
Forum Permissions
You cannot start new topics
You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled
UBBCode is enabled
|
Thread views: 7374
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
