6944 replies to this topic

[Bomber Bob]

Jaegers 6" F5 - Ready to Use:

 

 

After I got the focuser attached & centered, I put 2 coats of chalkboard black on the back plate interior.  Takes the flash at close range to get any reflections.

 

 

Since these rings stay on the OTA, I built a "cage" around it, with a quick-release finder bracket.  Ring placement is balanced with my oldest & heaviest 2" mirror diagonal + vintage Edmund / UO Erfle eyepieces.  When I switch to 1.25" accessories, I'll have to add a finder, or slide the tube down some!  I definitely want to keep the OTA weight as low as possible -- already 20# with 2" accessories...

 

He really doesn't need a finder:  I can look up along the spine of the top bar -- but I may add an old peep / rifle sight to it...

 

 

Spent several hours this morning polishing away the deep scratches on the back plate exterior.  I went for the "mirror surface" only on the edge -- and my shoulders are still sore!  I do this work by hand, and use the 3M / Scotch sanding sponges.  (No matter what color scheme I go with, I'm leaving this piece as bare metal -- turned out so pretty!)

 

ALL of the hardware I used for my MODS is vintage -- mostly brushed nickel.  The 3 brushed nickel slot-screws that hold the Focuser on are antique, from one of the GW Adelaides I bought years ago.  The 4 x #8-32 bolts fill the spaces made for the GSO focuser.  For now, they're "holders" until I decide if I want to add baffles to the Eye End...

 

Like most of the ATM scopes that I've bought, the cells & such go on only One Way, or the screw holes don't like up.  I put notches in the back plate & tube interior where it attaches; and notches in the lens cell & sky end interior.  When assembled correctly... the Top of the Focuser aligns perfectly with the #1 Spacer + outer cell screw.  Does that matter?  I don't know!  But the Dakin 4 had a similar symmetry, and I made sure to re-assemble it as designed...

 

Also, while the back plate has fixed tilt, the inner lens cell can be tilted about 8* from flush, so collimation can be adjusted.  I'll address that when I put the Jaegers up on my DPAC rig.

Edited by Bomber Bob, 08 June 2022 - 05:33 PM.

[Terra Nova]

Jaegers 6" F5 - Ready to Use:

 

Jaegers 6 F5 Restore S08 - Edmund Focuser (Installed BLK).jpgJaegers 6 F5 Restore S10 - Edmund Focuser (Installed BLK).jpg

 

After I got the focuser attached & centered, I put 2 coats of chalkboard black on the back plate interior.  Takes the flash at close range to get any reflections.

 

Jaegers 6 F5 Restore S11 - OTA Cage (LS FL).jpgJaegers 6 F5 Restore S12 - OTA Cage (FR FL).jpg

 

Since these rings stay on the OTA, I built a "cage" around it, with a quick-release finder bracket.  Ring placement is balanced with my oldest & heaviest 2" mirror diagonal + vintage Edmund / UO Erfle eyepieces.  When I switch to 1.25" accessories, I'll have to add a finder, or slide the tube down some!  I definitely want to keep the OTA weight as low as possible -- already 20# with 2" accessories...

 

He really doesn't need a finder:  I can look up along the spine of the top bar -- but I may add an old peep / rifle sight to it...

 

Jaegers 6 F5 Restore S13 - OTA Cage (BK LS).jpgJaegers 6 F5 Restore S16 - OTA Cage (BK RS).jpg

 

Spent several hours this morning polishing away the deep scratches on the back plate exterior.  I went for the "mirror surface" only on the edge -- and my shoulders are still sore!  I do this work by hand, and use the 3M / Scotch sanding sponges.  (No matter what color scheme I go with, I'm leaving this piece as bare metal -- turned out so pretty!)

I like it so much better with the classic Jaeger focuser you’ve put on it. That square one just wasn’t right.

[Bomber Bob]

I like it so much better with the classic Jaeger focuser you’ve put on it. That square one just wasn’t right.

It jus' ain't fittin' -- it ain't fittin'!!

 

If the GSO had been a 2" rack & pinion, I might not have bothered with the swap.  [Who am I kiddin'??  Of course, I would've replaced it with a vintage unit.]  It's also heavier than the GSO -- thick walled casting with mint black crinkle finish; and, the thickest chrome focuser tube I've ever seen.  I could hang an OLD VHS camcorder off the back of it.  There are 3 x tiny chromed domed grubs that ring the tube, so its grip can be adjusted, too.  I don't think this was a Japanese import from way back then...

Edited by Bomber Bob, 08 June 2022 - 05:34 PM.

[icomet]

In memory of Steve Swayze, I put his 25 year old mirror back to work.

 

Cave rotating rings, Optical Craftsman mirror cell, Moonlite focuser sitting on a G11S mount.

 

Clear Skies.

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[deSitter]

I had the audacity to remove the perfectly perfect finders from my 1993 Borg 100ED and 1972 Takahashi TS-80 and replace them with correct-image straight-through finders. Using an 8x50 Explore Scientific for the Borg, and tomorrow I'll have a Williams Optics 7x50 for the Tak.

 

<insert your jeers here>

 

(anyone want to buy a Borg or Tak finder???)

 

I just really enjoy the correct image viewing experience. And yes, I did all other types of inversed and/or upside down observing for years before moving this way.

 

(When not binoviewing, I have a 2" Baader 90° Erect Prism Diagonal for the Borg, and a 1.25" William Optics 90° Erect Prism Diagonal for the Tak.)

 

So erect vs not aside, is it just wrong to be putting newer finders on classic telescopes? Am I going to be kicked out of the club?

I never had a RACI until recent years, when my old neck and back could no longer do the craning necessary to use a straight-thru. I also prefer them.

 

-drl

[northerncrown]

Had my daughter remove the mirror from my classic Meade reflector for packing and safe travel in our upcoming move to NH.   

 

Dark(er) skies (versus DC metro), here we come!

[icomet]

Thought I'd might as well finish up this Cave while I was

messing around with scopes.

1979 10" f/5. Both RA and DEC motors. 1/20 wave mirror.

 

Clear Skies.

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[mpsteidle]

Thought I'd might as well finish up this Cave while I was

messing around with scopes.

1979 10" f/5. Both RA and DEC motors. 1/20 wave mirror.

 

Clear Skies.

Have the rings moved?  I see what looks like the old position further up the tube.

[icomet]

Have the rings moved?  I see what looks like the old position further up the tube.

Yes.

Someday I will write down what took place in the last two years with this scope.

l will only say for now, it was a complete basket case when I received it.

 

Clear Skies.

[deSitter]

Yes.

Someday I will write down what took place in the last two years with this scope.

l will only say for now, it was a complete basket case when I received it.

 

Clear Skies.

Love the Moonlite + Cave!

 

-drl

[tim53]

Yes.

Someday I will write down what took place in the last two years with this scope.

l will only say for now, it was a complete basket case when I received it.

 

Clear Skies.

[sidebar:  IMHO, people who PUT SCOPES BACK TOGETHER should receive something on the order of a Presidential Medal of Freedom.  /sidebar]

[Kasmos]

[sidebar:  IMHO, people who PUT SCOPES BACK TOGETHER should receive something on the order of a Presidential Medal of Freedom.  /sidebar]

Something like this?

The Telescope Medal of Freedom

Edited by Kasmos, 12 June 2022 - 04:21 PM.

[mpsteidle]

I have a feeling theres gonna be quite a few of these here.

[steve t]

Updated the diagonal in my 6" F/8 Newtonian, replaced the stock Losmandy counterweight shaft with the shorter version and added an extra 7-pound counterweight. 

 

The tube assembly was built back in 1981 around a University Optics primary mirror and Kenneth Novak tube components. The tube road on an ATM Babbett Bearing mount for several years (it was a wobbly goblin but worked) until I bought the Losmandy about 10 years ago. Over the years I've also added rotating rings and a dual speed focuser.

 

Not quite a grab and go scope but an easy three tripper.

 

Steve T

 

 

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[Bomber Bob]

The Edmund 2" Focuser that I put on the Jaegers 6 is a larger version of the one on my Edmund 4" refractor -- as I found out last night.  I thought I'd adjusted it with enough firmness... nope.  Scope at the zenith, and the focuser tube rolls all the way out past the rack...  I guess the heavy 2" diagonal + Edmund 32mm Erfle was just too much for it.  So, gotta get it firmer, and I'll add a chrome thumbscrew to act as a focus lock -- got a small old chrome one somewhere in the shed...

 

As you can see, it's a simple design:

 

 

I like simple!  I don't see any major issues -- no broken / bent teeth on the rack or the pinion shaft.  That's good.  IIRC, we've posted sites where some of these bits are available.

 

Since my other 2" focusers have locking thumbscrews, the Old Jaegers is gonna get one, too.

Edited by Bomber Bob, 23 June 2022 - 01:48 PM.

[Kasmos]

The Edmund 2" Focuser that I put on the Jaegers 6 is a larger version of the one on my Edmund 4" refractor -- as I found out last night.  I thought I'd adjusted it with enough firmness... nope.  Scope at the zenith, and the focuser tube rolls all the way out past the rack...  I guess the heavy 2" diagonal + Edmund 32mm Erfle was just too much for it.  So, gotta get it firmer, and I'll add a chrome thumbscrew to act as a focus lock -- got a small old chrome one somewhere in the shed...

 

As you can see, it's a simple design:

 

Jaegers 6 F5 Restore S31 - Edmund Focuse Modsr (BEFORE).jpgJaegers 6 F5 Restore S33 - Edmund Focuse Modsr (BEFORE).jpg

 

I like simple!  I don't see any major issues -- no broken / bent teeth on the rack or the pinion shaft.  That's good.  IIRC, we've posted sites where some of these bits are available.

 

Since my other 2" focusers have locking thumbscrews, the Old Jaegers is gonna get one, too.

I don't know if Edmunds had them but on the Jaegers there were rubber washers between the knobs and the housing so the rack's movement could be adjusted by squeezing the knobs towards the housing while tightening the set screws.

[Bomber Bob]

Mine is missing that rubber (?) washer on the left knob, but the right side has it.  I think I have a small sheet of rubber that I could punch-out a mate from...

[mikerepp]

Try o-rings instead of punching out rubber sheet material.   Might be easier.

[Bomber Bob]

Try o-rings instead of punching out rubber sheet material.   Might be easier.

Thanks!  Found some in the shed -- just had to bore the centers to fit the shaft.

 

What's left on the old Jaegers 6?

 

- Paint Job!  A scope this uncommon deserves that Cadillac treatment...

- Replace the 3 outer lens cell screws (that hold the inner cell).  Why?  They're not flush, and snag the lining of the AstroZap shield.  I have some old nickel-brass slotted screws that would work, I'd just have to bore & widen the holes a bit.  Or, I could go to the Depot and get Hex-head grubs.

- AZ Mount!  So far, the dual saddle ones I like are out-of-stock.  I won't be using the scope until October, when maybe it'll get cooler.  Because of its mass, I'm not crazy about having it hang off the side -- I still remember the lighter J4 breaking free (my legs broke its fall).  IIRC, Carton made a massive AZ mount head that would put the weight over the mt head, so I may check ZEN for one of those bad boys -- I could bolt a 14 - 18" plate on it, and spread the load...  I kept the Filotecnica Tripod, which carried a Unitron 152 EQ Mount + Scope, so no worries about its sturdiness, at least.

 

Anywho, I'm open to suggestions...  In this Heat, my FC-76 or TS-65 looks better & better!

[clamchip]

Today I had to repair a surface burner on our Monarch wood-electric kitchen stove.

A burner mounting spider spot weld let go.

Sounds easy enough, just re spot weld it. Not so, my spot welder would not weld this exotic metal.

Nor could I drill through it.

I decided to try my Whitney punch an I was able to punch the required two 1/8" holes for a screw

and nut to replace the failed spot weld.

This is tuff metal I'll tell you, and metal is part of my business, I know metal.

It got me thinking about our classic and oldie telescopes.

They didn't need to go the extra yard and use the fine materials they used in the construction of our

telescopes.

They did because they were proud of their product, they wanted it to last, just like my 50 year old

stove.

 

Robert

Edited by clamchip, 26 June 2022 - 02:27 PM.