69 replies to this topic

[DMala]

Interesting discussion Bob: in the Orion Skyview variation (sold with a Taiwanese telescope) the finish of the mount seems hammered, the original Meade 320 Mizar mount is flat black, not sure how the Chinese version you mention would be. Picture from the Craigslist post shown with the author's permission.

 

http://newjersey.cra...5915312058.html

 

 

Walter a, yours does indeed look just like mine.

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Edited by DMala, 22 December 2016 - 09:36 AM.

[Bomber Bob]

IME (H/K/M Bushnell Banner 1000), these are good light-duty rigs.  A weak link are the plastic levers, which can break during normal use.  Luckily, hardware stores & M-C carry metal replacements.  A few of these were designed for dual-axis drives, but I found the quartz polar drive to be plenty good enough for visual & short exposure AP.

[walter a]

Bob offers food for thought.  So do i call it a Meade mount now. DMala if you source a  r/a drive that works for these mounts i would be interested  in one also as mine has died, well i should say mine was murdered, something about reverse polarity according to my circuit board guy. In my defense all i can say is it was dark out when i grabbed the wrong power supply.

[Terra Nova]

Interesting discussion Bob: in the Orion Skyview variation (sold with a Taiwanese telescope) the finish of the mount seems hammered, the original Meade 320 Mizar mount is flat black, not sure how the Chinese version you mention would be. Picture from the Craigslist post shown with the author's permission.

 

http://newjersey.cra...5915312058.html

 

 

Walter a, yours does indeed look just like mine.

I had that same mount. I got it from a local St. Vincent DePaul thrift store. It was part of a Meade Polaris 114mm F8 Newtonian. I kept the tube, rings, dovetali, and primary and secondary cells and replaced rhe optics with Coulter, and put a 50mm finder on it. It's on a different mount and tripod now and is a great grab and go. As far as the Taiwanese mount and tripod, I thought they were total garbage! I scrapped them, literally! I kept the two counterweights and the dec shaft for other projects, also kept and used the tripod hub elsewhere. Everything else went into a scrap pile and then off to the metal recyclers. The legs were the flimsiest things I have just about ever seen. The bearings and locks on the mount were sloppy crap, and the cheap aluminum castings that comprised the mount body were cracked! It might look good and like a Mizar but it is far from it. And it will not hold up like a real Mizar. It's a cheap copy. Anyway, the whole thing cost 15 bucks so it was worth it for the parts that I did keep and put to good use.

Edited by terraclarke, 23 December 2016 - 08:28 AM.

[earlyriser]

Does any one know for sure what the original tips on the legs are like?  There are two main possibilities. One is a simple rubber tip that stopped at the end of the wood. The other option is a special single molded tip that had a collar that raised up over the tapered end of the leg. The set of three matching furniture tips will work excellently for this purpose but it would be nice to know for sure. All three legs are drilled for a pin and I had one pin (on the towel) with this set but I can't trust anything here for originality. 

 

<snip>

I've attached a photo of the tip of a leg from my Meade 320 tripod.  They tend to get loose, then come off when the tripod is used on soft ground.  I'm in the process of using a tool handle coating product to build up rubber tips on my other two legs. The pins are simply 1 1/8 inch long 3/16 diameter steel dowel rods that stick out 1/2 inch when inserted into the leg.

 

Now I have a question.  Does anyone know where I can find a manual for the mount?  I'd like to tune mine up, but I'm reluctant to start taking it apart without at least some drawings of how it goes together.

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Edited by earlyriser, 21 January 2017 - 11:23 AM.

[frankabc]

Hello,  A month late seeing this topic.  I have a Meade/Mizar 320 on the Mizar German Equatorial Mount.  It is in need of its clock drive, and I notice that Explorer 1 has a 784 drive pictured.  Might you be willing to send or post photos of your 784 drive detached, about to be attached, and fully attached to your mount, from every angle of view?  The Meade #784 Quartz Motor Drive System is extinct, as is the corresponding Mizar MMD-QZ, 4.5-12 VDC clock drive.   Thus I am thinking to adapt a different motor and gearing to my mount.  I just cannot start the project until I figure out how the original 784 was designed, and how it was supposed to be attached.  What gears were on the 784?  What diameter are the gears?  How many teeth on each gear?  What was the rpm of the motor?  Was it clutched?  I have inquired at both Meade and Mizar, and they have no information.  Five turns of my Mizar mount's RA shaft equal one hour, 120 turns of the shaft equal 24 hours.  Five turns per hour equals 1 turn of the RA shaft every 12 minutes, or 1/12 rpm.  Maybe you could post photos here, or perhaps there is a way to exchange emails?  And by the way, I raised a baby raccoon, too!  Thank you.  Frank

[walter a]

Hello and welcome to CN frankabc. I will snap some pics and post them for you as soon as i can. I did not realize this request was being asked of me until the baby raccoon reference. They sure are a handful. That pic was taken on Mothers Day and she was released back to the wild at the end of August.

[walter a]

pics

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[walter a]

small gear 20 teeth 5/8 dia large gear 60 teeth 1 3/4 dia.  Hope this helps

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[orion61]

 

 

As to my great surprise I finished all this only around 9PM, I peeked outside and saw a starry sky with few clouds.... Star Test!

 

I am happy to say that the optics seem well collimated, the disks are round, the rings seem concentric and I think I could see the three lens spacers, evenly distributed. The mount seemed solid and very smooth. 

The only weak point seem the tripod legs, which are not adequately spaced apart and the scope seemed easy to tip over. Which probably explains the dent at the front! The legs are also a bit skinny and every time I touched the focuser knobs very noticeable vibrations would last several seconds.  I wonder if I can find heavier legs that would fit.

 

So overall this scope seems a winner and will be out a lot with the nice season! 

 

 

I don't think you have the original legs. Both of mine have much taller and stronger looking legs. Both of mine came with the same legs. Your entire tray/spreader system doesn't match either.

 

 

 

I agree, something isn't  right. My 320 has legs slightly smaller than the Vixen Super Polaris legs and are so steeply angled.  The spreader and tray are also quite different. The tray is triangular and the spreader attaches to the edge and not the bottom.  The spreader arms and not horizontal either but angled down.. The tray itself is only a framework, the actual container is a plastic triangular affair. 

 

 

jon

 

I have seen those original Vixen triangular plastic conntainers sell for $35.00 if they aren't yellowed and still have the lid. Collectors will pay some pretty crazy prices for original parts, those that break or in my case get stolen by the Wife because it is co unique and she had never seen another triangular tupperware container like it.. So mine sits on a shelf as in new condition. I am sure she would bake a triangular Pie if she could find a metal or Glass pan, lol

[earlyriser]

pics

Now I know what that rod sticking out from my mount is for. It's an attachment point for the drive unit.

[earlyriser]

Is that a Meade model 553 drive? I ask because there is one for sale in the classified section. 

[frankabc]

Dear Explorer 1, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for your extraordinary photos and info regarding your Meade 784!!!!  Off topic, but my raccoon was found as a baby on July 14, 1995, in northern Wisconsin.  She was released near some Nature Conservancy land on Oct. 1 of the same year.  A handful, YES!  I photographed her in the wild afterwards with motion-sensor triggered cameras, some of which I designed and built.  She had twins that looked just like her, two years later!  Now for some math and ratios on the clock drive…  Thank you!!

[walter a]

Your welcome, Frank.

[walter a]

Is that a Meade model 553 drive? I ask because there is one for sale in the classified section. 

The one in my pics is a meade model 784.

Edited by walter a, 01 February 2017 - 11:46 PM.

[frankabc]

One more for Explorer 1.  What does the attachment of the 784 clock drive to the RA shaft look like?  I see the knurled knob, which I presume is threaded somehow, so acts as a clutch when tightened or loosened.  And there is the 60 tooth gear (which probably spins freely from the RA shaft when the knurled knob is loosened?).  And there is the cylindrical piece that attaches to the RA shaft with a set screw.  In your photos these three are assembled.  What do these three look like when they are separated?  Thank you, once more!

[walter a]

clutch

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[frankabc]

Muchas Gracias for these thought-provoking photos!!!!

[Terra Nova]

As to my great surprise I finished all this only around 9PM, I peeked outside and saw a starry sky with few clouds.... Star Test!
 
I am happy to say that the optics seem well collimated, the disks are round, the rings seem concentric and I think I could see the three lens spacers, evenly distributed. The mount seemed solid and very smooth. 
The only weak point seem the tripod legs, which are not adequately spaced apart and the scope seemed easy to tip over. Which probably explains the dent at the front! The legs are also a bit skinny and every time I touched the focuser knobs very noticeable vibrations would last several seconds.  I wonder if I can find heavier legs that would fit.
 
So overall this scope seems a winner and will be out a lot with the nice season!

 
 
I don't think you have the original legs. Both of mine have much taller and stronger looking legs. Both of mine came with the same legs. Your entire tray/spreader system doesn't match either.

 

 
I agree, something isn't  right. My 320 has legs slightly smaller than the Vixen Super Polaris legs and are so steeply angled.  The spreader and tray are also quite different. The tray is triangular and the spreader attaches to the edge and not the bottom.  The spreader arms and not horizontal either but angled down.. The tray itself is only a framework, the actual container is a plastic triangular affair. 
 
 
jon

I have seen those original Vixen triangular plastic conntainers sell for $35.00 if they aren't yellowed and still have the lid. Collectors will pay some pretty crazy prices for original parts, those that break or in my case get stolen by the Wife because it is co unique and she had never seen another triangular tupperware container like it.. So mine sits on a shelf as in new condition. I am sure she would bake a triangular Pie if she could find a metal or Glass pan, lol

I have the Vixen green round Tupperware tray accessory container and lid in perfect condition.

[Bomber Bob]

I have the Vixen green round Tupperware tray accessory container and lid in perfect condition.

 

Those sure do seem to disappear!