161 replies to this topic

[stevep]

Thanks Dave,

 

I had seen a couple of other serial numbers on the net, and along with mine led me to the conclusion that the first two digits were the year,

''pretty rare in the US'' I think they are pretty rare where ever you live, have seen 1 65mm here in the UK, no others that I know of,

 

Steve

[Dave Trott]

Hi Steve,

Yes, that's one of the reasons I bought this. I like to purchase a rare, interesting classic telescope like this and make a Youtube video about it for all to see. Unfortunately, I usually end up selling these scopes at a substantial loss some months later. But it's worth it to nab one for my video collection. 

- Dave

Edited by Dave Trott, 10 June 2018 - 10:03 AM.

[ltha]

I have owned several Pentax refractors and all were wonderful optically. Recently I bought two 105SDs, one went to a fellow Pentax fan in Slovenia, the other is here and I recently did a little side-by-side with an excellent C102F. Both scopes turned in excellent images.

 

The first which has a rubber protection ring on the dew shield and a 7x50 finder, gone off to the new owner:

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Edited by ltha, 10 June 2018 - 03:03 PM.

[ltha]

The second, and “no” I did not paint the house to match the scope! It is an older version and has the 6x35CI finder:

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Edited by ltha, 10 June 2018 - 03:02 PM.

[stevep]

Nice Scopes,

 

I would not mind a look through one of those, but not seen one on this side of the pond,

 

Steve

[stevep]

Hi Steve,

Yes, that's one of the reasons I bought this. I like to purchase a rare, interesting classic telescope like this and make a Youtube video about it for all to see. Unfortunately, I usually end up selling these scopes at a substantial loss some months later. But it's worth it to nab one for my video collection. 

- Dave

Hi Dave,

 

Well I have viewed through a good few scopes over the past 40+ years, and I know you have had a good few as well, I would say these scopes are about as good as it can get when compared to others in the same size/class, sensibly perfect optics,

my only gripe with these is that once the mount is built it won't fit through a single doorway,

 

something tells me you may hold on to one of these !

 

Steve

[Dave Trott]

Hi Dave,

 

Well I have viewed through a good few scopes over the past 40+ years, and I know you have had a good few as well, I would say these scopes are about as good as it can get when compared to others in the same size/class, sensibly perfect optics,

my only gripe with these is that once the mount is built it won't fit through a single doorway,

 

something tells me you may hold on to one of these !

 

Steve

Yes, have several nice ones to select from. I also have a little J60.

 

 

The optics on this little thing are wonderful. I just had it out to look at Jupiter. Great views! Here's my video on the J60: https://www.youtube....S5YsHFsk&t=158s

[deSitter]

 

By the way, here's a picture of my superb Pentax 85 (thanks Stew!)

 

 

 

You can see a video about this beautiful instrument at: https://www.youtube....uSx4FldCXE&t=3s

 

- Dave

 

Beautiful scope!

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Hi Steve,

Yes, that's one of the reasons I bought this. I like to purchase a rare, interesting classic telescope like this and make a Youtube video about it for all to see. Unfortunately, I usually end up selling these scopes at a substantial loss some months later. But it's worth it to nab one for my video collection. 

- Dave

Your videos are one of my favorite things! Here's hoping you break even in the future!

 

-drl

[stevep]

Yes, have several nice ones to select from. I also have a little J60.

 

 

 

The optics on this little thing are wonderful. I just had it out to look at Jupiter. Great views! Here's my video on the J60: https://www.youtube....S5YsHFsk&t=158s

Another nice video Dave,

 

The J series were very good, Here is the J80 I owned a few years ago, OTA and rings only with a vixen RA finder, this is what got me interested in Pentax scopes, optics were very very good, best I had experienced in an 80mm scope, I have also owned a late1950's Jupiter that I restored again great optics, this now resides in a museum in Spain, 

 

Steve

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[AnakChan]

This was taken back in May and I put it in the Refractors thread but realised that'll be worthy of sharing here too. My Pentax 125SDP on my Vixen AXD doing a little astrophotography of NGC 7000 :-

 

[dyslexic nam]

Another nice video Dave,

 

The J series were very good, Here is the J80 I owned a few years ago, OTA and rings only with a vixen RA finder, this is what got me interested in Pentax scopes, optics were very very good, best I had experienced in an 80mm scope, I have also owned a late1950's Jupiter that I restored again great optics, this now resides in a museum in Spain, 

 

Steve

I have two of these J80 scopes - one is a very early serial number in great shape and the other has a few more "miles" on it, including a small clamshell chip in the objective.  The second mount is also somewhat incomplete, but could be a good source for parts. 

 

In terms of other classic Pentax gear, I also have the small black J60c (quite different from the J60) that is an interesting little package.   Plus I was lucky enough to obtain a vintage ep set (two orthos and a kellner) that used to accompany their long ED scopes.  It is a bit of a mishmash of a collection, but I have always had "a thing" for Pentax astro gear.

Edited by dyslexic nam, 05 December 2018 - 08:07 AM.

[sparks]

Thanks to all who posted to this thread. I learned a lot. I just posted a Wanted Ad for what I think is the MS-4 Equatorial Mount. I got a J-60 and the adjustable pier a while back and have been searching ever since for the head that interchanges between the tripod and pier.

 

If anyone has one lying around that they’re not using please let me know.

 

cheers,

 

Bob

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[photoracer18]

I got my Pentax 85 from Sanders Lewallen when he came to DC to head FONZ in the  late1980's. He bought it before then from Abercromie & Fitch in Atlanta as apparently they were the American dealer in those days. I sold it many years later when Gary Hand came to me and said he had a buyer looking for one of these and I think it went back to Japan (this was before I worked for Gary). I think I paid $900 for it and I got $800 for it about 6 years later.

[stevep]

 I got a J-60 and the adjustable pier a while back and have been searching ever since for the head that interchanges between the tripod and pier.

 

If anyone has one lying around that they’re not using please let me know.

 

cheers,

 

Bob
 

I thought that the J60 along with the J80 were both supplied with the same AZ mount, never seen a pier and interchangable mount for a J 60

 

Steve

[ccwemyss]

I got my Pentax 85 from Sanders Lewallen when he came to DC to head FONZ in the  late1980's. He bought it before then from Abercromie & Fitch in Atlanta as apparently they were the American dealer in those days. I sold it many years later when Gary Hand came to me and said he had a buyer looking for one of these and I think it went back to Japan (this was before I worked for Gary). I think I paid $900 for it and I got $800 for it about 6 years later.

In the early 80's we sold them at Northwest Telescope and Binocular, in Portland. I remember that they had the best optics of any scope we sold, and that they were beyond what I could afford at the time. Took me 35 years to finally get one. Around the same time, I just missed two opportunities to get a 100, but now that I've had the 85 for a while, I really appreciate the size. It's a two-trip grab-n-go setup. And the mount is really solid for the size.

 

The 100 uses the same mount, and I'm not sure it would carry it as well. But I do regret that it lacks the drive that came standard with the 100. The RA knob turns at an odd rate of roughly 4.5 RPH, so it's not so simple to find a substitute. 

 

Chip W. 

[Mitrovarr]

Did anyone ever figure out how to equip the older ones (like the 100mm achro) with a modern diagonal and eyepieces? I got distracted and never managed to figure out how.

[ccwemyss]

You can find a T-adapter for Nikon microscopes with a 30mm tube size on e-bay, then use a Baader T2 1.25" visual back. But it does reduce in-focus, so some eyepieces won't work (although you might be able to find a short light path diagonal). 

 

The larger tube fits some 2" diagonals with the nosepiece removed, but the only one I've found that works isn't very good quality. It doesn't appear to be a standard thread. 

 

Chip W. 

[Mitrovarr]

Guess I'm stuck with my cardboard and tape adapter for the moment, then.

I did take it out last night for the first time in a while. It did a very impressive job on Mars and some double stars. Its always fun to see those perfect little round Airy disks you only get with a high quality small refractor.

[pbealo]

I was cleaning the warm room of the observatory today and found a still sealed from shipping 7 year old box. I couldn't remember what it contained!

 

Opening it found this diminutive 40mm Pentax refractor w/fixed 30X eyepiece. Tried it out on terrestrial sighhts and found the expected narrow FoV but quite sharp and no obvious chromatic aberration, though it seems to have a singlet objective.

 

Its quite handsome.

 

Peter

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[photoracer18]

Did anyone ever figure out how to equip the older ones (like the 100mm achro) with a modern diagonal and eyepieces? I got distracted and never managed to figure out how.

I did quite accidentally in mine. I was fooling around with some Meade photo adapter parts and found that one of the pieces, when inserted into the barrel with the Pentax hybrid diagonal out, would give me a 1.25" barrel at the back. And that is how I used it for those years.

[photoracer18]

I recently acquired a purported Pentax 60mm F15 objective in a cell as part of a miscellaneous collection of parts from a seller on here. It needs some TLC but I need to acquire a decent spanner wrench for disassembling the lens cell. Don't think I can acquire one at Harbor Freight.

[gnowellsct]

The Pentax diagonal. Unique to Pentax scopes as nose piece is not typical diameter. I was fortunate to get a Pentax 1.25 diagonal with my 4" and two Pentax 1.25" Barlows. The hole underneath the prism is for the solar projection plate holder rod.

This is why I didn't buy one that was recently on Astro Mart. When I bought my vixen ED 102 SS in the early 2000s I had an epic level of difficulty finding a vixen adapter that would allow me to use my 2-in diagonal. I called half a dozen vendors in the US and I even wrote a letter to vixen in Japan. People seem to think I was doing something totally outlandish and wanting to put a 2-in diagonal on a 4-in refractor.

In the end I had to replace the whole focuser with a moonlight. Current vixens do not have this problem.

When I saw that non-standard focuser on the Pentax telescope I knew I was in for trouble with a product that is not currently manufactured by a company that is no longer in the astronomical telescope business. So in spite of my great attachment to all things Pentax I took a pass.

[litesong]

Oh, a Pentax telescope thread! Nice. I don’t have a Pentax telescope, but I do have a Pentax 1000mm f/8 camera lens refractor w/M42 screw mount & an integrated 60power(about) eyepiece & 90degree prism. Yes, it is a camera lens, even including a manual stop-down aperture from the said f/8 to f/45. At the given 60power, I have split double stars to 2.5arcseconds. With such good performance, does anybody have a clue where I could find an eyepiece giving about 150power(about 7mm eyepiece) with an integrated 90degree diagonal w/M42 lens mount attachment. Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m talking about something that hasn’t been made for 50-55 years?

Edited by litesong, 29 October 2020 - 01:51 AM.

[davidmcgo]

Did they make a M42 teleconverter?  That would double the focal length and magnification and still probably maintain focus distance?

 

Dave