153 replies to this topic

[Conch]

New member here.  Mine has a hand written number 40594 on a orange round label & a black focus tube. Made in USA around the strap mounting holes.

I have alot to read before I attempt any disassembly for cleaning. My upper snap ring does have holes for pliers.

I have RKE 28mm & PLOSSL 12mm  eye pieces along  with a Edmund Barlow 2.5.

 

I purchased this for my Grandchildren and they have very dark evenings in Hawaii. Anxious to get it cleaned up.

 

Great body of knowledge here and I am sure I will have questions coming soon, thanks everyone who have come before for sharing your experiences.

[mdowns]

Welcome to Cloudy Nights Conch,lots of astroscan owners here!

[MGAR]

Welcome Conch!

 

Astroscan's are not just for kids, they become addicting for adults as well. You might find yourself digging though the garbage for food container lids to be used as funnel lenses.

 

Welcome to the club!

Gary

 

 

 

 

 

[JamesDuffey]

I picked up an Astroscan SN# 22216 yesterday.  I don't know if anyone is keeping up the registry, but if so,  it has a black focusing tube, no "Made in ..." markings that I could find, and nothing to indicate the purchase date. It included the the stand,  RKE 28mm eyepiece, a Celestron 15mm Plössl, a generic 10 mm super Plössl, the erector prism assembly, the peep sight, and a vinyl padded carrying case.  There were none of the publications/users manual/users guide.  The cost was $90 at the local astronomy society auction.

 

It is in good shape. Took it out tonight and, while the moon was bright, I managed good views of the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, Sirius, and Mizar. It appears to be fairly well collimated. Fun scope, but I find things a bit hard to find with it. The peep sight was not mounted though, so that might help. More to come. 

[pat sharp]

Hi,

 

Purchased the Astroscan as part of a promotion when Astronomy Magazine came out in 1976. It was $129 with a subscription to the new magazine. I'm a teacher and its seen a ton of use by the students over the years. The sticker says NJ, USA and the white sticker has "17797" hand written in red. It has a chrome focuser tube.

 

Pat

Edited by pat sharp, 08 April 2023 - 10:38 PM.

[RoAnders]

Hi. I have Astroscan 51406 made in the USA. It has a black focus tube. Hope this helps. RKAnderson (RoAnders).

[RoAnders]

BTW I think it cost either $209, $229, or $239 but those are just guesses. Can’t remember … too long ago.

[sunfunchicago]

Here's an Astroscan I've had for a while. There was a UPS label with date of 12/20/1985. Maybe someone's Christmas Present? Came with the original shipping box too. 
- Serial number: 8537274 White Label.
- MADE IN JAPAN: around bolt holes.
- Draw tube: Black.
- Date of Shipping: 12/20/1985
- Included in my purchase: Base/ Stand, 28mm RKE Eyepiece, Carry Strap, Metal Finder.

Images Attached.

Ciao, Daniel

Attached Thumbnails

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[PYeomans]

I have #53528 made in USA printed on a large oval sticker and the lens cap and sling hole. Black focuser tube.  I am not the original owner. Collimation is off so I'll be disassembling it soon.

Disassembly is definately due to remove the tiny styrofoam balls that migrated into the tube through the open strap holes during shipping. Also the tiny spider and his web need to be evicted.

Edited by PYeomans, 10 August 2023 - 07:22 PM.

[John Rogers]

Edmund Scientific recently discovered 14 Astroscans in a warehouse.  These were the last ones from the final 2012 production.  They were placed for sale on their website and quickly sold out.

 

Given that these represent the last units produced, their serial numbers should be noted in the registry.

 

Did anyone here purchase one of these and be willing to report the serial number?

[apfever]

Serial number 23975 on white oval. Black drawtube. No print around the bolt holes. Dog clips on strap. Thicker sand cast base. Blue dot and silver info sticker inside focuser cavity. Plastic tab on secondary, not the paper sticker. 

Edited by apfever, 02 December 2023 - 04:35 PM.

[John Rose]

Hand written serial number on oval sticker, 20449.  Black drawtube. Black and silver "ES" and below it Edmund Scientific one above the other label. There is one area in the seam of the ball end that did not line up when glued together. Noticeable bump when it rides over one of the felt pads on the base.

[apfever]

#48541 on white rectangular sticker in the focuser housing. No other stickers in the focuser housing. "Made in USA" cast around the strap bolt holes. Black draw tube. 28mm RKE. Peep sight.

[Pixelhead]

Picked up #47232 this morning for $50 from FB Marketplace. Has the Made in the USA sticker. Included original Edmunds tripod and normal base.  Would like to figure out how to clean the back side of the front grass... pulled the retaining ring, but the glass doesn't want to budge without some help.

Magic Eraser worked great for cleaning misc black/white/etc markings from the outside as suggested by the seller. 

[bluelick]

Hi folks,
 
I picked up my Astroscan on Friday from FaceBook Marketplace, the seller was asking $100 but we settled on $75. The big end cap was missing so the glass was very dirty, as it turned out on the inside also. 28mm RKO included as was the strap. Serial number hand written on white oval is 20884. Since I had to pull the mirror to replace the foam (thanks for all the tips here) I was able to see what appears to be the date 11-13-80 on the back of the mirror, also "4 1/4 f/4" although it may be that the mirror was made and dated before the scope was assembled. We can at least be sure this scope was assembled after that date if it helps with building the data base. My ring removal wasn't too bad, I was able to get a screwdriver in behind the ring end at the focuser tower, then work another one in behind the ring and work my way around. The primary mirror ring was harder since I was mostly working blind. I used some white closed cell packing material to replace the foam as recommended here. Since all I had of that was thin, I cut 5 circles and stacked them up, 3 3/4" diameter stacked up to 3/8" thick. I put a small piece of masking tap on each side where the gap is in the ridges that hold the mirror. To reinstall the primary I was able to squeeze the ring with my thumb and middle finger at the opposite sides and get it in place while also pushing down to seat the mirror against the foam. This took a few tries and was dangerous given the risk of damaging the mirror. Someone else here put a piece of paper over the mirror to protect it, that would have been a good idea if it was cut smaller than the ring ID, but might have been hard to remove after the ring was inserted. After insertion, collimation was pretty good and I had good views of the trees on the ridge top 1/2 mile away, with sharp images even with a 4mm EP Barlowed at 2x although the image was pretty dim at that magnification. Last night was clear so I got it out briefly and was able to quickly find M13 and one of the galaxies in Virgo although I'm not sure which one, the lack of a finder making it hard to be certain where I was, but it was fun to find that one by just sweeping around! I'm quite pleased with this find and plan to give it to my granddaughter for her 9th birthday next month. I found a collapsible dog water bowl to serve as a cover at the local Goodwill store, it's even a fair color match!
 
Thanks for all the help and great info here!

Edited by bluelick, 29 April 2024 - 07:41 AM.

[lcpadua]

I just came by (another) Astroscan.  It is serial number 10869 on a white oval label with an additional blue oval.  No place marking near the bolt holes.  Chrome focuser tube.  The booklets that came with it are dated 1977.  "Edmund Sky Guide", 3/77; "The Edmund Astroscan Wide Field Telescope", Rev. 9/77; "Star Checking your Edmund Telescope", Rev. 9/77.  It came with three eyepieces:  A 1 1/8 focal length, probably Kellner with the body style that came with my 1957 Edmund 4 1/4 reflector (not RKE); an Edscorp K.12 mm which I assume to be a Kellner; and a long Barlow marked 2.5x RKE with the orange rubber ring.  Originally sold to a customer in Millington NJ, but no date on the address sticker and no receipt.

[Mark Jones]

Our club has two donated Astroscans. No idea how old they are.

1. paper label 16786, chrome plated focus tube, another green dot paper label, also mylar type label "Astroscan 2001"

2. paper label 26834, another blot dot paper label, looks like blackened brass focus tube

 

[Mark Jones]

One of our Astroscans is missing the dust cap and both focusing knobs.

 

Anyone know where to get replacement parts?

These would be good candidates for 3D printing.

Anyone know if 3D models exist for these parts?

 

 

[TrackballJerry]

>Anyone know if 3D models exist for these parts?

 

Thingiverse has a dust cap for the Astroscan:

 

https://www.thingive...m/thing:6024658

 

It's not the original design, and it's got a hole for a solar filter, but you could print it without the hole and it would function as a dust cap.

 

Thingiverse has 4,825 items tagged with "knob," but none of them Astroscan specific. I'll bet some of them are pretty close, though. You can resize a print fairly easily, so a person could find one that looks similar and print that at the right scale.

[DLuders]

One of our Astroscans is missing the dust cap and both focusing knobs.

 

Anyone know where to get replacement parts?

 

You could get suitable knobs with setscrews from McMaster-Carr that would work.

[Mark Jones]

Thanks for the info on dust caps and knobs.

I did find close replacements for Telescope Warehouse, great place for parts.

 

also, I found the original receipt for SN 16786 and it was purchased in Dec 1979

[John Rose]

Freebie at this years Stellafane swap tables. It was very dirty and missing the primary. The optical window and secondary plus the retainer rings came in a seperate box.  I took it for the dust cover as my yardsale Astroscan was missing the cover. Yellow machine printed label. "SN: M00582" and below that is "MADE IN CHINA".  Black focuser tube. Sun warning label on the focuser. Where the secondary holder attaches to the optical window is marked "Astroscan" in red across the middle with a "TM" over the "n". Below that is "PAT. PEND." Above those around the periphery is "EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO".  "Barrington, N.J." is at the bottom. 

[Jaimo!]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I stumbled across this while perusing the 'Bay....

Astroscan Man

 

I'm not affiliated, just passing along the information.

 

Jaimo!

[TrackballJerry]

I just helped a friend tune up an Astroscan he bought on Craigslist. He paid $100 for it and it was in pretty good condition, but the primary mirror's foam backing had deteriorated so I had to pull out the primary and re-do the foam. I always get nervous doing that, but I managed it without mishap and it star tests nicely now.

 

This one has a serial number of 8536737 on a white rectangular label with rounded corners. The drawtube is black, and the socket for the finder/carry strap bolt has "Made in Japan" embossed around it. It came with the 28mm RKE eyepiece with the orange band around the barrel, but no finder. I looked online for a 3D print file for the peep-sight finder, but don't see any. The guy on eBay mentioned in the previous post is selling them, but he apparently hasn't shared his print file. I may have to learn a CAD program and design one myself, or just have my friend buy one off eBay. The vendor is only asking $20, which is a pretty good deal for a specialty item like that.

 

Jerry

[JSven]

I just purchased the solar filter from Astroscan Man....fast service, and he has other 3d print accessories.