153 replies to this topic

[JSven]

I saw an original post about Richard Berry's Using Your Astroscan, did anyone ever get a scanned copy of that? I would love a copy just for my completest sake.

[TrackballJerry]

I just tuned up another Astroscan that was donated to our astronomy club. This one has a round-cornered rectangular yellow label that says "SN: M00639, Made in China" inside the focuser It has a black drawtube. No markings on the plastic around the bolt sockets. The secondary cover in the middle of the glass plate says "Edmund Scientific's" (with apostrophe) in white slightly raised letters curving around the top and "Astroscan" in red taller raised lettering across the center. In tiny raised black letters below that it says "PAT.NO.D247.854" The dust cap has Edmund's stylized "ES" in big raised lettering above the center bar, the word "ASTROSCAN" in what looks like Helvetica or a similar font across the bar, and a smaller repeat of the ES logo plus "Edmund Scientific, Barrington, NJ USA" below the bar. The scope came with the base and a locking bolt, a strap, and a metal peep-sight finder. It's a deeper red than many I've seen, yet the Sun warning sticker on the focuser is faded to near invisibility. No clue when it was purchased, but the Internet says production shifted to China in the early 2000s.

[TrackballJerry]

I wound up helping another club member tune up his Astroscan. Here's the data: Serial number 40817 on an orange circle. Black drawtube. "Made in USA" on the plastic around the bolt holes. "Edmund" embossed on the dust cap. No idea when it was purchased.

 

I learned something interesting about the deteriorating foam issue: The foam under the primary that keeps the primary pushed upward against the retaining ring degrades over time and the primary slumps, ruining its collimation. The traditional solution is to remove the retaining ring, lift out the primary, and replace the foam. But getting that retaining ring out (and back in!) without scratching the mirror is easier said than done. Turns out there's a simpler solution: Reach in with a pianist's long stretch between your middle finger and thumb and grasp the mirror by its edge. Rotate and push down on the mirror. You're tearing it free of the foam and grinding the foam down. The degraded foam is gooey, so it won't turn to dust, but it loses the last of its springiness so now the mirror rests on the bottom of the plastic case rather than being pushed up against the retaining ring. Turns out the case bottom has a circular ring that's just as flat as the retaining ring, so the mirror rests nice and flat. You can put the scope back together and fine-tune the collimation by putting shims under the glass plate, without ever removing the primary mirror. Much safer that way.

[TrackballJerry]

Our club has been given several more Astroscans. I'm working on them one at a time to tune them up. Here's the data on the latest:

 

Serial number: 287386 hand written on a white oval label. There's also a circular blue label with nothing printed on it inside the focuser housing.

 

The drawtube is black.

 

There's no "Made in..." embossing on the plastic around the bolt holes.

 

The cap has "Edmund" embossed in it. Given that this was one of several Astroscans stored together, I wouldn't bet this cap originally came on this scope. Nor the drawtube, for that matter, although that's a bit more likely.