90 replies to this topic

[Disciplus55]

Lady Manent 95mm has found a new home : mine ! It needs a bit of cleaning (dust) and I will show some photos. I could test it quickly on the Moon last night, great views ! Zero C.A., great sharpness. I only need to find 2 screws for the finder, and maybe a diagonal. More pics will follow ! Still wondering what the conical accessory is though.

[Rich (RLTYS)]

Good luck on your new toy! 

[Joe Cepleur]

You are headed toward the best possible outcome. With your friend having bought one, you are one purchase away from being able to use both, which is easier, financially, than having had to buy both.

Storage space? Bah! For inspiration, look at all the beautiful threads showing Terra's house adorned with gorgeous telescopes.

[Disciplus55]

Started cleaning the dust and dirt on accessories... still don’t know what it is, but it is cleaner than it was :-)

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[Disciplus55]

Herschel prism diagonal, eyepieces and variable filter :

Then all of them together with my light simulating the Sun :-)

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Edited by Disciplus55, 08 November 2019 - 02:08 AM.

[Ben Bajorek]

I suspect that the "duck call" is a Dynameter, used to determine the magnification of a telescope.  I think you are missing the sleeve that holds the eyepiece and reticle that fits into the brass tube with the unpainted interior.  

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Dynameter

[Disciplus55]

Wow, this is the closest and most likely scenario for that ! Dynameter I mean ! Brilliant input !

 

Also... This morning I had thought of maybe a measuring device (also missing some components obviously) to help measuring sunspots sizes ! I thought about that, because it could be just "gently in contact" with the variable filter that goes over eyepieces when using the Hershel wedge... Like this : 

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Edited by Disciplus55, 08 November 2019 - 10:17 AM.

[Disciplus55]

when the sunspot is displayed like this I mean, on the screen : if the magnification is known (there are some marks on eyepiece heads).

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[Disciplus55]

Ben !!! You're a genius and I am blind : it is on the catalogue of Manent !!! In the list of components, but no illustration : "Dynamètre de Ramsden" !! For only 70 French Francs (old French Francs, a 100 times less than French Francs after 1960)

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[oliver55]

A friend of mine from the neighbouring astro club has taken the Secretan, which is excellent news, it will be used and not end up in an old castle for decoration purpose, and I will have many chances to look through it ! As for the Manent, I will decide tonight ! I need to find a spot in my house though... after getting that little Asiola, that Zeiss bino, and having my other 2 refractors, I need space... :-O

I'm Disciplus55' s friend who bought this Secretan refractor.

 

I think you have right for this conical object.

[Kokatha man]

Perhaps (possible shudder! ) it is some sort of "Sun or Moon viewer or measurer" where you examine the image (projected/screened or filtered?!?) from the larger end affording some improved measure of examination - with the smaller end fitting into the focuser..?

 

Other than this wild guess, Ben's duck caller (wild duck, that is! ) is as good as any..!   

 

 

I suspect that the "duck call" is a Dynameter, used to determine the magnification of a telescope.  I think you are missing the sleeve that holds the eyepiece and reticle that fits into the brass tube with the unpainted interior.  

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Dynameter

 

 

Wow, this is the closest and most likely scenario for that ! Dynameter I mean ! Brilliant input !

 

Also... This morning I had thought of maybe a measuring device (also missing some components obviously) to help measuring sunspots sizes ! I thought about that, because it could be just "gently in contact" with the variable filter that goes over eyepieces when using the Hershel wedge... Like this : 

Hey - I want a small recognition here too..!?!

[Disciplus55]

Hey - I want a small recognition here too..!?!

 Correct, you were a visionary too ! Thanks a lot for the first hints too :-)

 

now honestly I find it a bit disappointing that I can’t call any duck with it... 

[Disciplus55]

So... I spent some hours this afternoon cleaning it, its accessories, finder, optics (only outside, accessible part), tube and mount, only with water and microfiber piece of cloth... then i pulled it out on an artificial star, and found that collimation was ok : concentric perfect circles on airy disk, but something like spherical aberration showed up a bit and I can’t get a sharp image on focus at high magnification : the optics is still a bit dirty inside the doublet, which I didn’t dismount. Besides that, it needs a small bit of fixing (like 2 missing screws on the finder for example). And first nice views on the Moon at low mag... and a solar test with the Herschel wedge and ND variable filter, here some photos, with a mechanical job which is outstanding, so well done, amazing.

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Edited by Disciplus55, 09 November 2019 - 03:07 PM.

[Ben Bajorek]

Thanks for the beautiful pictures Sylvain!  There is something very elegant about a picture of an old french telescope with a gothic church in the background.  

[Kokatha man]

...I was immediately "blown away" by the top-right pikky of the focuser end close-up!!!   

[Disciplus55]

Some more :-) Moon photo with my phone on the Huygens eyepiece... and it is a mystery to me why some photos are 90 degrees turned on the left when transferring them from my tablet to CN...

 

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[Disciplus55]

Last ones.. where you see the gloss on the paint that is still in such a good condition after almost 90 years...

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[Disciplus55]

First light out below freezing point with the Manent 95, a bit of Moon and some star tests : if the paint is not shining anymore, it is because of the frost on it :-)

Still, it needs a proper collimation and pairing of the Littrow doublet, going to visit my local Tak dealer with it for a proper adjustment of the lenses and its cell. Not surprising after 90 years... with maybe 40 years being stored and not used.

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Edited by Disciplus55, 16 November 2019 - 03:43 AM.

[Disciplus55]

I have just found out that my missing brass screws are all in Imperial standard... it seems that it was common in France in those years, before metric system was adopted for all industries in Europe in 1948... now I am looking for a website of bolts and screws that can ship an order to France :-/ and can’t find any...

 

i only 4 of each of those, in brass... anyone can help ? PM me if you can :-)

 

 

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[Terra Nova]

Just a beautiful, beautiful telescope Sylvain. Congratulations again on your wonderful acquisition.

[Piggyback]

Mouthwatering pictures. That beautiful honey color you only get with really old brass surfaces. Tripod stand a piece of art in itself. Love it all. Congratulations on this great find! I only see a single brass adjustment screw for the viewfinder?

[Disciplus55]

Just found a re-seller for US standard brass thumb screws, fantastic...

[Disciplus55]

Mouthwatering pictures. That beautiful honey color you only get with really old brass surfaces. Tripod stand a piece of art in itself. Love it all. Congratulations on this great find! I only see a single brass adjustment screw for the viewfinder?

Correct, working on that one, I found out this weekend that it was in imperial threads units, not metric, so a bit tougher to find replacement ones... but I will never be able to find original ones unfortunately...

[Disciplus55]

I have found a turner/miller who is right now making a small brass adapter so that I can use more recent eyepieces, since it is almost impossible to find old Manent eyepieces in good condition. The Littrow objective is now clean and ready to perform under the stars, but the weather is really not helping :-)

Edited by Disciplus55, 25 November 2019 - 04:03 PM.

[Disciplus55]

There is a Manent up for sale in France, for months and months now, but way overpriced : 2000 euro for a 75mm aperture and 1050mm focal length... not painted, only brass “look”. Too bad, a friend of mine is interested in it, but not at that price...

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