5116 replies to this topic

[oldmanastro]

Guido  So what the second scope  received in 1967?

Sears ?

Yes the 1967 telescope was/is my Sears 2535 teal color 76mm f/16 that you see in the family photo. I should have received it on Christmas day of 66 but it was still on its way. This telescope and the60mm f/11 altazimuth  in the photo were my two original telescopes. I wrote the following CN article about the adventures with the 2535 back in 2010. It has been through interesting times. Here's the link.

 

https://www.cloudyni...tronomers-r2351

 

The altazimuth mounted 60mm f/11 was my Christmas gift for 1965 and the one that started it all.

 

Guido

[Bonco2]

Guido,

I clicked on the link and enjoyed the read. What a great write up and such an interesting story. Also enjoyed reading that Sheldon  came to the rescue finding you a replacement lens. He did the same for me by selling me a new Carton 80mm f/15 lens that is now in my Tasco 10K. What a wonderful lens. So now I have a 80mm f/15 that's about as good as it gets optically in that format. 

Sure enjoyed your story.

Bill

(Older than Oldmanastro)

[starman876]

Yes

 

It's a Cassegrain, it looks like a newt only backwards, focuser at the bottom of

the tube, which really makes it look like a Newtonian with the finder pointed down!

Mr. Leight did not like perforating his cass mirrors, he figured you are going to use

a prism anyway, why not use a mirror in front the primary to turn the rays 90 deg.

In the case of this scope it's a 1/10 wave mirror on a stalk in the secondary shadow. 

Robert

 

IMG_0056.jpb  

Beautiful scope.  To bad we did not live closer.   On some nice clear night we could compare views with my CFF 14" F20 cassegrain.    I bet I would like your views better. Just love vintage scopes.

Edited by starman876, 17 August 2020 - 04:47 PM.

[clamchip]

It's too bad all of us don't live closer we all have such neat scopes.

When I made the trip down south to pickup the Leight cass I looked into other

options besides driving. I could have taken a train for $36, round trip $70 and

let them do the driving! I spent nearly that in gas money. I don't know if they

would put the telescope somewhere, we would need to find that out for our

Cloudy Nights annual Jamboree.

 

Robert

[clamchip]

Here's the mounting that came with the Walter Leight 8 inch f/26 cassegrain.

I've been told it could be Spacek, I have not seen a Spacek newt mount so

I don't know.

I do know it sure looks like a mid 1950's Cave except for the pier top.

Telescopics also sold a mount like this one. Everything about this mount looks

Cave to me, a very early one.

Robert

 

Edited by clamchip, 17 August 2020 - 06:43 PM.

[oldmanastro]

Guido,

I clicked on the link and enjoyed the read. What a great write up and such an interesting story. Also enjoyed reading that Sheldon  came to the rescue finding you a replacement lens. He did the same for me by selling me a new Carton 80mm f/15 lens that is now in my Tasco 10K. What a wonderful lens. So now I have a 80mm f/15 that's about as good as it gets optically in that format. 

Sure enjoyed your story.

Bill

(Older than Oldmanastro)

Thanks Bill. I wrote that article just as I finished replacing the Edmund lenses with the original Astro Optical objective that Sheldon provided. Later on he also provided the missing tray light. 

 

I have read excellent things about the Tasco 10TE. It's a superb looking telescope. Glad to know that Sheldon also delivered a Carton lens for it. They are excellent lenses. I assembled two telescopes out of Sheldon's Carton objectives, a 60mm f/17 and a 100mm f/13. Both have given me excellent views of the planets and moon.

 

Guido

Edited by oldmanastro, 17 August 2020 - 09:32 PM.

[DreamWeaver]

As much as I resisted the temptation of buying another telescope, I'm now a member of the Swift club.  I bought the Swift 839 that was listed as a Swift 639 in last months "ads" thread.  At $80 it seemed like a good deal, but the five hour round trip drive to get it kept me from getting it.  Then the seller dropped the price to $50 and broke my will!  I even messaged my sponsor thinking he would talk me out of it, but his only reply was "Go get it!".  Chuck H can sure be a bad influence!!!  

 

The scope is almost complete, and in great shape.  It does have a couple issues that seem to be in 2's.  2 of the legs are missing, the 2 screws that attach the finder to its mount are missing, the 2 crosshairs in the finder need to be fixed, and it only has 2 of the objective spacers.

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[DreamWeaver]

If another 839 owner could get me a photo of the screws that attach the finder to it's mount, and the screws for the badge, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Chuck Hards]

I've bought them with no legs at all, lol.

 

Congrats!

[shredder1656]

Not as cool or uncommon as a Swift, but still some nice glass.  Been watching this C102 on an SP mount for awhile.  Happened to connect with the seller while I was in their area.  It is pretty beat-up, but the objective is free of clams.  I guess I can't shake the sickness.  LOL.

 

Please, excuse the unflattering photo.  That is all I have for now. 

 

It has a Criterion finder, which is interesting.  I asked if they had other scope stuff, but nope. 

 

Edited by shredder1656, 18 August 2020 - 05:04 PM.

[Kasmos]

If another 839 owner could get me a photo of the screws that attach the finder to it's mount, and the screws for the badge, it would be greatly appreciated!

The badge screws is another two! 

 

BTW, great deal!

Edited by Kasmos, 19 August 2020 - 12:55 AM.

[Kasmos]

If another 839 owner could get me a photo of the screws that attach the finder to it's mount, and the screws for the badge, it would be greatly appreciated!

Here you go.

The screws use nuts on the inside of the finder so you can use any thread size you can find.

 

These screw into the focuser so the threads might be a hard to find size?

Why someone would take them off only to lose them beats me? 

 

BTW, your serial # made me do a double check since it's kind of similar to mine.

Edited by Kasmos, 19 August 2020 - 02:16 AM.

[Defenderslideguitar]

Not as cool or uncommon as a Swift, but still some nice glass.  Been watching this C102 on an SP mount for awhile.  Happened to connect with the seller while I was in their area.  It is pretty beat-up, but the objective is free of clams.  I guess I can't shake the sickness.  LOL.

 

Please, excuse the unflattering photo.  That is all I have for now. 

 

It has a Criterion finder, which is interesting.  I asked if they had other scope stuff, but nope. 

 

20200818_102026.jpg

Shredder   glad to see you got that C-102. Those are good scopes. I regret letting mine go as it was cheap because it  already had some scratches on the black tube but the glass was good. In a moment of indecision  I decided to let it go as I was beginning to have too many scopes....In hind-site I should have kept it for outreach and sharing. Now my  C-102fl really is great ….but my C-102 was no slouch

 

While showing off Jupiter and Saturn while new bees, parents and young people waited to see the Comet last month   I realized I need an out reach scope... One night I had the C-102fl   the next night the Tak FC-100....the closest thing I had to low risk outreach was the 79 deforked diecast C-8.    That C-`102  should be a keeper.  Glad to see you have mixed in the 102 to your binocular addiction

[ccwemyss]

Alanvogt has been making a good case for a 100mm Unitron as an outreach scope. As I recall, Barry, there's one near you that needs some TLC, for a fairly good price. I exchanged a few emails, just offering advice on selling it, and I think they'd probably be willing to negotiate. 

 

https://www.cloudyni...ration-project/

 

Chip W. 

[Bomber Bob]

Can't say enough good things about my Clammy C102.  If anything ever happened to my Dakin 4, I have an excellent spare -- and, who doesn't love a great 4" achromatic refractor?  It's gonna be so cool to see the happy faces when I start sharing its views with the public...

[DreamWeaver]

Here you go.

Swift Finder Screws.jpg

The screws use nuts on the inside of the finder so you can use any thread size you can find.

 

Swift-839-focuser.jpg

These screw into the focuser so the threads might be a hard to find size?

Why someone would take them off only to lose them beats me? 

 

BTW, your serial # made me do a double check since it's kind of similar to mine.

Thanks Kasmos!  There was a small pill bottle that had some of the other screws in it. There’s two small screws with nuts that I wasn’t sure where they went. They seem to small but I’ll see if they work on the finder. 
 

Edit:  One of the screws worked, but the other screw was too short and wrong thread for the nut (and too big for the badge).  I also just noticed that the finder objective Is missing.     

Edited by DreamWeaver, 19 August 2020 - 07:55 PM.

[marcyc]

Shredder   glad to see you got that C-102. Those are good scopes. I regret letting mine go as it was cheap because it  already had some scratches on the black tube but the glass was good. In a moment of indecision  I decided to let it go as I was beginning to have too many scopes....In hind-site I should have kept it for outreach and sharing. Now my  C-102fl really is great ….but my C-102 was no slouch.

Barry, so sorry that you regret parting with your SPC-102. But I hope it helps to know that it is well loved - scratches and all - down in Virginia by someone who has wanted a good 4" achromat for decades!

[Kasmos]

Thanks Kasmos!  There was a small pill bottle that had some of the other screws in it. There’s two small screws with nuts that I wasn’t sure where they went. They seem to small but I’ll see if they work on the finder. 
 

Edit:  One of the screws worked, but the other screw was too short and wrong thread for the nut (and too big for the badge).  I also just noticed that the finder objective Is missing.     

That's kind of weird about those screws. I thought you had it licked.

 

These old scopes are just full of surprises. On mine, Replaced the 3 missing lens spacers. I made one eyepiece from parts of the two. Fabbed a missing adjusting screw for the finder. Repaired some box issues but still have a bit more to tackle. It has the tray, but is missing the rest of the tripod from the hub down. I now have some legs that I think are the right size and I'll probably have to modify another hub to work. All that plus I paid a little more than 3 times what you did (still no regrets), so your not doing bad.

 

Due to my jumping around on different projects it's been on the backburner for awhile but it will get there.

[Bomber Bob]

I kinda hate admitting to this Find, as it's (more) evidence of my senility...  I recycle boxes & packing material, and while adding paper padding to the GHS 452 box, I heard a clink in a thick wad of paper...

 

When GW packed that Meade 390, they used a small forest of paper.  No shipping damage, so no complaints.  With the smaller parts, they used tape to keep them wrapped-up.  Except for the original Meade 6x30 finder.  I'd forgotten about it, and installed that Vixen 6x30 LER in the bracket instead -- but it didn't match the ring spacing...

 

So, OTA & Finder are back together again.

[Russell Smith]

At least it didn't end up shipping out with the goto.

[Bomber Bob]

At least it didn't end up shipping out with the goto.

Makes me wonder...  How many extras have I sent to other buyers?

[Esso2112]

My latest project scope arrived. I’ve been wanting a classic Takahashi FC-76 for a while. I found a mint condition FC-76 from 1984 for a very good price on auction. The front objective is fogged, and I knew that when I purchased the scope.  My plan was always to find a different objective and replace the current one.  I’m not concerned about the objective, it was more about the optical tube itself for this purchase. At 36 years old, the scope looks like it just came out of the box with that beautiful Tak grey paint. The finder scope has both objective covers and doesn’t have the usual scrapes from the finder holder screws.  Glass on the finder is perfect.  Looks brand new actually.  My plan to clean the objective and use as it was until I find a different objective have changed unfortunately, the rear Flourite element broke in transport. For what I paid for the entire package, I’m not concerned about getting any money back, but it does escalate my search for a objective. Just finding one of these original tubes with all the accessories and paperwork was worth the $470. Now, if I can just find a good objective for about $600, I’ll be good to go. 
 

The whole package, including warranty card, Japanese manual, and brochure. 

 

[Defenderslideguitar]

Barry, so sorry that you regret parting with your SPC-102. But I hope it helps to know that it is well loved - scratches and all - down in Virginia by someone who has wanted a good 4" achromat for decades!

Marcyc

 

 Thanks   You are kind to respond and it is fine really.  Knowing you have it and enjoy it means all is well....It was just a concern I had when I was finding myself having more and more newbees and children looking through my scopes  when the comet brought out new folks with new found interest    I was bringing one high end fluorite refractor after another for my own use.   While waiting for the comet   I showed everyone Jupiter and Saturn  and pointed out some easy stuff in the sky for kids      I provided masks and paper towels hand sanitizers      as well as several pairs of  binoculars  I found that I really enjoyed this   

 

I realized that I did not have a good four inch achro for outreach, I started to think about what I could get in a quality scope with minimum investment  preferably with some marks already on it for just such outreach. I realized that I recently had just such a scope....

 

But we are happy that you have it and it serves your purposes.  That I would not wish to change one bit...It is all good .   

Edited by Defenderslideguitar, 21 August 2020 - 07:51 AM.

[Senex Bibax]

Makes me wonder...  How many extras have I sent to other buyers?

That was another recent thread...

[Terra Nova]

Marcyc

 

 Thanks   You are kind to respond and it is fine really.  Knowing you have it and enjoy it means all is well....It was just a concern I had when I was finding myself having more and more newbees and children looking through my scopes  when the comet brought out new folks with new found interest    I was bringing one high end fluorite refractor after another for my own use.   While waiting for the comet   I showed everyone Jupiter and Saturn  and pointed out some easy stuff in the sky for kids      I provided masks and paper towels hand sanitizers      as well as several pairs of  binoculars  I found that I really enjoyed this   

 

I realized that I did not have a good four inch achro for outreach, I started to think about what I could get in a quality scope with minimum investment  preferably with some marks already on it for just such outreach. I realized that I recently had just such a scope....

 

But we are happy that you have it and it serves your purposes.  That I would not wish to change one bit...It is all good .   

The Celestron Omni XLT 102mm F10 is essentially the same scope as the old Celestron HD102. They are quite good as an F10 achromat, well built but heavy. You can generally pick up an OTA used for a two hundred bucks, (a new one is $299). They make good outreach scopes. I had one for a while.

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