5341 replies to this topic

[Garyth64]

Build a little deck around it and mount a refractor.

[AstroKerr]

Thanks!  It does have the original case and styrofoam; looks to be in good shape.  I'm still pretty likely to just take a day off to go pick it up, I don't like taking risks with shipping.

Seems they know how it fits in the case, so you should be okay shipped. I've done a couple hundred SGWs - cased scopes have come thru okay, sometimes rattly (no added padding inside), sometimes packing tape holding them closed, but okay.  Worst were assembled Dobs in big boxes, next worst were assembled frac / flecs on mount and tripod in big, under-packed boxes. Not common, ~3% of our SGW volume, and all (so far) reparable. But picking it up - best practice.

Edited by AstroKerr, 21 April 2022 - 07:37 AM.

[semlin]

just please make yourself a rail. I don't think the missus would appreciate you falling off that yonder cliff in the middle of the night.

i just cut the railings down.  mrs semlin did not like them for some reason.

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[norvegicus]

I like the deck idea.  Gives you plenty of dry space to walk around, have some seating, a rail or maybe a bench, etc.  You can just leave a small hole in the deck around the pier and it's isolated from deck vibrations because it's in concrete. 

[Terra Nova]

so this is not a telescope but it is in my new back yard and i never noticed it so i am calling it a find.  steel tube pier soldily set in concrete.  3.5" diameter x 66" high.  stands plumb.  sits on the edge of a little bluff that is just about the best viewing position on the property albeit a bit exposed.  no idea what it was for but there is an abandoned power conduit beside the base i might be able to clean out and fish back to the house.

 

so what would cloudy nights do with it i wonder?  i am thinking i need a mount adapter and a modern mount and away to the races we go.

 

i have been here since november and i never noticed it.  the yard is/was littered with weird booger welded metal erections set in concrete like this among a garden gone completely wild.   i think the original owner put them in and then the immediate predecessor renters painted them bright colours.  we have now cleaned up the yard vegetation so on orders from mrs semlin i bought a cordless sawzall and went to work getting rid of these things, but when i came to this one i realized it is not going anywhere.

You have a bear backyard in a lovely setting. Wow! What a glorified view! I would imagine that post was for an outdoor light?

[clamchip]

Wow that's a piece of luck a ready made pier like that.

I have a apple I'd sure like to cut at 5 feet and use for a pier, I just can't get myself to do it.

I wonder if it was for a sprinkler head to water all those grapes?

If its 3.5" OD its more than likely schedule 40 pipe (3" ID) and if it has threads at the top you

can buy all kinds of great fittings to screw on there.

I would consider a deck flange, this will give you a flat surface to attach a mount to.

 

Robert

[semlin]

Wow that's a piece of luck a ready made pier like that.

I have a apple I'd sure like to cut at 5 feet and use for a pier, I just can't get myself to do it.

I wonder if it was for a sprinkler head to water all those grapes?

If its 3.5" OD its more than likely schedule 40 pipe (3" ID) and if it has threads at the top you

can buy all kinds of great fittings to screw on there.

I would consider a deck flange, this will give you a flat surface to attach a mount to.

 

Robert

 

calipers say it is sched 40 3" pipe (88.9mm od, 77.9mm id).  it is not threaded though.  finding an off the shelf slip on flange to suit is proving trickier than i expected.  might have to weld.  

[Lemmon714]

calipers say it is sched 40 3" pipe (88.9mm od, 77.9mm id).  it is not threaded though.  finding an off the shelf slip on flange to suit is proving trickier than i expected.  might have to weld.  

Depending on your welding skills, they used to make a socket weld flange.  These are probably only available in 150# (raised face) flanges.  If you are looking for a 125# (flat face) flange, a socket weld may not be available.  (I do more process piping than water pipe so I am less familiar with the 125# stuff.)

[Senex Bibax]

so this is not a telescope but it is in my new back yard and i never noticed it so i am calling it a find.  steel tube pier soldily set in concrete.  3.5" diameter x 66" high.  stands plumb.  sits on the edge of a little bluff that is just about the best viewing position on the property albeit a bit exposed.  no idea what it was for but there is an abandoned power conduit beside the base i might be able to clean out and fish back to the house.

 

so what would cloudy nights do with it i wonder?  i am thinking i need a mount adapter and a modern mount and away to the races we go.

 

i have been here since november and i never noticed it.  the yard is/was littered with weird booger welded metal erections set in concrete like this among a garden gone completely wild.   i think the original owner put them in and then the immediate predecessor renters painted them bright colours.  we have now cleaned up the yard vegetation so on orders from mrs semlin i bought a cordless sawzall and went to work getting rid of these things, but when i came to this one i realized it is not going anywhere.

Looks like a good place for dark, clear skies. Okanagan Valley?

[Bomber Bob]

Well... my quest for a Classic (& Rare!) blue-tube 1984 Mizar FA-80 Fluorite APO hasn't been successful so far, so I guess I'll have to settle for this near-mint 1984 Takahashi FC-76 Fluorite APO instead:

 

 

Seller on BUYEE said the lens is "foggy" - but I found no layer of fog or haze.  After I cleaned the dust & pollen off the 2 outer faces, I found old dried condensation wiggly lines on the back of the flint element (R2).  The fluorite element is un-mussed.  There are 2 very small dots (< 0.5mm wide) of mold on that same face.  I'm not gonna take this lens apart until I've star & sky tested it -- pretty sure the lens has never been out of its cell, and I'm not in a hurry to be the first...  (The mold spots stand out from the front in room lighting.  To see the "fog" I had to take the lens into our hall bath.  No windows in there, so it's very dark with the lights off.  Had to hold a flashlight at about 60* to the lens to get a good view of the grime.)

 

The lens on my TS-65/P was in worse shape -- had an actual haze layer to remove.  THAT took some soaking & gentle scrubbing!

 

Cosmetics are VG.  No yellowing.  No scratches to the Battleship Gray.  One small pit on the underside, near the focuser, that a previous owner did a sloppy touch-up job on.  Very smooth focuser -- good as my FC-100.  IIRC, I have another of those finder bases like I used on my 100, too...

 

 

[norvegicus]

Excellent news!  Many people say the FC-76 is the best objective Tak ever made.

 

I have a question;  I've tried searching on CN for the answer and haven't found anything:  My FS-60Q focuser needs "tightening" a bit.  It's smooth but too easy to turn and just the weight of a diagonal and middle weight eyepiece will pull it out of focus.  Do you have insight as to how to adjust it?  There are three screw heads with very fine Torx heads on the top side around the lock screw and there is a cover on the bottom with two dimples which I guess needs a spanner to remove...

[Bomber Bob]

Excellent news!  Many people say the FC-76 is the best objective Tak ever made.

 

I have a question;  I've tried searching on CN for the answer and haven't found anything:  My FS-60Q focuser needs "tightening" a bit.  It's smooth but too easy to turn and just the weight of a diagonal and middle weight eyepiece will pull it out of focus.  Do you have insight as to how to adjust it?  There are three screw heads with very fine Torx heads on the top side around the lock screw and there is a cover on the bottom with two dimples which I guess needs a spanner to remove...

I start with those Top 3.  You may have to carefully remove sealant from around them so they'll turn.  Then... Baby Turns of each, working back to front, until you get the desired tension.  Most times, the pinion cover doesn't need much adjustment -- unless it's floppy, or synced down to near immobility...

[norvegicus]

I start with those Top 3.  You may have to carefully remove sealant from around them so they'll turn.  Then... Baby Turns of each, working back to front, until you get the desired tension.  Most times, the pinion cover doesn't need much adjustment -- unless it's floppy, or synced down to near immobility...

Thanks.  They appear to be T-3 or T-4 heads and do have a sealed look.

 

Actually I notice now that the pinion shaft is a bit floppy, I'll see if I can figure out a tool to get the cover off...

[Esso2112]

Thanks.  They appear to be T-3 or T-4 heads and do have a sealed look.

 

Actually I notice now that the pinion shaft is a bit floppy, I'll see if I can figure out a tool to get the cover off...

A paper clip works well for the pinion screw.  For the adjustements I have done in the past, I take the pinion shaft off. Then adjust the little screws on top until the tube slides in out evenly and smoothly with the amount of friction I want.  Then I replace the pinion shaft and gently tighten the cover.  

[norvegicus]

Thanks.  They appear to be T-3 or T-4 heads and do have a sealed look.

 

Actually I notice now that the pinion shaft is a bit floppy, I'll see if I can figure out a tool to get the cover off...

It was the pinion.  I remembered that my ThorLabs lens ring spanner wrench has reversible tips, so I switched to the pin tips and it opened the pinion cover easily.  The screws on the pinion retainer were completely loose and snugging them up just a bit fixed the problem; the focuser now feels exactly like my nearly new FC-100 focuser.

 

Happily I didn't even need to break the sealant on the other screws.

 

Thanks BB!

 

BTW:  this is the nicest adjustable spanner I've seen.  It's kind of expensive but definitely worth it.  I've disassembled dozens of binocular objectives without doing any damage with mine. https://www.thorlabs...rtnumber=SPW801

Edited by norvegicus, 26 April 2022 - 05:22 PM.

[JogiBear]

Please help me identify this seemingly vintage 114/900 Newt from Japan. Never saw this green tube before.

https://www.jofogas....__127837462.htm

[Russell Smith]

I'm thinking the green is not original.
I can see a large scratch under the green in one of the photos.

[norvegicus]

also the paint is pretty uneven.  It's a DIY repaint.

[PawPaw]

I want to thank Tim53 for helping me to acquire this diminutive refractor.................Thanks Tim!

 

Circa 1960's Goto KL-3T auto-collimator.  Air spaced objective, E.D. 30mm FL 300mm.  The eyepiece is a 20mm kellner (I think) with a glass etched reticle scale in 1' ldiv. It is missing the light source but I acquired it as a finder or a little birder scope.  Yesterday I found the prism is essentially the same design as the Unitron deutron........I will have to adjust the FL on one of the viewing ports to get them equalized but this is a very nice little scope.  The OTA is brass and the objective cell is in two pieces just like the cell on their 4" refractor.......it unscrews from the OTA cell.  

 

I think it goes well with spring Bluebells.

 

Cheers

 

Don

 

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[norvegicus]

The optical bench mount has mojo!

[Bomber Bob]

[Fingers Crossed]  First Light tonight for my 1984 Tak FC-76:

 

 

OTA ran me $500 with shipping.  I figure about $200 for finder & hinged rings, so $700 to make her Done.  Not a steal, but a good deal.

 

(Right behind her on the Ready Line is my excellent 1980s Mizar GT-80S F7 achromatic.  Can't wait for that Side By Side.)

Edited by Bomber Bob, 28 April 2022 - 06:49 PM.

[sdedalus83]

I just snagged a black GP on a black Berlebach 1072 on Zen for $133. I wonder if the tripod is enough for my Argonaut mak.

[sdedalus83]

I just snagged a black GP on a black Berlebach 1072 on Zen for $133. I wonder if the tripod is enough for my Argonaut mak.

And I just stumbled into what looks like a pristine ED80S to ride on it. The little Berlebach should suffice for a 5lb 80mm.

[Bomber Bob]

 

 

[sdedalus83]

 

 

Thanks, it’s a nice consolation prize after the AP deal fell through. Now I can stop looking at Borgs.