85 replies to this topic

[tim53]

Thanks for the link. I will use the info as a starting point.  The case will be long but not as long as the one I made for my Antares 105mm f/15 scope.  That scope was too long to be without protection. 

 

I just need the time to make the case.  I guess this winter will do. 

 

 

 

I have cleaned up the spotting and guiding scopes. Got a lot of junk off of the lenses but they are not scratched up.  Looking to see if I will repaint the OTA or let the minor scratches be a part of its personality. 

If it were me (it's not.  ), I'd be inclined to put wheels on one end so that you could roll the box around via the handle on the other end.  I have a 6" f/5 Jaegers refractor made by a late friend of mine, with handles on each end.  The box isn't so long that I can't lift it by both handles, but it's a pain to move that way.  I usually use a hand truck to move it around.

 

-Tim.

[D_talley]

I agree about the wheels.  I past the age where I can lift these heavy boxes by my self. A set of low profile wheels will be in the design. 

 

Today I will try to clean up the saddles and motor.  I will not get as involved as I did with my Cave Newtonian. I will have to hurry if I want to get some time on Mars. 

[Bomber Bob]

Your 6345 is the 26th that I have Registered.  It's in the earliest 1/4 of Serial Numbers for this model.  Yours is just the 4th purchased from the Original Owner.  [Yes, this is BB's Old Scope Statistics Saturday -- we're getting downpours from Delta's largest spiral arm today.]

[photiost]

Here is a shot of the three long scopes that I have.  The top scope is an Antares 105mm 1500mm F/15  which is great for looking at double stars.

 

The middle scope is the Sears 6345  90mm 1400mm  F/15.6   which I hope lives up to the the hype I have been reading about the images it produces. 

 

And the bottom one is a Sans And Streiffe 76.2mm 1250mm  F/16.4   Is a very good scope. 

The 105mm Antares should have a Vixen Spec objective and give excellent planetary images as well.

 

Nice collection !!

.

[D_talley]

Yes the images are eye candy. I was lucky enough to get the Antares 105 before they stopped making them. 

 

I was able to start the clock drive on the Sears mount.  Looks like I will work fine. The power cord is warn but no breaks and I will replace it when I get the time. 

[D_talley]

I finished cleaning up the mount section.  I got a ton of sand off of it.  Put some white lithium grease on the moving parts.  Seems to be working well.  I have left the scratches on the OTA as a sign that this was a used but loved scope. 

Next is to balance and align all of the scopes. I may have time tonight peek at Jupiter and Saturn and Mars. 

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[Garyth64]

I've seen some posts on these 6345's over the years.  But lately, I've been doing a lot of looking everywhere I can.

 

And I've come up with that . . . OMG!  I love these scopes!  I want need to have one! 

 

It would be the ultimate classic for me. 

[D_talley]

Yes I agree with you. After finding this one I started looking for more.  With only 26 on record, I wonder where the others are.   It is a drug habit I tell you!  

 

Tonight I was able to get first light with this scope. Wow.  Wow Wow.  The seeing here was bad as usual but the scope showed me that it is a winner. I started out with a cheap 26mm eyepiece (54x) with a mirror diagonal and got a clear crisp view of Jupiter and four moons.  Great view. I then moved to an Explorer Scientific 11mm eyepiece (128x)  and was given a great view of the cloud bands and four round moons, something that I don't remember having seen when looking at Jupiter. I just remember star like objects for the moons in other scopes. This time they were four world moving around Jupiter. I then moved up to a 6.7 Explorer Scientific eyepiece (210x) and was still able to clearly see the bands on Jupiter between the unsteady skies of New Mexico.  My wife was out with me and enjoyed the view.  I then moved over to Saturn, where is GoTo?  and was able to see a crisp shot of the rings, with the division on the rings and the shadow behind the planet clear and detailed with the 11mm eyepiece. I took the time to line up the guiding scope and the main ota when looking at Saturn.  There was some play in the mount due to the wind pulling on the long OTA but I still have to balance the scope to reduce this.  Also the tracking motor kept the objects in view the entire time I was out.  

 

Overall a super view of a unsteady sky in an instrument that is world class.  If I get some time I will do a side by side of it and the bigger brother, the Antares 105 F/15. 

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[Kasmos]

Looking good!  

 

That's a beautiful scope.

 

It seems like there were never many 90mm refractors made let aone any long ones.

I'd also think it's a really good compromise in size between the traditional 3" and 4" refractors.

[Garyth64]

So what is the average selling price on these scopes?  If you can find them.

[mdowns]

I know where one of those 26 are.Brain Risley of the ft Myers club brought one to our swap meet late last winter.

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[clamchip]

Here's a picture of mine for reference.

I traded it plus others for my C14 before I really got to know the scope.

I owned the C14 for some time and eventually sold it.

I miss every telescope I ever owned.

Robert

 

[ErnH2O]

Congrats. Welcome to the club. I got mine out of a dumpster.

[strdst]

I have a few older Royal Astro telescopes that utilize the same mount as the 6345. One of those cases...

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[strdst]

So what is the average selling price on these scopes?  If you can find them.

 

Over the last 10 years between $0 and $2500. Quite a spread, eh?

[D_talley]

My guess is the price spread is a result of people not knowing about these scopes.  Everyone knows what a Unitron is, but A Sears?  So the prices we see them sell for is affected by the knowledge of the seller and buyer.  My scope went for department store scope prices.  But I knew what it was when I saw it because I had a small Sears scope back in the 70's and saw this scope as completely out of reach.  

[Terra Nova]

I think they only made 400 of them. They were the last of the line of Sears real quality Japanese scopes. Seems like I heard Sears was actually selling them below price just to get rid of the stock. This would have been around 1974.

[deSitter]

I think they only made 400 of them. They were the last of the line of Sears real quality Japanese scopes. Seems like I heard Sears was actually selling them below price just to get rid of the stock. This would have been around 1974.

Yes, it went from $500 to $400 to $300 and then all the classic scopes were gone. The Space Age was over.

 

I have the 6344 and the 6345, and I will have them when I'm no more. I will make a point of making sure they get protected.

 

-drl

[Terra Nova]

I was just admiring our 6344 down at my daughter’s house today. It’s a wonderful 3” F16 refractor.

[deSitter]

I was just admiring our 6344 down at my daughter’s house today. It’s a wonderful 3” F16 refractor.

Yes - there is something about it that is forward-looking - elegant, simple, excellent.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

As far as I know, RAO never made any other 90mm scopes. The next larger scope is the 108mm that you saw from Royal (R-101 and R-102), Tasco, and Yamamoto. I have never seen an optic so well made.

 

-drl

[oldmanastro]

Yes, it went from $500 to $400 to $300 and then all the classic scopes were gone. The Space Age was over.

 

I have the 6344 and the 6345, and I will have them when I'm no more. I will make a point of making sure they get protected.

 

-drl

I agree. By 1974 the thrill of the space age was gone and so were the classic refractors. Then the SCT and Dobsonian revolution came on and the refractors were left in the sidelines for a while. In the 90s there was a resurgence of interest in refractors. Maybe it was the result of the growing popularity of APOs and also the sudden availability of large aperture refractors at prices that were affordable. In 1974 I was in college. My astronomical activities were at a standstill and I never even knew that the 6345 was around. 

[deSitter]

I agree. By 1974 the thrill of the space age was gone and so were the classic refractors. Then the SCT and Dobsonian revolution came on and the refractors were left in the sidelines for a while. In the 90s there was a resurgence of interest in refractors. Maybe it was the result of the growing popularity of APOs and also the sudden availability of large aperture refractors at prices that were affordable. In 1974 I was in college. My astronomical activities were at a standstill and I never even knew that the 6345 was around. 

Same here - once I had my 6344 I stopped obsessively staring at catalogs and started observing! I was in college in the early 80s and the only observing I did was the hybrid eclipse of May 30 1984 whose centerline went right over the Ga. Tech campus! My office was half a block away in the physics building. I saw shadow bands - this was officially an annular eclipse but it was broken-annular - some lunar mountains broke the rim of the Sun on all sides. That was the last time I used my RV-6. I figured that was a good way to end - I gave to it my friends for their kid. Here is the scene simulated in Stellarium.. I didn't return to observing until the early 2000s - man had things changed!

 

-drl

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[oldmanastro]

I started looking back at telescopes in the early 90s. The 6345 was long gone from the Sears catalog by then and I don't think anyone got one around here. Not knowing enough about SCTs, I bought a Criterion B&L 8000 as my first big scope. That telescope was incapable of showing a well focused star. The 6345 would have been nice and so much better than the BL8000. 

[GaryM]

I just found this thread. I'm the one (lucky me!) that bought the 6345 from Gregg Eckert in 2017 as seen in the advertisement mentioned earlier in this thread:

 

https://astromart.co...actor-telescope

 

The serial number is 990308 and it's in near mint condition. It may be a bit late, but if desired I can measure my (original) cardboard box and report the dimensions.