85 replies to this topic

[woodsman]

My Pony Boy is brighter than your Pony Boy That's what I named the HM 12.5mm eyepiece, which is silver. But your K 22mm Gumby is brighter than my Gumby. I have a 40mm Meade in the open 6th (white) slot. There was a Sears 6346 which was the 6345 plus a zoom eyepiece and an afocal camera adapter. The zoom eyepiece went into the 6th slot.

 

-drl

Hey there, thanks very much for the info.  I never realized when I put the eyepieces in the turret that I had the wrong ep in there.  The one you see is a 15mm, not a 12.5 which SHOULD be there as you rightly pointed out.

 

You have a very good eye sir!  Guess what though, I had the 12.5 mm sitting there on my dresser so I've now replaced that spot with the correct ep and now I'm placing the 15mm Sears light brown ep which is in the photo into the extra slot. 

 

You helped me out my man.  I owe you one. 

 

BTW, if the Green is Gumby, which one is Pokey? 

[deSitter]

The really are marvelous telescopes. Sears truly outdid themselves when they contracted these to be made by the Astro Optical Company. It would be interesting to see one side by side with a 4” Unitron. A lot of folks don’t realize how close a 90mm scope is in performance to a 4” scope. There isn’t a huge difference. It’s certainly a step up from the 75 to 80mm Japanese refractors. Its a step up in size and weight too. Beautiful scope by the way Woodsman. Are you sure you won’t have second thoughts in selling it? It’s a lot harder to come by than a 4” Unitron.

It would be really hard to tell a 102mm scope from a 90mm scope. Curiously, the 6345 is the only example I know of a classic 90mm scope. There is a 108mm AO scope that had several resellers, and a 108mm SYW scope, but there is not even an Astro-Optical branded version of the 90mm. They were all made for Sears.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Hey there, thanks very much for the info.  I never realized when I put the eyepieces in the turret that I had the wrong ep in there.  The one you see is a 15mm, not a 12.5 which SHOULD be there as you rightly pointed out.

 

You have a very good eye sir!  Guess what though, I had the 12.5 mm sitting there on my dresser so I've now replaced that spot with the correct ep and now I'm placing the 15mm Sears light brown ep which is in the photo into the extra slot. 

 

You helped me out my man.  I owe you one. 

 

BTW, if the Green is Gumby, which one is Pokey? 

No Pokey - I got my 6344 telescope while my sister was enamored with Gumby (and Pokey) and the K 22mm was the identical color to Gumby, so I named it that. The others then had to have names when I got another set of them with the 6345 - they are Blackhawk (SR 4mm), Red Raider (HM 6mm), Bluebonnet (HM 9mm), Pony Boy (HM 12.5mm) and Gumby (K 22mm). 

 

Hope this helps

 

-drl

[woodsman]

They really are marvelous telescopes. Sears truly outdid themselves when they contracted these to be made by the Astro Optical Company. It would be interesting to see one side by side with a 4” Unitron. A lot of folks don’t realize how close a 90mm scope is in performance to a 4” scope. There isn’t a huge difference. It’s certainly a step up from the 75 to 80mm Japanese refractors. Its a step up in size and weight too. Beautiful scope by the way Woodsman. Are you sure you won’t have second thoughts in selling it? It’s a lot harder to come by than a 4” Unitron.

Hi Terra, yes I'm having 2nd thoughts right now as I look at that beauty.  I just have to rethink things here. I'm thinking that if I sell this one, I'll Never find another, and it is such a nice scope when all set up that I just might have to refigure some things.  I have other things I can sell.  I'm going to have to think it over here but I'm getting more hesitant by the minute.  UGH!!

[D_talley]

I was in Colorado Springs this past Monday. Had I known you were selling your baby I would have picked it up with the protests of my long suffering wife ringing in my ears.  Two is always better than one correct?!

I have not had my scope out in a long time. We are still dealing with the winds.  

[brian dewelles]

The 6345 mount has a very serious design flaw - the slo-motion control for RA can only be attached on one side. On the other side a shaft sticks out, but it is on the other end of the clock drive, so not only can you not use it, but it's there and inviting you to attach the slo-motion cable, with potentially disastrous results for the clock drive bracket casting.

 

What this means in practice is that you cannot use the slo-motion in RA on one side of the sky, unless you remove the clock drive. I replaced the cables by knobs. With the telescope front-loaded, I can reach the knobs from any position while using the telescope - but sometimes it's literally a stretch. The alternative is to content yourself with one half of the sky Which is also doable.

 

-drl

I dont see the problem. My 6345 mount has RA drive with worm/worm wheel and separate tangent arm for slo/mo and you can attach cable to either side. I would never need to attach flex cable to the drive shaft.

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[deSitter]

I dont see the problem. My 6345 mount has RA drive with worm/worm wheel and separate tangent arm for slo/mo and you can attach cable to either side. I would never need to attach flex cable to the drive shaft.

No shaft on mine where yours is here. The shaft end is flush with the casting and has no flat spot. Only the E side of the mount has a shaft extension for the slo-mo control. I see no evidence of the shaft having been cut or broken. I will examine more closely tomorrow in the light, but it seems my RA tangent worm is one-sided like the DEC worm.

 

edit: - the example posted by woodsman in the Classifieds also has no shaft extension on the W side of the mount. My scope is serial #113. It's a bug, not a feature

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 19 May 2022 - 11:07 PM.

[Terra Nova]

Hi Terra, yes I'm having 2nd thoughts right now as I look at that beauty.  I just have to rethink things here. I'm thinking that if I sell this one, I'll Never find another, and it is such a nice scope when all set up that I just might have to refigure some things.  I have other things I can sell.  I'm going to have to think it over here but I'm getting more hesitant by the minute.  UGH!!

I’m glad. You have a real keeper there. It’s one of the rarest largish Japanese imports out there. And it’s a real sweet spot between a 3” and a 4”. You get the optical benefit of a long 4” achromat but it’s a bit more compact and easier to set up. I would definitely keep it if I were you.

[woodsman]

I dont see the problem. My 6345 mount has RA drive with worm/worm wheel and separate tangent arm for slo/mo and you can attach cable to either side. I would never need to attach flex cable to the drive shaft.

I haven't had a problem with respect to that either. The cables are so flexible that it has never been a problem for me even though the shaft on mine doesn't extend out the other side . I think that if one does a proper equatorial alignment and uses the setting circles and clock drive to guide through the sky, it works fine, at least for me, but then each person may run into different issues on any telescope. 

[deSitter]

I haven't had a problem with respect to that either. The cables are so flexible that it has never been a problem for me even though the shaft on mine doesn't extend out the other side . I think that if one does a proper equatorial alignment and uses the setting circles and clock drive to guide through the sky, it works fine, at least for me, but then each person may run into different issues on any telescope. 

Well I'll have to try! I just assumed when you let go of that thing that it would just whip around and clobber the tube or your friend. I have muscle memory where the knobs are on mine. I've never used the cables at all. Well now we know why they are so long - but it does seem this "feature" was fixed in later editions of the mount.

 

-drl

[Universe XY]

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. 

Ohhh, looks like I could live in that!!!