13 replies to this topic

[Waynosworld]

Over the last few weeks I have picked up a couple 6" dobs, the first is a 6" Celestron StarHopper, it is a good scope with a spherical mirror, my only issues are that it is very wiggly when I touch it, I have done my very best to make the mount glide in its movements but it seems that it just doesn't want to move and then just gives and goes past where I want it, or it doesn't give and goes right back to where it was, I have soaped up the base and put felt on the sides last night, but it was very cold last night so maybe it needs to warm up, the other issue is the secondary mirror mount, it is only held on with one screw shared with the focus assembly, the cardboard in that area is kinda beat up now, I got it collimated real good, but if I have to start twisting on the secondary collimation screws it can mess everything up and I have to start all over again, I am considering either drilling two more holes in the secondary mount and threading them and adding the 2 screws but it might tilt the secondary up, if it does that then I may mount the mount on the other side in fresh cardboard and use the 3 screws to mount it there, and then twist the secondary around 180 degrees and collimate it that way unless there is a reason not to do that.

 

 

These are the felt pads I installed.

[Waynosworld]

This is the one I picked up today, it is a Edmund Scientific 6" f8 telescope. White optical tube on gray cast iron German Equatorial Mount, at least that is what I think it is, I cleaned it up as the mirrors were very dirty, I also put a donut in the center of the primary so I could collimate it.

I can only post 3 photos per post, so here is the scope.

 

 

[Waynosworld]

This telescope came with 3 lenses and a barlow on all things, the eyepieces are around a 25mm, around a 10mm, and around a 4mm and they work fine except the 4mm has a darker view, it took me a while to figure out the barlow and it worked fine on everything except the 4mm, it worked but it was so dark I could hardly see what I was looking at.

 

Here is the finder, it works just fine, it has cross hairs, and has what looks like a leaf etched into the front lens.

 

The leaf or whatever it is.

Edited by Waynosworld, 22 November 2020 - 07:28 PM.

[Waynosworld]

Here is the mirror, it has some damage around the edges from being loose in the clips and the felt was missing on one of the clips, but when I looked thru the telescope it looked fine to me, I put a donut in the center of the mirror to help with collimation.

 

Here is the secondary, it really does not have any adjustments other than centering it and twisting it, I expect fine tuning would require bending it slightly, I did collimate it and it was easy to do.

 

 

I have not yet had the chance to point this one at the sky yet so I don't know if it has any issues, I am not sure what the fitting is on the bottom, I read something about a camera, not sure what that is about, why mount a camera on the front of the scope.

[Waynosworld]

The mount is a monster, it is very heavy, I am not sure yet if it raises and lowers.

 

It appears to work best for me in this position as I have up and twist, any other position and it is hard to twist.

 

Here is the primary mirror adjustment area, the knobs are easy to turn.

 

When I put the mirror back together I used felt on the keepers and I used these little round foam cushions in between the clips on the counter sunk mirror cell to keep the mirror centered as it still moved around, now the mirror cannot touch any metal.

 

I read that these old Edmonds were recommended(red tube preferred over white tube) telescopes, not highly recommended like my Starsplitter but not in the lower categories either, it was fairly cheap so I bought it, the mount is worth something.

 

I am sort of a newbie to telescopes, but I figure I can hang around the house and play with these for a while, I am going to make a Denver Chair tonight or tomorrow, I am tired of the legs of my chairs sinking into the dirt and using cement blocks to adjust the height, that is all I have for now.

Edited by Waynosworld, 22 November 2020 - 07:59 PM.

[MellonLake]

Wayne;

  You are going to know more about telescopes within 2 months than most people who own telescopes know in a lifetime. 

 

I think the leaf profile on the finder lens is etching due to mould growth.  

 

That EQ mount looks nice.  Bet it would clean up nice.  

[Waynosworld]

I tend to learn everything I can about something I get interested in, but I can only hang on for 10 to 20 years and then lose interest, so I likely will not survive to lose interest in this hobby, I have done a lot of things and had a lot of fun learning them things over the last 40 years.

 

Do you think that is etched into the glass then or do you think it can be cleaned off?

I tried to loosen that ring holding the glass in and I could not move it, I can see thru the finder just fine, so maybe it will be a conversation starter, it is not uniform, but it is intricate, like a leaf.

 

I just pulled the top of the mount off, it is not adjustable up and down unless I make it that way like a jack stand with a pin and holes on the inside tube.

 

Wayne;

  You are going to know more about telescopes within 2 months than most people who own telescopes know in a lifetime. 

 

I think the leaf profile on the finder lens is etching due to mould growth.  

 

That EQ mount looks nice.  Bet it would clean up nice.  

[Garyth64]

This is how an Edmund mount should look:

 

 

The "leaf" pattern on the finder lens, is most likely the glue between the elements.  I've had a couple of finder lenses do that.  You could heat them up in water until they separate, and then just clean up and remove the rest of the glue.

Edited by Garyth64, 22 November 2020 - 08:45 PM.

[luxo II]

The "leaf" pattern on the finder lens is indeed the cement separating, have seen this before in doublets of that vintage.

[Waynosworld]

So it appears I am missing something in this area, what is it that goes there?

 

This is how an Edmund mount should look:

 

Edmund mount original.jpg

 

The "leaf" pattern on the finder lens, is most likely the glue between the elements.  I've had a couple of finder lenses do that.  You could heat them up in water until they separate, and then just clean up and remove the rest of the glue.

 

[Garyth64]

So it appears I am missing something in this area, what is it that goes there?

020.JPG

That is where a clock drive could be attached.

[Waynosworld]

I took the 6" Celestron F/8 StarHopper telescope up on the roof today and got a look at Jupiter/Saturn, the photos I took were not that great and I deleted all but two of them(camera against the eyepiece), one of both planets in the same eyepiece(32mm), and one was an accident, somehow it got in movie mode and i can see Saturn moving/shaking around in the movie I captured with a 6.7mm eyepiece, it was way clearer than my photo which has me scratching my head, my hands were shaking and I was trying to figure out why it would not take the photo, I do not know how to post a movie clip.

 

It is supposed to be raining here thru Tuesday afternoon, I would have to drive 6 hours or more to get to clear sky and likely sub freezing temps, I am just not that motivated.

[Waynosworld]

I sold the 6" StarHopper today, it is for a young person(under 10 years old), I sold the Powerseeker yesterday, still have the Edmund Scientific 6" f8 telescope with the monster German mount,have not decided about that one yet.

 

Should I change the title of this thread to the 10" Apertura AD10 F/4.92 Dob I bought a while back or start a new thread for that one?

[cuzimthedad]

 

Should I change the title of this thread to the 10" Apertura AD10 F/4.92 Dob I bought a while back or start a new thread for that one?

Yup. New topic.