180 replies to this topic

[Jehujones]

 

... Just look at the beautiful condition. Completely original paint etc.

Robert 

 

Wow, good job taking care of that scope  , looks like new.

[clamchip]

The original owner I bought it from ordered directly from Coulter, observed with it once or I think

twice, packed up the mirrors and put them in the master bedroom closet, covered the structure and

bought a Questar. Then 35 years later I bought it.

 

Robert

Edited by clamchip, 21 November 2021 - 12:04 AM.

[Jehujones]

if it wasn't for Coulter I probably wouldn't have a telescope right now and I probably wouldn't have entered the hobby. back in the 80's my girlfriend (now my wife) put a Tasco telescope on "Lay-Away" and slowly paid it off over a year. she finally got it paid off for Christmas and I couldn't wait to see the universe. to say I was disappointed would be very kind. she gave me a Sky and Telescope magazine along with the scope and when I read the Coulter ad in the back I asked her if she would mind if I returned the scope and bought a Coulter. she was a champ and took it back for a refund. I want to say it was something crazy like $199. so I added some money to it and ordered the Coulter. I think it took like 9-10 months to get it! when it finally arrived the views exceeded my expectations. I subscribed to "The Observer's Guide" and would spend hours every night looking for anything I could find from my light polluted backyard. their charts were perfect for learning how to star hop. when the opportunities would come we would take it to the Mojave desert, Death Valley, White Mountains... etc. Coulter was the epitome of "Entry Level". without breaking the bank you could find out if this hobby was really for you.

[Miggystardust]

Coulter made about a dozen white ones that they sold only through the shop, i.e., in-person. I was lucky enough to have one and it accelerated my lifetime love of the hobby. It's kind of a fun story about why they had a few white ones, I posted it in another topic here and am curious if anyone else here on Cloudy Nights has one of the mythical white ones. Pic below.

[gnowellsct]

[img] I used to think that the duct tape and hose clamp mirror cell on my Coulter was pretty cheesy, but now looking at the huge mirror clips on my new Orion scope I think Coulter had something. I can't help but think that those clips degrade the image somehow. Am I overthinking it?

I think the thing Worth overthinking is buying a mirror that has survived for five or more decades a trip to the mirror recoater.

[PYeomans]

Like so many others, a Red tube Coulter 10" F4.8 was my first scope. I loved the expansive views with my 32 TV Plossl and the two UO Orthos were good too. It was a used scope but I loved it a lot. Did replace the focuser, lawn mower blade, and mirror cell over time and eventually make a new mount as the years passed. I sold it in a moment of aperture fever and regretted it ever since.  

[Gil V]

I love mine. It’s in amazing condition for it’s vintage.

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[DPT]

I posted elsewhere about my recent new-to-me Coulter Odyssey10 Compact.  The original owner had the paperwork from when he purchased it new from Coulter for $299 back in 1986.  The owner claimed to have used it for about two years and then capped it and it sat until he listed it on Craigslist a few weeks ago. The mirror is in amazing condition, a testament to the tight cap enclosing the tube.  I had anticipated the worse but it was gleaming when I looked down the tube.  I also got some TeleVue eyepieces as well, a 24mm wide field, a 13mm Plossl, a 7.4 Plossl, plus an Edmund 28mm RKE, plus a Telrad.  All for $100!!

 

I have had great views of Jupiter, Mars, and the comet, plus fun just cruising the sky.  The coma is actually not as bad as expected, just have to keep the object of interest in the center for best view.  Images are very sharp and contrasty, showing some detail in Jupiter's belts as well as surface markings on Mars.  Weather has limited testing at higher powers but very nice images at low-to-mid powers, which is where this system shines.  Collimation was relatively easy and once set, it holds very well (thanks to the relatively fixed mirror and the overbuilt secondary holder).  Not too bad for a 37 year old telescope!

 

I plan on keeping the Coulter Odyssey10 original since it is practically 'new'.  Only change I plan on is putting some Ebony Star laminate on the azimuth surface and some new teflon pieces as well to create smoother motion.  

 

David

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[Jehujones]

 

"...I plan on keeping the Coulter Odyssey10 original since it is practically 'new'..."

Thank you for keeping this wonderful piece of history alive and well. 

[kbart0791]

Had a few of their older mirrors that did very good. Like all my Meade scopes used them. But the thin Dob mirrors were hit and miss like SCT's.
 

I bought the 8 when I was 17.  Its been a long time, but the images on Dso's weren't that bad.  There was a lot of coma.  A friend convinced me to get a better eyepiece.  Ended up buying the Orion Ultrascopic 25 mm.  That definitely corrected the a good bit of coma and improved sharpness, contrast about 40 percent.  The quality of the optics on a scale of 1 - 10 came in at 5.  I had a lot of problems getting a good focus on the planets, however I still remember viewing the "Great Storm" on Saturn in the late 80's or early 90's.  As my interest grew in astronomy and I learned about wave front error and its correlation with F numbers.  Realizing that the probability of a F/4.5 mirror being diffraction limited was much harder to achieve, I decided to have the mirror reconfigured by D&G optical to an F/12.  Getting back to your quote...Someone with D&G reached out to me after they received my mirror and told me they had to just start from a whole new 8 inch blank.  The mirror from Coulter was too thin.  They were concerned it would either break or the expansion would not be correct.

[Jehujones]

I bought the 8 when I was 17.  Its been a long time, but the images on Dso's weren't that bad.  There was a lot of coma.  A friend convinced me to get a better eyepiece.  Ended up buying the Orion Ultrascopic 25 mm.  That definitely corrected the a good bit of coma and improved sharpness, contrast about 40 percent.  The quality of the optics on a scale of 1 - 10 came in at 5.  I had a lot of problems getting a good focus on the planets, however I still remember viewing the "Great Storm" on Saturn in the late 80's or early 90's.  As my interest grew in astronomy and I learned about wave front error and its correlation with F numbers.  Realizing that the probability of a F/4.5 mirror being diffraction limited was much harder to achieve, I decided to have the mirror reconfigured by D&G optical to an F/12.  Getting back to your quote...Someone with D&G reached out to me after they received my mirror and told me they had to just start from a whole new 8 inch blank.  The mirror from Coulter was too thin.  They were concerned it would either break or the expansion would not be correct.

I would be too, F4.5 to F12 sure sounds like a lot of material to grind off.

 

So, did you ever finish that 8" F12 scope? got any photos?

[kbart0791]

I would be too, F4.5 to F12 sure sounds like a lot of material to grind off.

 

So, did you ever finish that 8" F12 scope? got any photos?

I did.  Views of planets and DSO's were incredible.  Friend of mine was like... "Do you realize the scope is going to be 8 feet?  My answer was "Yes it's worth it." LOL  Like a new song says.  I was young dumb and broke, or almost broke.  The scope was on a dob mount that was meant to take apart to lay flat and put back by 2x4 braces and wing nuts.  The rocker unit of the mount was about 4 to 5 feet tall because the center of gravity on the scope was so high.  The length of the scope was supported by 2x4's, and braced by 1x4's.  The ends were boxed in by 1x12 pine board.  I needed a six foot ladder to view objects that were at zenith.  I never did get a picture of it but have attached a sketch.  I have since scrapped the scope frame and mount but kept the primary and secondary.  Coatings on the primary are still in good shape but could stand a recoating.  The secondary was only 1.25 inches and had an enhanced silver coating.  You can't see it in the pics but it is much brighter than the primary.  You might recognize I used the old vane from my Odessey 8 with the scope I built.  I think the secondary came from Astronomics or Ad Lib Astronomics?  They always ran 2 page ads in Astronomy magazine.  The ads had a picture of a little wizard.  Since this discussion is about Coulter I will bring this back to saying the Odessey 8 was simplistic and affordable.  It brought me to the next level in the hobby. 

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Edited by kbart0791, 18 February 2023 - 10:28 AM.

[Jehujones]

That's awesome! 

I love that you kept the lawnmower-blade for the secondary

[Hello_There]

From all I've read about the 29", it just didn't perform well at all. The mirror was too thin and would not keep a figure when mounted. For the most part the under 13" mirrors were pretty good. The 13" were mostly good, but hit and miss. The 17.5" were just not very good. Many people had them refigured in the 80s. Even after remounting mine in a well built dob and mirror mount, I could hardly get 100X out of it before the image degenerated.

On the other hand, in the 70s and early 80s, Coulter produced some very good unmounted mirrors that you would put in a homebuilt scope. These were thicker and had good figures.

[rutherfordt]

Yeah, the full thickness mirrors from the 70's were really good.  My first homebuilt reflector (when I was a teenager) had an 8-inch f/7 mirror from Coulter in it and gave very nice views-- as I recall, the price was $69.95 back in 1975 (where has the time gone?).

[apfever]

That's awesome! 

I love that you kept the lawnmower-blade for the secondary

Awesome! First time I've heard that one.

 

It really hit home for this Spring. The mower photo just happened this Spring.  A nice mower showed up close by so I got that and intended to dump off  3 field and rock beaters. I pulled out two gas beaters and discovered they matched up perfectly for parts to the other two. On top of that I had all 4 running great. I tend to fix things outside of a basket case then...stash them. I did give away one mower, one in, one out.

Same thing happens with scopes. The Edmunds are as done as these things ever are. The school donation (silver) needs a focuser. I just...haven't...pried my own fingers off them...yet...dang. It's an issue. 

Oh, not going back to Terra's library but the two large rocks are petrified wood about 2' long each. There are crystals, alabaster, and more going down the far wall. I do this on other walls too.

 

Still love the mower blade spider. 

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[Jehujones]

Awesome! First time I've heard that one.

 

It really hit home for this Spring. The mower photo just happened this Spring.  A nice mower showed up close by so I got that and intended to dump off  3 field and rock beaters. I pulled out two gas beaters and discovered they matched up perfectly for parts to the other two. On top of that I had all 4 running great. I tend to fix things outside of a basket case then...stash them. I did give away one mower, one in, one out.

Same thing happens with scopes. The Edmunds are as done as these things ever are. The school donation (silver) needs a focuser. I just...haven't...pried my own fingers off them...yet...dang. It's an issue. 

Oh, not going back to Terra's library but the two large rocks are petrified wood about 2' long each. There are crystals, alabaster, and more going down the far wall. I do this on other walls too.

 

Still love the mower blade spider. 

I don't remember who it was that introduced me to that description, it may have been 'clamchip' but not sure.

It's hard to tell if you're a Rock Hound, Scope Hound or a Mower Hound 

Nice collections of each 

[Mark Jones]

An 8" Coulter was recently donated to our club. I have seen 8" red tube Coulters before, but this is the first blue tube 8" I have seen. Surprisingly compact, here is a photo with an Orion 4.5" Star Blast next to it. Has anyone else seen a blue-tube 8" ?

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[clamchip]

I never have. It seems there are many variations, or experiments? not many of these were advertised.

The Blue 8 is similar to the Brown 8 I see. The Brown 8 was covered in Naugahyde. 

Robert

 

Edited by clamchip, 13 December 2023 - 12:38 AM.

[clamchip]

Wow I noticed from the Odyssey's shadow I just won't learn.

The last time I did that I was standing in front of the scope moving it around with the sun behind me

and got my forehead scorched. 

 

Robert

[deSitter]

Wow I noticed from the Odyssey's shadow I just won't learn.

The last time I did that I was standing in front of the scope moving it around with the sun behind me

and got my forehead scorched. 

 

Robert

One CNer left his truss Dob out on the porch too long and set his siding on fire. Not kidding.

 

-drl

[Bomber Bob]

The Brown 8 was covered in Naugahyde.

 

WITW???   That's the strangest thing....  I assume the tube itself is composite / cardboard / paper spiral wound.   It makes sense, and if done carefully, is as good or better than the gray-speckled Contact Paper on my Meade 826 OTA.

 

Robert, as usual, a post about one of your many old scopes grabbed my attention.  Kudos to You!!

[clamchip]

Yes a vinyl skin. It may have been an idea Coulter was trying because it a way it sure beats spraying

paint if they got it down applying the skin. And yes underneath it is the same heavy spiral cardboard.

It looks like a 'Ranch Special' all dolled up the way it is.

Robert

 

 

[clamchip]

During this version Coulter also tried a open tube with a cell allowing free airflow around

the primary and inside the tube.

Previously the tube was closed, and after this the tube was closed again for the red tube.

I can't say which I like better, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Robert 

 

[clamchip]

You think that is a simple cell, I have a simpler one.

John Dobson had a hand in this one from the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomer's.

It works great.

Robert

 

Edited by clamchip, 14 December 2023 - 11:59 AM.