86 replies to this topic

[bierbelly]

Cork spacers on the cell points?

[clamchip]

Good idea!

The cork will keep the mirror from sliding around too freely is what I think your

thinking, great idea!

So far everything has been okay. I've been watching the collimation to see if the

primary's thin side slips around until it looses contact with the cell points.

 

Robert

Edited by clamchip, 24 November 2021 - 11:58 PM.

[clamchip]

 One thing is for sure, if I ever transport the scope to another site the primary and its cell

will need to be removed from the scope and placed in a mirror box.

This would not be a very big deal and worth the effort to have 10 inches of aperture in

eastern Washington or the San Juan islands.

Its not as dark here as it was. I can't see the little dipper anymore. I can still see the milky

way but I can't read a book by it like in eastern Washington.

The last time I camped in eastern Wash I laid awake in my sleeping bag I don't remember

sleeping, just took in the marvelous sky show.

I hear east Oregon is even darker, I haven't experienced it myself though. 

 

Robert

[ccwemyss]

I’ve camped at the top of Steens Mountain in the SE corner of Oregon, back when I had my C8. Nearest streetlight was 50 miles away at that time. It was amazing. M31 and M33 were both naked eye visible with discernible extent. Jupiter was casting strong shadows, and I could read star charts by its light. The Milky Way through Cygnus was dazzling. So many stars that it was hard to pick out some constellations. You can drive to the top, and it would be a great spot for a big dob.
 

Even when I was observing at Kitt Peak, it wasn’t as good because of the light from Tucson. By an interesting coincidence, it was necessary to take shelter from a thunderstorm both times. Quite a thrill to be on top of a bare mountain with lightning striking all around. 
 

Chip W.

[clamchip]

Here's my finder for the Problem Child.

This fits in the Telrad base.

I ordered 6-point rings from SVBony because it looks classy.

The ring assy mounts into a standard Vixen shoe I have mounted

on a Scope Stuff laser pointer base which mounts into the Telrad base.

The finder is a Coast Instruments Treckerscope Galaxy 7X50mm.

Very sharp, excellent fine wire crosshairs, wide field, very high quality.

No more neck pain, and I'm going to live with the permanently stuck 

on Telrad base like a good boy.

Robert

 

 

[badback]

From Clamchip, Post #50:

 

"I know from experience if you try and remove a Telrad base you will scalp your scope.

The attempted base removal with heat, fishing line, dental floss, etc will remove the
cardboard 'skin' and there's a big repair job in your future.

I recommend leave it be and work with it."

 

Obey the Chip or you will Rip it...Rip it good

 

 

 

[Garyth64]

I recently took a Telrad and its base of a Meade red tube 826.  I was concerned about the old double stick tape.  The base was firmly attached.

 

It took a while, and patience, but I used alcohol applied with q-tips on the tape, and eventually it started to loosen up.  I did not want to force it off as I was afraid it might peel the paint.  The tape became soaked with the alcohol  and the base eventually came off, but there were still remnants of tape on it and the tube.  I just continued with the alcohol and rubbed with my fingers.  The tape came off the tube leaving no marks.  Same on the base.  It was like it was never there.

 

Edited by Garyth64, 27 November 2021 - 09:00 AM.

[clamchip]

Over the years I've repaired Telrad damage.

Top photo I gooped on some filler, sanded smooth and rollered on some

latex house paint.

Bottom photo I used thinned with water Elmer's glue to bring down all the

fuzzies and sealed it with model airplane sealer/filler. I couldn't find a suitable

paint match for the old tube so I decided it was good job bob.

Robert

 

 

[deSitter]

ArmorAll is very slippery stuff.

I remember kind of yelling at my Dad when he thought he was doing me a favor by using it on my Harley Sportster's vinyl seat.

I felt bad about it later but had already found out the hard way how it made it very hard to stay firmly seated on a motorcycle.

"If you can read this we both fell off"

 

-drl

[deSitter]

 One thing is for sure, if I ever transport the scope to another site the primary and its cell

will need to be removed from the scope and placed in a mirror box.

This would not be a very big deal and worth the effort to have 10 inches of aperture in

eastern Washington or the San Juan islands.

Its not as dark here as it was. I can't see the little dipper anymore. I can still see the milky

way but I can't read a book by it like in eastern Washington.

The last time I camped in eastern Wash I laid awake in my sleeping bag I don't remember

sleeping, just took in the marvelous sky show.

I hear east Oregon is even darker, I haven't experienced it myself though. 

 

Robert

We are making plans for a road trip to the Big Bend area of Texas for the 2024 eclipse. That is Bortle 1 land. I am very lucky in my Big Southern City to have dark places at a reasonable distance (< 100 mi).

 

-drl

[clamchip]

I built a off-axis aperture stop to the specs given in the Coulter Operating Guide.

I've never stopped down a telescope before, this should be interesting.

According to the guide it turns a 10 inch f/4.5 Odyssey into a unobstructed Herschelian telescope.

I'm guessing because the port in the aperture stop is 4 inch it must now be a 4 inch. The focal length

remains the same so now the focal ratio is f/12, unless I'm missing something.

 

Robert

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Terra Nova]

If the telrad base is attached to metal, (painted, powder-coated, or otherwise), a really good way to remove it is to warm it up with a hair dryer, (not a heat gun; that will bubble the paint and melt the telrad base!).

[clamchip]

Who ever dreamed The Problem Child would become my primary telescope, she is.

Its changed my life really.

With my new scope I've shifted away from "telescope hunter rebuilder tester" to being more of a observer

like I was when I was younger.

There will be others, there will always be others, but the Odyssey is so fulfilling I don't have any reason to

look at other telescopes.

My mom said I was easy to please when I was a baby, give him a potted plant and I was quiet for hours.

 

Robert

[deSitter]

I'll dust off my tester and give it a try.

I've never used it before so it will be new to me. I built it from Sam Brown's plans in

All about Telescopes and the plans include detailed instructions on how to use it.

Robert

 

post-50896-0-40389400-1583710024.jpg

post-50896-0-95346500-1583710037.jpg

I built this as a kid and now I want another one! I have the book! Time to bust out the saw!

 

-drl

[Kasmos]

There will be others, there will always be others, but the Odyssey is so fulfilling I don't have any reason to

look at other telescopes.

 

 

Robert

Get back to us in a week or so. 

[clamchip]

I felt a bite and a nibble from a local Orion 10 inch inteliscope for a very good price.

No way, I'm a happily married man to my fair lady.

She's got expensive tastes in eyepieces though, but that's okay.

You see, all the other Odyssey's in my life have the factory original 1-1/4" focusers.

This I think makes the scope more forgiving in the eyepiece by limiting the observable

field. My fair lady on the other hand has a 2" focuser, so you see the whole primary.

I only own two 2 inch eyepieces, a 56mm I can't use in the Odyssey, and a 32mm 

I built from Edmund lenses. This 32mm, a Plossl, works really well and is the absolute

min power for a Odyssey.

I may crack open my piggy bank and buy a TeleVue 2 inch. I'd like to try one out first

last time I looked through a Nagler I remember feeling sea sick.

Robert 

 

Edited by clamchip, 23 January 2022 - 12:41 PM.

[DouglasPaul]

I felt a bite and a nibble from a local Orion 10 inch inteliscope for a very good price.

No way, I'm a happily married man to my fair lady.

She's got expensive tastes in eyepieces though, but that's okay.

You see, all the other Odyssey's in my life have the factory original 1-1/4" focusers.

This I think makes the scope more forgiving in the eyepiece by limiting the observable

field. My fair lady on the other hand has a 2" focuser, so you see the whole primary.

I only own two 2 inch eyepieces, a 56mm I can't use in the Odyssey, and a 32mm 

I built from Edmund lenses. This 32mm, a Plossl, works really well and is the absolute

min power for a Odyssey.

I may crack open my piggy bank and buy a TeleVue 2 inch. I'd like to try one out first

last time I looked through a Nagler I remember feeling sea sick.

Robert 

 

IMG_0536.jpg

I think you two were made for each other Robert.   I saw that Orion but a dob just doesn't doesn't fit in my life right now, I want to get a collapsible one eventually that will collapse into it's rocker base

[deSitter]

 One thing is for sure, if I ever transport the scope to another site the primary and its cell

will need to be removed from the scope and placed in a mirror box.

This would not be a very big deal and worth the effort to have 10 inches of aperture in

eastern Washington or the San Juan islands.

Its not as dark here as it was. I can't see the little dipper anymore. I can still see the milky

way but I can't read a book by it like in eastern Washington.

The last time I camped in eastern Wash I laid awake in my sleeping bag I don't remember

sleeping, just took in the marvelous sky show.

I hear east Oregon is even darker, I haven't experienced it myself though. 

 

Robert

We should start planning a meet-up in the Big Bend of the Rio Grande region for the 2024 eclipse. Bring your own problem child It's Bortle 1 there.

 

I'm still hoping to see the Horsehead nebula with my own dang eyes

 

-drl

[deSitter]

I felt a bite and a nibble from a local Orion 10 inch inteliscope for a very good price.

No way, I'm a happily married man to my fair lady.

She's got expensive tastes in eyepieces though, but that's okay.

You see, all the other Odyssey's in my life have the factory original 1-1/4" focusers.

This I think makes the scope more forgiving in the eyepiece by limiting the observable

field. My fair lady on the other hand has a 2" focuser, so you see the whole primary.

I only own two 2 inch eyepieces, a 56mm I can't use in the Odyssey, and a 32mm 

I built from Edmund lenses. This 32mm, a Plossl, works really well and is the absolute

min power for a Odyssey.

I may crack open my piggy bank and buy a TeleVue 2 inch. I'd like to try one out first

last time I looked through a Nagler I remember feeling sea sick.

Robert 

 

IMG_0536.jpg

You need a Panoptic 35mm and a Paracorr! I find UWAs not worth the neck ache from trying to remain steady on the exit pupil. I get better views with Meade HDs and a Paracorr in my 10" f/4.5. Also the Paracorr slows it to f/5 so the 35mm is a perfect 7mm exit pupil with comfort instead of constraint. Those Panoptics are fantastic eyepieces.

 

-drl

[clamchip]

These are great for the super fast Odyssey. I don't think most oldie amateurs realize at f/4.5 and faster

you are going to have eyepiece problems. Unless you are into modern equipment where these high

speeds are more the norm now. A eyepiece that doesn't like working at f/4.5 is going to make the whole

scope look bad.

First one is a eyepiece for a Sherman tank, Edmund trimmed the fat off and made a 1-1/4" adapter so

it can be used in a amateur telescope focuser. Very high quality wide field. I also included a photo of

this eyepiece before the "Edmund Treatment."

The second is a Edmund, used for the Edmund Satellite scope, and also by itself in the catalog.

It also has a Edmund made 1-1/4" adapter, and if you remove the adapter you have a 2" stub so it fits a

2" focuser like I have on my Odyssey. This one is very nice, 32mm, and no distortion across the entire

enormous field.

You must realize these are surplus gun sight eyepieces, and the last thing we wanted was to sink one

of our own battleships, so quality is very very high. 

Robert

 

[clamchip]

Here's a picture of my new finder I put together on the main scope.

It works great even though I prefer straight through finders.

The problem with the short fat Problem Child  is a straight thru is

really close to the ground so you need a neck like an owl. So a RA

makes the most sense.

This finder was made up of binocular parts by Treckerscope for

their Galaxy model around 1960.

I wish the Telrad base was farther up the tube but there's no way

I'm going to try moving it, I know better. I may try this coming summer

to leave the scope out on a hot day and ever so carefully peel the

base off and try a guitar string too if needed.

This works great. You can see its just as easy to look through as

the eyepiece.

Robert

 

Edited by clamchip, 10 February 2022 - 12:19 AM.

[clamchip]

Notice the tube balance weight in this photo and the above photo.

I don't know where it came from but I sure do like it.

I also use it to steer the scope while observing.

When the tube has a finder in place and pointed at low altitude I

remove half of the weight. About 45 deg it goes back on.

Robert

 

Edited by clamchip, 10 February 2022 - 11:01 AM.

[clamchip]

I had to go back to a Telrad finder, I can't find anything or even star hop with the right

angle finder. And because of this I no longer need to fiddle with the tube weight, both

halves of the weight for horizon to zenith.

I've found this scope really works well with the old straight side Japanese Celestron

Ultima 1-1/4" eyepieces. I have 12.5mm, 7.5mm, and 5mm, all work excellent at f/4.5.

I've discovered another one of my ideas that is not working out well, the Harbor Freight

cart. It was going fine until recently. I've been moon observing quite a bit and with the

moon at its high altitude right now I can't get comfortably close to the tube with my chair

because of the cart. I'm forced to stand. I suppose worse things could happen to me.

Robert

 

Edited by clamchip, 13 February 2022 - 12:25 AM.

[Bomber Bob]

Here's a picture of my new finder I put together on the main scope.

It works great even though I prefer straight through finders.

The problem with the short fat Problem Child  is a straight thru is

really close to the ground so you need a neck like an owl. So a RA

makes the most sense.

This finder was made up of binocular parts by Treckerscope for

their Galaxy model around 1960.

I wish the Telrad base was farther up the tube but there's no way

I'm going to try moving it, I know better. I may try this coming summer

to leave the scope out on a hot day and ever so carefully peel the

base off and try a guitar string too if needed.

This works great. You can see its just as easy to look through as

the eyepiece.

Robert

 

IMG_0619.jpg

Love that Finder, Robert!  Too bad that you can't use it.  Stubby on the AR-1 sits too low to the ground for me to use anything other than an R/A Finder.  And, he gathers way too many stars for the restored Edmund 35mm R/A.  So, one of my upgrades will be swapping-in that blue Meade (Mizar) 60mm R/A Finder.  Since I'm leaning towards either stainless steel or powder gray Contact Paper for the main tube, that Meade Blue will make a great contrast.

[clamchip]

It hit me when I woke up this morning, a hand truck.

I used a hand truck with my Odyssey 13 inch when I owned it.

You just scoop it up and set it down. You can cross almost any terrain.

Any hand truck will do but this one in particular because it only weighs

8 pounds, folds up small, and has a huge platform:

https://www.harborfr...ruck-61867.html

 

Robert