498 replies to this topic

[photoracer18]

What I originally made as a pedestal mount for my AP900QMD was this:

I acquired the NOS Parks pedestal legs from off one of the forums a few years ago knowing they would come in handy some day. The thick aluminum 6061-T6 alloy tube came from a company that sells over the internet in standard lengths. I used an AP to Losmandy tripod adapter once I machined out the tube a little and drilled it for the bolts. I also found later that a SkyShed pier with a Meade SCT top plate is the correct center bolt hole for the center bolt to mount a Schaefer, at least my AT-9. Too short for your F15 scope unless you put a concrete pier underneath the steel one to raise it up.

[jragsdale]

That is definitely the worm housing of a Schaefer but looks like the worm , bearings, and shafts are missing.

I promise they're in there. 

[jragsdale]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I was a little busy and then when I went for the final assembly, I found that the powder coating on the main 6" f/15 tube AGAIN had a large glaring mistake so had to be returned to the powder coaters for a THIRD time to be recoated. They've had it for going on 3 weeks now. The last recoat was a 24 hour turnaround, so I'm not sure what the hold up is. I think at this point they know repeat business is no longer an option, I'm considering leaving them a crummy review at this point, which is usually not my thing.

[apfever]

What kind of issues? I've never had a powdercoating done. I've considered it just to check it out on a larger restoration with plenty of same color parts. I can't do that much Candy Apple although I keep looking for the opportunity. It's still more of a highlight concept. 

[jragsdale]

What kind of issues? I've never had a powdercoating done. I've considered it just to check it out on a larger restoration with plenty of same color parts. I can't do that much Candy Apple although I keep looking for the opportunity. It's still more of a highlight concept. 

First time was a whole handprint in the finish. This time there's a 2" x 8" patch that looks like it dripped or wasn't coated all the way, it has a relief to it and is matte vs the rest of the coat. Very obvious in person and looks terrible.

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[Jim Curry]

I’ve had a fair amount of powder coating work done for a variety of reasons. It’s an electrostatic process not a wet process so they charge the metal positive or negative and then the powder is sprayed on and sticks and from there put in an oven to bake so either the tube wasn’t clean enough for the powder to stick despite the charge or there’s some other issue. 

[jragsdale]

Well, it took them 4 tries to get it right, but the powder coating finally came out excellent. They gave me a full refund plus a $25 Starbucks card so I'm ok with the inconvenience. Now I finally got a chance to get it all together and set it up for a test shot. Still have some work to do with the motors and drive corrector, but this should be good to go for the next clear night. It looks amazing in person, still deciding on placement for the Jaegers decal (I like it).

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[Terra Nova]

Well, it took them 4 tries to get it right, but the powder coating finally came out excellent. They gave me a full refund plus a $25 Starbucks card so I'm ok with the inconvenience. Now I finally got a chance to get it all together and set it up for a test shot. Still have some work to do with the motors and drive corrector, but this should be good to go for the next clear night. It looks amazing in person, still deciding on placement for the Jaegers decal (I like it).

That’s a great looking yard cannon! Good job!

[norvegicus]

That looks pretty awesome.  If you get some instability it will be from your steel legs flexing and some struts should fix it...

[jgraham]

Wow, it looks amazing. Nicely done!

[Bob Myler]

WOW.   Simply WOW.

[Defenderslideguitar]

yes     looks beautiful        a proper job     worth all the time an effort

cheers

Edited by Defenderslideguitar, 03 May 2022 - 07:55 PM.

[CltFlyboy]

Top notch for sure. I saw your post on FB earlier today too - you did on heck of a great job. Love it!

[CHASLX200]

What I originally made as a pedestal mount for my AP900QMD was this:

AP900-mountedg-1024.gif

I acquired the NOS Parks pedestal legs from off one of the forums a few years ago knowing they would come in handy some day. The thick aluminum 6061-T6 alloy tube came from a company that sells over the internet in standard lengths. I used an AP to Losmandy tripod adapter once I machined out the tube a little and drilled it for the bolts. I also found later that a SkyShed pier with a Meade SCT top plate is the correct center bolt hole for the center bolt to mount a Schaefer, at least my AT-9. Too short for your F15 scope unless you put a concrete pier underneath the steel one to raise it up.

pier.jpg

That is what i need a older AP900 and a 16" high pier for a 10" F/6 Newt.

[CHASLX200]

Well, it took them 4 tries to get it right, but the powder coating finally came out excellent. They gave me a full refund plus a $25 Starbucks card so I'm ok with the inconvenience. Now I finally got a chance to get it all together and set it up for a test shot. Still have some work to do with the motors and drive corrector, but this should be good to go for the next clear night. It looks amazing in person, still deciding on placement for the Jaegers decal (I like it).

Looks insane. Not working at my house but would love to have it.

[jragsdale]

Looks insane. Not working at my house but would love to have it.

It BARELY passes through the garage door. I have to put the RA to horizontal and the scope level and even then it has about 2 inches of clearance.

 

Here it is next to the Bolt, dwarfs it!

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Edited by jragsdale, 04 May 2022 - 10:24 AM.

[jragsdale]

A proper first light. 👌 

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[Jeff B]

A proper first light.  

And........? 

[CHASLX200]

It BARELY passes through the garage door. I have to put the RA to horizontal and the scope level and even then it has about 2 inches of clearance.

 

Here it is next to the Bolt, dwarfs it!

It's not fitting in my garage or house for roll out.

[jragsdale]

And........? 

She said it looked cool. Haha! 

 

The lens is sharp, no doubt, I still need to DPAC to assess the air gap size. CA seems well controlled but I'd like to know if it's under or overcorrected just as well. And I need to center the focuser and collimate the lens too for good measure.

[deepwoods1]

WOW!!!! That really looks beautiful!!! 

[deSitter]

A proper first light.  

Man that is crazy! It's big! Have a beer and start collimating

 

-drl

[jragsdale]

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this thread. I haven't done any changes on the scope in a while, just casually enjoying it when time and conditions allow, so far it's been a really fun scope to have and use. I've been a little concerned with dew and stray light shielding (which is pretty important from my bright suburban driveway) so I set out to upgrade the dew shield.

 

The original stock dew shield was the 7" OD, 6" long Jaegers. It was just black anodized aluminum and did the job. But I wanted more. So I found this dew shield from an Explore Scientific AR152, it's 8" OD and 12" long with the included adapter. I had a 3D printed ring made to adapt the dew shield to the original Jaegera lens cell then drilled the appropriate holes to connect it all. I know this isn't the "original" look, but I needed a functionality upgrade and this provides it quite nicely. 

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[RichA]

In the world of long achromats, it’s all relative!

 

The Yerkes refractor is 40” @ F19, (A. Clark and Sons); R = N/D = 0.475

 

The Lick refractor is 36” @ F19, (A.Clark and Sons); R = N/D = 0.528

 

The Lowell (Mars Hill) refractor is 24” @ F16 (A. Clark and Sons); R = N/D = 0.667

 

Jaegers 6” @ F15; R = N/D = 2.5

 

Generic 4” @ F15; R = N/D = 3.75

 

Generic 3” @ F15; R = N/D = 5.00

 

Generic 2.4” @ F15; R = N/D = 6.25

 

Generic 2” @ 15; R = N/D = 7.50

 

Where N is the F-ratio, D is the aperture diameter in inches, and R ~ 1/ chromatic aberation

Yerkes.  Same CA as 100mm f4 achromat.  

[jragsdale]

Yerkes.  Same CA as 100mm f4 achromat.  

I wonder if using just a green filter that blocks red and blue would give sharp and contrasty planetary views on Yerkes? Has anyone here viewed Jupiter or Mars through Yerkes?