22 replies to this topic

[deSitter]

5. Daylite 60/910 - road trip + local buy (see below)

4. Monolux 4380 - road trip, Atlanta to Myrtle Beach. 2nd owner.

2t Sears 6344 - local buy, N. Georgia

2t Sears  6345 - local buy, metro area, west side

1 Meade 127ED - local buy, metro area, east side

 

About the Daylite - I actually bought that locally in Portland, that is to say, I bought it and sent my Portland friend to pick it up, because we planned to meet in Idaho for the eclipse in 2017. So we did, and he brought the scope along with him. So no shipping. The Daylite is identical in performance and form to the Monolux of #4. Apparently it is from 1959. It has the best case I've ever seen on a classic, you can stand on it. It is actually painted, and painted a very durable Goto gloss grey. (The tripod legs are painted in a similar gloss white.) The various pieces go into the case in such a way that rattling around is impossible under normal circumstances. Hmm, maybe this should be #4

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 27 March 2023 - 07:59 PM.

[John Higbee]

1.  1976 C8 Orange Tube (w/ wedge, tripod, and optical test documentation) - Delivered to me June 76 at Naval Operating       Base, Norfolk VA

2.  1979 C14 Orange Tube - road trip to NEAF 2012 (Suffren NY) - sold by a local astronomy club

3.  1979 Cave Model D Transportable  (12.5" Newtonian (f/6)) - Road Trip to Utica, NY - sold by a CN member

4.  6" f/15 Refractor (Spacek Instruments) - Road trip to Bethlehem, PA 

5.  Criterion RV-6 (fully operable) - road trip to Doylestown, PA - Craigslist offering

 

Each one has an "thereby hangs a tail" story!

 

John

[Terra Nova]

https://youtu.be/fR4HjTH_fTM

[CHASLX200]

Well my 1960 made Untiron was thanks to a telescope store owner in ST Pete called Sunwest space systems.  He sold it to me for $300 back in 1986 and it was mint gents. It sat in the boxes all them years and the lens was fogged so sent it to Unitron. It was the M-152. I added the 60mm finder and other stuff.

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[telesonic]

My first "Classic" was a Celestron C-4.5 (Vixen) that a local friend (also astronomer) gifted to me as my first real scope.

 

1. C-4.5 (just the OTA - no mount)

2. Sears Discoverer 80mm f/15 (OTA only) I also got that one from my buddy.

3. C-5 750 Telephoto (purchased on CN classifieds)

4. 1990's Celestron C8 SCT (celestar) Purchased locally from a member here.

5. 1980's Celestron / Vixen C80 refractor. (CN classifieds)

 

I've got one more classic hanging around that needs a bit of rehab, so this list is not in order, nor definitive right now.

 

Cheers!

T

[jragsdale]

5 - Jaegers 6" f/15: I was selling a restored Orange C8 and a local gentleman came to look at it, he asked if I was up for a trade and I asked what he had in mind, he opened up the back of his van to reveal an old neglected long tube refractor. After some research I came to find that it was a 6" f/15 Jaegers, with 3" f/15 Unitron AND a 3" f/5 Jaegers finder, all on a Schaefer AT-7 Mount and a 7 foot tall pier. I gladly accepted that trade! (Restored scope in profile pic).

 

4 - Celestron SP-C102F: I found this fabled classic on an online listing in Reno, NV for an unbelievable $500. The older seller wasn't keen on shipping, but I have a friend in Reno who owns a pizza place there, and he was keen to pick it up for me. The seller wanted to meet INSIDE the local sheriff's office to make sure it was a safe transaction. After my friend took ownership of the scope, I then had to find transport for the scope from Reno to Boise. I polled the local Astro group and a local gentleman volunteered to pick it up; with his private jet! So a week later, it was loaded by hand into a private jet and flown safely to the Boise Airport where I picked it up.

 

3 - Unitron 160: Another online listing for this legendary scope, complete with the mechanical weight drive. Unfortunately it was in the Ozarks in Missouri. I mentioned the conundrum to a friend of mine and he said he would be driving his Tesla from Boise to Little Rock, AR in just a few short weeks and would gladly pick it up. They met at a Tesla supercharger in Missouri and it was in my garage a week later! I'm indebted to this friend for life!

 

2 - Mogey 5" f/14: a Craigslist ad in Montana, this old brass beauty garnered a lot of interest from the ATS crowd, but due to its size, shipping was off the table and the seller wouldn't entertain the idea of dropping it off with a courier service. I posted a rideshare wanted ad in the local Montana Craigslist and found a farmer who happened to be in the area who was coming to Boise soon. I paid the seller electronically and paid the happy farmer $200 for safely transporting this massive alt-az refractor in the back of his truck.

 

1 - 10" f/10 Thompson Twins: In the 90s, the head optician of Kitt Peak won an auction for a pair of 1970s 10" f/10 refractors made by Thompson Optical in Los Angeles for the military. He gave one to his step son and kept the other. 20 years later, he passes and the step son inherits the other one, so now he has both. Around 2017 he lists one here on CN and it goes to Utah. A tragic accident causes a chip in the lens of that scope and subsequent other permanent modifications to the scope render it to a lower value and it's sold for bottom dollar here on CN. I had a local astronomy acquaintance who happened to be driving through Utah pick the scope up for me. After I have the scope in hand, I get the notion to find a replacement lens for it. I find all past owners on CN who have mentioned this scope and contact them all to inquire if they have a lens they would sell. I get a reply from the original owner of this damaged scope and he still owns the other. He says that my timing is impeccable and he would sell me the other one that is pristine and original. He conveniently drives from WI to AZ annually and we make a plan to meet up in Utah. So both the scopes purchased by the optician at Kitt Peak ended up being owned by the same person twice now. Separated twice and reunited twice. Both to be sold in Utah but now both residing in Idaho.

[CHASLX200]

Found a very old Edmund 8" F/8 in 1988 at a boat yard.  I forget how i found out about it.  Mount sat outside and the OTA was on the sailboat.  I redid the whole OTA with real Sonotube that was like 12ft long and thicker than the junk they sell today.  Made a OTA and used the other half for a pier.  Later on i used a Optic craft mount,  But that 1.5" Edmund mount was smooth as silk.

 

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[oldmanastro]

From top to bottom:

 

1. Sears 76mm f/16 Model 6336 : This one came all the way from Connecticut in 2020 and instantly became the jewel among my classics. It also completed the small four telescope collection that comprises what Sears was offering for sale back in 65. I had wanted this one like forever. The whole kit arrived by USPS in two days and two boxes. A superb packing job avoided any mishaps. This particular model was offered by Sears only in 64 and 65. It is the top one the photo.

 

2. Sears 76mm f/16 Model 2535 : I received this telescope as a surprise birthday gift back in 1967. One day in January 67 my mother told me that she wanted me to accompany her to the Sears store after school. I liked the Sears store, who didn't, and happily complied. There we picked up this long cardboard box, got into a taxi and returned home. By that time I already suspected what was in the box. Finally I opened the box cardboard box in the family room to find a neat wood box inside with the label indicating that this was the 76mm Sears Equatorial.  I was flabbergasted because this was unexpected. Since then the telescope was with me, then departed in 76 to a friend of mine and returned in 1996 never to leave again. It's the teal color one just below the 6336.

 

3. Sears 60mm f/15 Model 6305 : About 20 years ago I saw this one in eBay and went for it. Shipping costs were reasonable then and the telescope got almost no bidders even though the price was very low. The kit arrived in one piece inside the wooden case. It was complete. The optics were ok and later on I picked up an original clock drive for it. When I got this one I realized that three of the Sears refractors offered in their 64 and 65 catalogs were in my possession. I just needed the 6336 to complete the group. Wishful thinking 20 years ago.

 

4. Sears 60mm Model 2620 : This is the 60mm f/11 standard altazimuth refractor that I got for Christmas of 1965 but received in January 1966. It is my first telescope and I never thought that it would become part of a classic collection. The telescope was not in time for Christmas. This time it was my father who picked this one up in January and brought it home in its nice cardboard box. The telescope started me in this great hobby 58 years ago. Recently it underwent an overhaul and still gets used. 

 

5. Criterion RV-6 Dynascope- When this telescope was being offered at about $195.00 I was already in college and couldn't get one. In 1994 a friend of mine gave me an RV6 OTA and over time, as he found them, gave me the mount and rings. Finally I had the complete RV6. The mirrors were sent for a Beral coating and returned looking like new. The optical performance was superb and I have used it all these years. In 2021 I had the mirrors recoated by Alcoat and repainted the phenolic tube and mount. I also placed casters on the pedestal legs that make it very easy to move the mount. It is a fine scope.

 

These are my top five classics. You may ask what is it about 1965 that makes it so important to me. It was the year I got interested in astronomy and looked for the first time and many times afterwards at the Sears telescopes in their Fall-Winter catalog. Sears and a photoshop were the only telescope sellers here at that time. The photo shop offered Tasco scopes, the white ones.

 

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[tim53]

5.  Watkins and Smith gregorian, circa early 1763-1774.  This scope is just a display piece at the moment.  It's missing the original secondary (has some silly second-surface vanity mirror in its place).  But the primary DPAC'd as surprisingly good, with a turned edge, from a time before even Foucault testing.  This would be higher on my list, of course, if it were a functional telescope.  I'd like to get it functional one of these days, requiring locating or making a new secondary for it. (Yes, that's an ivory focus knob).

 

 

4. Early 90s Intes MK63.  This a complete scope, with fork mount and guidescope.  It's just about grab and go, though the surveyor's tripod is a bit of a fiddle job to move around with the scope mounted on it.  When I first got it, the views were rather disappointing, so I DPAC'd it and found the primary had a huge low out past the 50% zone from the center hole, and a turned edge.  So, with help from DAVIDG, I refigured it so now the complete system is 1/10th wave (qualitative assessment from DPAC).  The scope has a really nifty camera adapter with a built-in helical focusing mechanism.  If it weren't for the fact that I'd have to guide manually, I would have tried astrophotography with this puppy by now.

 

 

3.  Televue 102mm Renaissance.  Picked this scope up with the altaz TV tripod at the last RTMC swap meet, and subsequently added an original GEM with dual axis drives.  It's so purdy on the altaz mount, but so far I've used it most piggybacked on my C925 for astrophotography, which it excels at.

 

 

2.  1980 tricolor C-8, #135 "Tinky."  I found this scope on ebay back east somewhere.  I may have paid the BIN price on it, can't remember at the moment.  It was shipped in a thin cardboard box with nothing but peanuts cradling it (and not effectively at all).  The UPS delivery guy was kind enough to wait while I opened the box and inspected it.  Thankfully, no damage.  I restored the paint scheme by using automotive paints mixed to match a color chart from Nextel, by my paint guy locally.  I then overcoated the parts with Alsacorp's "soft feel" clear coat, which give the scope the velvetone feel of the original without the likelihood of turning to snot like the original paint always did.  Tinky has the best optics of any SCT I've ever owned.  I am keeping it to the last (though it's so purdy I am kind of afraid to use it!).  

 

 

1.  My 1981 8" f/6 Springfield Newtonian.  I built this scope myself, mostly out of aluminum flat stock I picked up at Wright Hardware in Newport Beach in 1979, and with a 9-sided Indian Rosewood plywood tube.  Initially, I "machined" the mount parts with a band saw and mill file, though the latitude adjusting surfaces I made by rough-cutting a 6" circle on the band saw, mounting it on a bench grinder in place of a wheel, and turning it with a wood lathe chisel.  I then cut the disk in half for both sides of the mount.  It won a Merit Award at the 1981 RTMC for "Design Application".  I will probably donate it to the Hartness House museum when I can't use it anymore, if they have room (they've got a lot of Springfields in there already, including the 12" f/8 I dropped off in 2007)

[Terra Nova]

Well this is actually an easy question for me now. After many different older telescopes of all types (refractors, reflectors, and compound telescopes), I now only have five classic and soon to be classics so they are obviously my top five. Here they are along with where they came from:
My TeleVue Genesis SDF came from a CN member.
My Vixen ED102SS came from a CN member.

My Takahashi FC-76 came from a CN member, (Thanks again Dave Trott!)
My TeleVue Pronto came from a CN member.

My trusty Mayflower 60mm model 814 (APL) came from my parents. I’ve had it since1965 when I got it new as a birthday gift. It’s never failed me and has shown me and several friends and family members many wonderful things over these many years.

[deSitter]

Here are my two #2s (it's a tie) which shows you just how big the 6345 is. The 6344 is f/16 so it's as long as an RV-6. Both of these were local.

 

-drl

 

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[deSitter]

From top to bottom:

 

1. Sears 76mm f/16 Model 6336 : This one came all the way from Connecticut in 2020 and instantly became the jewel among my classics. It also completed the small four telescope collection that comprises what Sears was offering for sale back in 65. I had wanted this one like forever. The whole kit arrived by USPS in two days and two boxes. A superb packing job avoided any mishaps. This particular model was offered by Sears only in 64 and 65. It is the top one the photo.

 

2. Sears 76mm f/16 Model 2535 : I received this telescope as a surprise birthday gift back in 1967. One day in January 67 my mother told me that she wanted me to accompany her to the Sears store after school. I liked the Sears store, who didn't, and happily complied. There we picked up this long cardboard box, got into a taxi and returned home. By that time I already suspected what was in the box. Finally I opened the box cardboard box in the family room to find a neat wood box inside with the label indicating that this was the 76mm Sears Equatorial.  I was flabbergasted because this was unexpected. Since then the telescope was with me, then departed in 76 to a friend of mine and returned in 1996 never to leave again. It's the teal color one just below the 6336.

 

3. Sears 60mm f/15 Model 6305 : About 20 years ago I saw this one in eBay and went for it. Shipping costs were reasonable then and the telescope got almost no bidders even though the price was very low. The kit arrived in one piece inside the wooden case. It was complete. The optics were ok and later on I picked up an original clock drive for it. When I got this one I realized that three of the Sears refractors offered in their 64 and 65 catalogs were in my possession. I just needed the 6336 to complete the group. Wishful thinking 20 years ago.

 

4. Sears 60mm Model 2620 : This is the 60mm f/11 standard altazimuth refractor that I got for Christmas of 1965 but received in January 1966. It is my first telescope and I never thought that it would become part of a classic collection. The telescope was not in time for Christmas. This time it was my father who picked this one up in January and brought it home in its nice cardboard box. The telescope started me in this great hobby 58 years ago. Recently it underwent an overhaul and still gets used. 

 

5. Criterion RV-6 Dynascope- When this telescope was being offered at about $195.00 I was already in college and couldn't get one. In 1994 a friend of mine gave me an RV6 OTA and over time, as he found them, gave me the mount and rings. Finally I had the complete RV6. The mirrors were sent for a Beral coating and returned looking like new. The optical performance was superb and I have used it all these years. In 2021 I had the mirrors recoated by Alcoat and repainted the phenolic tube and mount. I also placed casters on the pedestal legs that make it very easy to move the mount. It is a fine scope.

 

These are my top five classics. You may ask what is it about 1965 that makes it so important to me. It was the year I got interested in astronomy and looked for the first time and many times afterwards at the Sears telescopes in their Fall-Winter catalog. Sears and a photoshop were the only telescope sellers here at that time. The photo shop offered Tasco scopes, the white ones.

That's a nice crew! They are sharp and in step!

 

-drl

[Eric P]

1. ‘68 Questar 3.5 : AM
2. Celestron Schmidt Camera 8 Epoch : NEAF
3. JSO Schmidt Camera NTP-160 : eBay
4. Takahashi FC-76 : Northern NJ pickup at an astro club
5. Takahashi Epsilon 160 : CN

[deSitter]

 

1. ‘68 Questar 3.5 : AM
2. Celestron Schmidt Camera 8 Epoch : NEAF
3. JSO Schmidt Camera NTP-160 : eBay
4. Takahashi FC-76 : Northern NJ pickup at an astro club
5. Takahashi Epsilon 160 : CN

 

Extra credit for short and to the point!

 

-drl

[ErnH2O]

5. Yet to be acquired

4. 76mm RAO on SGW

3. 76mm RAO on SGW

2. 50 mm Mirador IPA fueled bid on SGW. The story is here, somewhere....How to drink and bid. 

1. Sears 6345 dumpster find. My first post here. The reason I found you all.

[CHASLX200]

Here was a home made job i got for $300 back in 1981 It was a 10" F/9.6. I loved ladder scopes.

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[CHASLX200]

My first 826 a few years back on a AP800. This is now Bomber Bob's scope.

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[oldmanastro]

Here are my two #2s (it's a tie) which shows you just how big the 6345 is. The 6344 is f/16 so it's as long as an RV-6. Both of these were local.

 

-drl

That 6345 is impressive. Looking at it besides the 6344 makes me appreciate it's size much better.

Edited by oldmanastro, 30 March 2023 - 11:06 PM.

[oldmanastro]

My first 826 a few years back on a AP800. This is now Bomber Bob's scope.

I bought a new 826 back in 1981. It was kept in a backyard metal shed with removable roof. Unfortunately it was used very sparingly and I ended up selling it in 1986 without having the time to really appreciate it. This is a sale that I will regret forever. A few years ago I teased the guy I sold it to about selling it back to me. His answer, "it will go with me to the grave'" . That's how much he likes the scope.

Edited by oldmanastro, 30 March 2023 - 11:05 PM.

[ccwemyss]

Scopes I consider mine:

 

AP6": I knew the AP folks from working in the scope shop, and as soon as it was announced, I placed an order, in 1984. Delivered January 1985.

Pentax 85: From an AM seller who bought it from Dave Trott (who made a video about it).

Questar 3.5: Purchased via a Starry Messenger ad from an educator in Vermont, who got it for school outreach, but was afraid to let kids used it, and wanted to get enough money from it to buy a bunch of Astroscans. Irony is that I use it mostly for school outreach, and I don't worry about it.

C14: From an AM ad, a short road trip to meet a 2nd owner seller from RI. It had been de-forked and given a carbon tube by the original owner, and the seller mentioned that he was also sending his Celestron mount back because it wasn't pointing accurately. It took me a while to figure out that the primary wasn't glued down, and flopping almost a degree on meridian flip, which explained a lot. 

Edmund 4" f15: An AM purchase. OTA came in a large wood box with all the standard accessories in close to pristine collection. Then, a few months later, I found the matching Edmund mount and tripod at Stellafane, also like-new, just as the swap tables were closing.

 

Of the loaner scopes (I realized as I was listing them that they are all favorites because of getting to meet the prior owner):

 

HOC Selsi 247 (my first classic), bought from a CL ad by a gentleman named Hank, who bought it as a high school student in 1961 in Pittsburgh.

Tasco 10TE-5 from Dionigi, delivered to me at NEAF, by his girlfriend, just days before he passed away. No box with it, but days later a partial 15TE with a box turned up locally on CL. I gave the scope to a student to restore, and restored the box to put Dionigi's scope in. 

Unitron 140 OTA from a road trip where I met Johann in Maryland, and the mount came from Dave Trott. 

RV6 from a local CL ad by a gentleman named Carl, who bought it as a kid in Illinois in 1975 and moved it all over the country. 

HOC ATCO 1254 80mm f15 from Neil. Optically best of all the loaners. 

 

In reading this over, I'm struck by how lucky and fortunate I've been in getting these. 

 

Chip W. 

[CHASLX200]

I bought a new 826 back in 1981. It was kept in a backyard metal shed with removable roof. Unfortunately it was used very sparingly and I ended up selling it in 1986 without having the time to really appreciate it. This is a sale that I will regret forever. A few years ago I teased the guy I sold it to about selling it back to me. His answer, "it will go with me to the grave'" . That's how much he likes the scope.

I got another shot at a 826 for cheap and jumped.  This one is also dead sharp.

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[mfalls]

Well this is actually an easy question for me now. After many different older telescopes of all types (refractors, reflectors, and compound telescopes), I now only have five classic and soon to be classics so they are obviously my top five. Here they are along with where they came from:
My TeleVue Genesis SDF came from a CN member.
My Vixen ED102SS came from a CN member.

My Takahashi FC-76 came from a CN member, (Thanks again Dave Trott!)
My TeleVue Pronto came from a CN member.

My trusty Mayflower 60mm model 814 (APL) came from my parents. I’ve had it since1965 when I got it new as a birthday gift. It’s never failed me and has shown me and several friends and family members many wonderful things over these many years.

All from CN members or CN ads posts. Mayflower 814 and Jupiter Asahi 60mm, 3 inch Edmund f/6 reflector, 3 inch and 4 inch f/15 Edmund refractors. A bunch of classic mounts/pedestals. Oh yeah a few Criterion Dynamax 8's and one 6.

[Orion68]

1. Orange tube C8 was an eBy purchase many years ago and my first mirrored telescope

2. Stellarvue AT1010 was an AM purchase. When it arrived the focuser shaft was badly bent during shipping

3. 60mm Orbit Scope was in the attic of a house that I bought in the 70's

4. 60mm Jason "Constellation" was a recent Goodwi?? purchase for $12.99

5. 60mm Selsi is almost completely plastic, but optics are very nice. It was an eBy purchase

 

Edited by Orion68, 01 April 2023 - 02:29 PM.