81 replies to this topic

[starman876]

The Tak cassegrain I have has good optics.

[CHASLX200]

Never seen a Tak cass in FL.

[Kitfox]

I am curious about the star test of this Cassegrain. What is the optical design? One thing that surprised me from these forums is that Cave Cassegrains have a spotty reputation. In fact I have not heard many great reports of straight classic era Cassegrains unless they were observatory scopes and intensely labored over.

 

-drl

These observatory-class Tinsleys have a pretty good reputation. I have an 8” that I found this summer and have used a fair amount, and should DPAC; it has a very clean star test.  I’m waiting for a good seeing night to really work it. The 12” was an observatory scope at Randolph Macon College outside Richmond since new, I believe. If it proves good, I will start a full modernization (I would not call my plans a restoration). It will have to be good to retain a permanent place in the observatory-it faces some really stiff competition for the space!

Edited by Kitfox, 01 December 2024 - 07:06 PM.

[Kitfox]

As far as design, I believe it is just a straight classical cassegrain; ie a paraboloidal primary and a hyperboloidal secondary.  Focal ratio best I can tell is f/16, but I will confirm that with a plate solve pretty soon. 

[luxo II]

I had to build a hoist for lifting the heavy scopes as well. Here's the ~120lb 10" refractor on the hoist.

Scary.

Edited by luxo II, 01 December 2024 - 08:18 PM.

[starman876]

Never seen a Tak cass in FL.

That does not mean that there are not any.   To be honest the one I have came out of FL

[jragsdale]

Scary.

I swung on it personally at 220lbs, so I'm pretty sure it's plenty strong. And with the block and tackle pully in a 5:1 arrangement, I can lift it myself easily with only about 25lbs of force. I can also tie a weight on the end and it zeros out the weight so I can maneuver it onto the mount with almost zero effort. Not scary if it's well engineered ahead of time!