36 replies to this topic

[deSitter]

Great info, thanks again.

I found the 'deepest one' best inserted lens side first (put in approximate position). Was using an old fishing rod protector tube to reposition!

L. 

I use a baseball bat to move tube baffles

 

-drl

[ccwemyss]

At last! That explains all those dented tubes!

Chip W.

[T1R2]

I use a baseball bat to move tube baffles

 

-drl

I use the SCH80 PVC pipe and a mallet 

[rolo]

None of my TeleVues had any baffles, not necessary and if incorrectly spaced they will block the FOV & effective aperture.

[Oldfracguy]

Sometimes the main tube baffles are right, sometimes they are wrong, usually when you hear of us knocking out baffles its the ones in the drawtube, but we usually go for both to make them perfect. going from .965 to 1.25" accessories, the smaller aperture baffles in the drawtube for the 965 will not allow full illumination of the 1.25 diagonal, sometimes its quite noticeable vignetting.   

I tried moving the single baffle in my 54-year-old Mayflowe 814 60mm f/11.67 achromat to get a little more light through after having converted the visual back to accept either a 1.25" Diagonal or a Baader T2 Prism Diagonal:

 

 

 

Man, was that a mistake!  What I was unaware of was the the baffle was placed far enough forward in the tube to mask the irregularites in the objective.  I decided I would much prefer a sharp, crisp view with a decent star test pattern with effectively a 50mm scope perhaps than a bloated, astigmatic view with the full aperture and the baffle moved farther back in the tube to where my calculations indicate it would pass the full light cone required for a larger 1.25" diagonal.

[deSitter]

I tried moving the single baffle in my 54-year-old Mayflowe 814 60mm f/11.67 achromat to get a little more light through after having converted the visual back to accept either a 1.25" Diagonal or a Baader T2 Prism Diagonal:

 

101_2085.JPG

 

101_2086.JPG

 

Man, was that a mistake!  What I was unaware of was the the baffle was placed far enough forward in the tube to mask the irregularites in the objective.  I decided I would much prefer a sharp, crisp view with a decent star test pattern with effectively a 50mm scope perhaps than a bloated, astigmatic view with the full aperture and the baffle moved farther back in the tube to where my calculations indicate it would pass the full light cone required for a larger 1.25" diagonal.

I would not give up on that. A 50mm objective is small enough that, combined with cell slop, the elements can decenter relative to each other. I have a 50/600mm Towa, Monolux 4348, which at first did not give great performance. I kept shaking the assembly until the lenses settled into the right orientation, then tightened down the retaining ring enough to hold them in place. It can easily do 100x, 50x per inch.

 

-drl

[Oldfracguy]

I use a baseball bat to move tube baffles

 

-drl

I used a narrow wiffle ball bat!

[Princess Leah]

None of my TeleVues had any baffles, not necessary and if incorrectly spaced they will block the FOV & effective aperture.

Would be interesting to see if adding a few temporary baffles would improve this already excellent scope.

[Princess Leah]

I tried moving the single baffle in my 54-year-old Mayflowe 814 60mm f/11.67 achromat to get a little more light through after having converted the visual back to accept either a 1.25" Diagonal or a Baader T2 Prism Diagonal:

 

101_2085.JPG

 

101_2086.JPG

 

Man, was that a mistake!  What I was unaware of was the the baffle was placed far enough forward in the tube to mask the irregularites in the objective.  I decided I would much prefer a sharp, crisp view with a decent star test pattern with effectively a 50mm scope perhaps than a bloated, astigmatic view with the full aperture and the baffle moved farther back in the tube to where my calculations indicate it would pass the full light cone required for a larger 1.25" diagonal.

That Pronto see a lot of use David I tried one recently and was impressed (despite the axis position).

Can you comfortably use it near the zenith and does it come with shorter slow mo controls?

Edited by Princess Leah, 02 September 2024 - 03:59 AM.

[Oldfracguy]

That Pronto see a lot of use David I tried one recently and was impressed (despite the axis position).

Can you comfortably use it near the zenith and does it come with shorter slow mo controls?

You can probably purchase shorter slow motion control handles, or make them yourself.  The shafts that extend outward on either side from the Altitude and Azimuth position control gears are 6 mm in diameter.  I made some a couple years ago for an Explore Scientific Twilight I mount out of threaded rod (5/16" I believe) I bought at a local hardware store and a 5/16" coupling nut.  The existing round plastic knobs from the original long control handles were a perfect fit.  I drilled and tapped a hole near the end of each coupling nut in order to secure it onto the 6 mm shaft.  Of course, there was a little slack, so I wrapped the shaft with a few turns of duct tape to enlage its diameter.  It actually worked quite well:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, with the SW AZ Pronto Alt-Az mount you can position a scope not only directly at the Zenith, but even a bit past it:

 

 

Edited by Oldfracguy, 02 September 2024 - 04:13 PM.

[rolo]

Would be interesting to see if adding a few temporary baffles would improve this already excellent scope.

I'm sure uncle Al has evaluated that possibility already. 

[Princess Leah]

Wouldn't count on that.

 

I'm sure uncle Al has evaluated that possibility already.