118 replies to this topic

[andylsun]

Here we go. First light

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[deSitter]

Here we go. First light

What a beauty! It reminds me of the beautiful Bushnell Sky Chief. Not many scopes with a blue theme. The Brandon 90mm is more on the blue side of teal. The Sears et al. scopes are even teal-er.

 

-drl

[andylsun]

Got Saturn through a gap in the trees!

 

hard to make any judgments on image quality but it seemed brighter than my 8”. The thing is hard to steer and the DEC slow motion wasn’t working for unknown reason. Will try the moon later.

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[andylsun]

Fun first night first light.

forgot to undo the RA lock so didn’t have motor drive for the first hour. This was also part of the issues with steering. Better once unlocked. Move and let the drive kick in.

Spent some time on Saturn again with the motor drive working and it was very stable. Tried the moon but it was very bright. No false colour that I could see.

one of the first things I would want to change are the castors. Fine on smooth concrete but not a driveway.

I have built a cedar e-finder and will try that next time.

Edit: tube rotation rings are a bit sticky. Also surprised how essential they are at this scope size.

Edited by andylsun, 17 October 2024 - 09:52 PM.

[andylsun]

I noticed last night that one of the eyepieces was right at the end of the inwards focuser travel. The focusser rack and pinion is hitting the tube. So I could flip it 180 and see if that gives me clearance or try to move it over a few mm.

It doesn’t look like it’s been moved for many many years.

The 1989 catalogue mentions a 2” eyepiece adapter for this focuser. Does anyone have a picture of one?

 

edit: looks like the end of the focuser draw tube is M54x0.75 which seems more standard than I expected. Though it’s not a Parks built focuser as it’s made in Japan.

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Edited by andylsun, 19 October 2024 - 11:40 AM.

[andylsun]

Flipped the focuser 180 and it clears the hole now. I guess someone had it apart and put it on backwards.

There’s also pencil marks on the outside of the tube, looks like a template for the finder rings. Was this a bit of an ‘assemble it yourself’ when new?

[deSitter]

Flipped the focuser 180 and it clears the hole now. I guess someone had it apart and put it on backwards.

There’s also pencil marks on the outside of the tube, looks like a template for the finder rings. Was this a bit of an ‘assemble it yourself’ when new?

Tim (tim53) used to make them for Cave - or was it Meade? Anyway he knows how it happened.

 

-drl

[andylsun]

Played around with it tonight. Was a bit too windy, but clear.

 

tried some prime focus imaging with a sv305. Pixels way too small and got nothing worthwhile imaging wise, BUT I figured out the prime focus location and I think a DSLR will reach focus without having to move the mirror. Something with huge pixels like a Canon 5D (original) should be good.

 

Had a nice browse around Cassiopeia with an eyepiece (20mm).

 

installed the cedar e-finder in the existing finder ring and that works well. 
 

I also tried a smartphone holder on the eyepiece.

Edited by andylsun, 01 November 2024 - 08:12 PM.

[photoracer18]

That looks like the model of focuser Telescopics sold during that era. Much different than the Sky Micro Giant all the big Cave's came with. I have a big Cave 12.5" Convertible Cass/Newt from the early 60's awaiting restoration or a restomod. Has an OC mirror with Dick Brandt's name on the back. Mine also has alternate mirror cell mounting holes. Also has a sliding plate under the Newt focuser as some kind of ATM mod, plus thermal heaters below the mirror cell for dew control.

[andylsun]

That looks like the model of focuser Telescopics sold during that era. Much different than the Sky Micro Giant all the big Cave's came with. I have a big Cave 12.5" Convertible Cass/Newt from the early 60's awaiting restoration or a restomod. Has an OC mirror with Dick Brandt's name on the back. Mine also has alternate mirror cell mounting holes. Also has a sliding plate under the Newt focuser as some kind of ATM mod, plus thermal heaters below the mirror cell for dew control.

I think someone determined it’s a vixen. There was a thread on it recently.

 

https://www.cloudyni.../#entry13753632

[andylsun]

I finally managed to test some imaging with a Canon mirrorless DSLR. A regular DSLR can’t reach prime focus without moving the mirror up the tube, but the mirrorless can! I got some terrible pics of Jupiter as I was figuring out the camera WiFi app.

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Edited by andylsun, 17 December 2024 - 10:12 PM.

[bjkaras]

The catalogue is here

 

https://wiki.telesco...985_Catalog.pdf

 

and it does appear to be close to the one listed on page 8 (Model 55715). Mine is f6.

 

Except mine is Blue. I can't find another picture of a blue one online.

Mine is also blue, and is f/5. I bought it in 1986. The only mods I made to it were to swap out the 8x50 Finder with a Lumicon Superfinder and add a dual axis drive corrector.

[bjkaras]

Yesterday I was looking thru some S&Ts from the mid to late '90s and noticed Parks was still advertising them but they were no longer on gray and blue mounts (black) by '93. I wasn't really concentrating on Parks ads so I didn't check to see any magazines past that, but I believe they were still selling them (trying), right up to their end, whenever that was?

I remember going into the San Diego Scope City in 95 or 96 and they had a 10” Superior in the showroom. I went there asking if they sold components for the 1.5” mounts and they told me they didn’t. But apparently they were still selling the scopes, or at least they were trying to. It would be nice to know what happened with their inventory when they shut down.

[bjkaras]

I 

Should be perfect.

 

will 3d print prototype mounts and use jubilee clamps with a inside lining to test it all out. Don’t want to drill into the mount itself.

I will be interested in how this works out, because I was planning to do something similar.

[andylsun]

I
I will be interested in how this works out, because I was planning to do something similar.

I’ve not done it yet. The gap between the RA shaft and the pier is much less than I expected at 42N. I’m not sure even the small turnbuckle will fit. Will try it soon.

[bjkaras]

I’ve not done it yet. The gap between the RA shaft and the pier is much less than I expected at 42N. I’m not sure even the small turnbuckle will fit. Will try it soon.

I’m at 36N so it might be a little better. I think I’ll make some measurements.

[andylsun]

This is set to 42N. I hadn’t really considered that this was close to the limit north latitude wise but I guess it makes sense. Not like these will get used in Northern Europe or the UK. No way to set it to >50N.

 

perhaps I can put a long turnbuckle on the other side of the pier.

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[deSitter]

This is set to 42N. I hadn’t really considered that this was close to the limit north latitude wise but I guess it makes sense. Not like these will get used in Northern Europe or the UK. No way to set it to >50N.

 

perhaps I can put a long turnbuckle on the other side of the pier.

I'm pretty sure you can rotate the clock drive housing to get more clearance.

 

Aside - my 6345 doesn't have that option, and the clock drive is in front, which limits the LOWEST altitude available - and I'm right at it! That is, there is a couple of mm clearance with the tripod hub. The scope was designed in Japan for the Japanese apparently Their lowest latitude is right at the lowest altitude setting of the mount! That can't be a coincidence. The same mount is also seen on other scopes by Astro Optical so they may have overlooked the flaw. You could not use my mount in Miami without taking measures like adding a spacer between the altitude yoke and the tripod hub.

 

-drl

[andylsun]

I thought about that but if you rotate the clock drive it will bang into the OTA. There are 3 screw holes from the clock drive front plate into the end of the RA housing so it could be rotated 120 degrees. That might clear the OTA