55 replies to this topic

[Cavs56]

1958_Cave_10-inch_F8.jpeg

 

1958 Cave 10-inch F8.  It needs some TLC, but is great for the Moon and planets as long as the wind is not blowing.

Beautiful picture of your telescope. I am very envious of where you live. Mountains and the moon in the background stunning.

[rwiederrich]

That's incredible! What is the mount on that beast?

It is a 3" shaft mount, originally made by Jim Schwartz.  I heavily modified it for my GEM application for this scope and pier.  It has 12" setting circles, and can easily hold 500+ lbs

 

I built the drive made up of 12" ring gears and a differential drive that can run the clock and also the slow motion controls.

 

Rob

Edited by rwiederrich, 31 October 2024 - 11:48 AM.

[John Rogers]

Beautiful picture of your telescope. I am very envious of where you live. Mountains and the moon in the background stunning.

Thanks!  I am very fortunate and grateful to have such a great observing location.

[Buckaroo2]

The biggest scope  I have to show is my ole 10"f/15.  The objective was built in the early 70's by Jim Schwartz an MIT professor.  Great views.

Hey Rob, Nice scope!

[mikey cee]

Here is my old Istar 10"  f /11 R35 with it's 6" f/8 Jaegers used as a 38x wide 2° field 'finder'. Been using it on Saturn lately in marginal seeing waiting eagerly for Jupiter to rise before it  gets too cold.

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Edited by mikey cee, 01 November 2024 - 03:45 AM.

[bobhen]

Started this topic to not derail the Observing thread.  Dawned on me last night while using my 1970s Jaegers 6" F5 RFT:

 

Jaegers 6 FS BS P02 - Kenko SE120 Duo SV AZ (FL TP).jpg

 

Serious Question:  Is it worth the effort for City Dwellers to observe DSOs with these Big Old Scopes?  

For city dwellers or for folks dealing with any kind of bothersome light pollution, adding an image intensifier will be a game-changer. An intensifier will change your perspective on the Milky Way and what's in it.

 

That 6" F5 Jaegers RFT would be a perfect match for an intensifier. So would many of the large Newtonians in this thread.

 

Bob

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[rwiederrich]

Here is my old Istar 10"  f /11 R35 with it's 6" f/8 Jaegers used as a 38x wide 2° field 'finder'. Been using it on Saturn lately in marginal seeing waiting eagerly for Jupiter to rise before it  gets too cold. IMG_5693.JPG

Hey Mike...didn't you move that scope, when you moved?  How have you been?   Good to hear from you.

 

Rob

[jragsdale]

For city dwellers or for folks dealing with any kind of bothersome light pollution, adding an image intensifier will be a game-changer. An intensifier will change your perspective on the Milky Way and what's in it.

 

That 6" F5 Jaegers RFT would be a perfect match for an intensifier. So would many of the large Newtonians in this thread.

1,000,000% agree. I'd rather have a 6" scope + NV in Bortle 9 than a 12" scope w/o NV in Bortle 1. Gamechanger for visual astronomy.

[mikey cee]

Yeas Rob the scope has been up and running most of this year in it's new home. Still have lots of little 'loose' ties that need to be addressed. What have you done with your set up? Are these newer pics or not?   Mike

[rwiederrich]

Yeas Rob the scope has been up and running most of this year in it's new home. Still have lots of little 'loose' ties that need to be addressed. What have you done with your set up? Are these newer pics or not?   Mike

Any pics of your setups new home?    The big boy has been in storage, but I've used my 6"f/15 and my 7" Mak all the time.  I'm looking into some land, that I can build a new OB on, for all my scopes.

This is an older pic.  I still own the 10"f/15.

 

Good to hear from you Mike.......

 

Rob

[Terra Nova]

I can’t say that I have ever missed my 6” F5 refractor, either in my previous urban location, or in rural dark sky outings. I really preferred my 6” F4.5 Newtonian in every way. Even with the modern XLT coatings, the refractor had ‘you’ll shoot yer eye out kid’ CA while my Newt was essentially an apo. And in my urban back yard, two miles from downtown Cincinnati, it provided wonderful views of Comet Panstars, as well as a number of other comets over the years. It’s the one scope that I really do miss, however it would have been completely impractical now in my condo.

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[Terra Nova]

The only big scopes I have left are the classic celestron orange SCT's. Have a C14 and a C8.  and the Quantum 8 and the   10" meade starfinder.  have always joyed using them.     sold all the other big scopes.    

You sold the Portaball!? I thought you said that was one you’d never let it go?

[Terra Nova]

For city dwellers or for folks dealing with any kind of bothersome light pollution, adding an image intensifier will be a game-changer. An intensifier will change your perspective on the Milky Way and what's in it.

 

Bob

‘For city dwellers or for folks dealing with any kind of bothersome light pollution’ adding a SeeStar 50 to your group is a game changer at 1/9 the cost of NV.

[Kasmos]

You sold the Portaball!? I thought you said that was one you’d never let it go?

How many times have we heard that?  

[Exnihilo]

Several "Big Ol Classic Scopes" in the use pool:

 

Cave 12.5" Newtonian Reflector:

79 Cave Model D Transportable.jpg

 

C14 Orange Tube in the original fork mount:

C14 Jun 22.jpg

Gorgeous.

[Terra Nova]

How many times have we heard that?  

Well I know you’ve heard it from me more than once! Oh well,

[Serenity Now]

I've posted pics of my retirement scope, in appropriate threads, a couple of times this year.

 

After an extended hiatus, I finally reactivated my 2009 BYO-built Retirement Observatory late last winter for Observatory repair and interior finishing, 90's-era AP mount rejuvenation and D&G 8" f/12 (custom modified by the previous owner) refractor telescope optic professional cleaning. I used the scope for the observing the recent 2024 solar eclipse. Ducks are all in a row with the facility and instrument work; mount shipping and wall priming & painting occurs over this winter.

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Edited by Serenity Now, 06 November 2024 - 03:28 PM.

[chuckscap]

Yikes!  Compared to some of these refractors my exquisite Orange C14 looks like a C5 lol   When I say exquisite I'm comparing it to a Mewlon 250 I owned and a TEC Mak 7 both were fabuolus.  The C14 is better

 

[Bonco2]

I have down seized but I really miss my 10 inch Custom Deluxe Cave.  It was a big mistake to sell it.   Bonco 2

[deSitter]

Yikes!  Compared to some of these refractors my exquisite Orange C14 looks like a C5 lol   When I say exquisite I'm comparing it to a Mewlon 250 I owned and a TEC Mak 7 both were fabuolus.  The C14 is better

 

 

That is a definite Hoss Hat's off to Hoss!

 

-drl
 

[mikey cee]

Well here I am still at it even tho' I'm handicapped with my legs not working anymore. Have a 12 " lift chair to reach the bino viewers on the 10" F/11 Istar and observe most objects at a -30° Dec. Only main obstacle now is getting two other observers here this Spring to help get the 6" Jaegers matched to my 10" so they are aligned spot on. I've already enjoyed great views of Saturn and Jupiter this winter with nice black skies around them thanks to my "lucky stars" and a wonderful Aries Chromacor!!   Mike

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[ErnH2O]

Well here I am still at it even tho' I'm handicapped with my legs not working anymore. Have a 12 " lift chair to reach the bino viewers on the 10" F/11 Istar and observe most objects at a -30° Dec. Only main obstacle now is getting two other observers here this Spring to help get the 6" Jaegers matched to my 10" so they are aligned spot on. I've already enjoyed great views of Saturn and Jupiter this winter with nice black skies around them thanks to my "lucky stars" and a wonderful Aries Chromacor!!   Mike

I work at a veterans care center. These modern wheel chairs are marvels of engineering.

[Dave Cook]

I gotta say that's a pretty righteous looking C14 on the AP mount and porta-pier. Fork-free and fabulous!  Sadly I don't have anything that you'd call a big ol' classic but if a 10-12.5 Cave f/6 with a good mirror came my way it would be hard to resist...even though I'd need Hermione's bag to store it.  But those are scarce now, seriously thinking about building a Cave-style 12.5 f/4 OTA complete with rotating rings.

[Augustus]

I still use a fully stock C11 orange tube on the forks and a Coulter 13.1" blue tube which I've added a 2" focuser and lighter ground board to but is otherwise unchanged. Both are excellent optically

[tag1260]

Not sure if this qualifies as classic but here's my D&G 6"  f/12 on my home made Berry mount

 

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