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Old 31-01-2011, 10:24 AM
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PRejto (Peter)
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Rylstone, NSW, Australia
Posts: 1,397
5" Refractor on Cave Mount

Here is a telescope I started assembling in Los Angeles in the 1960s....5 years ago I dragged it to Sydney and started a big job on rebuilding. The first problem was how to get the polar axis turning the "correct" way. I can post photos of the mod if anyone is interested. The mount is a beast...very heavy and not very steady, but the scope weighs around 50 lbs. To head of any possible excitement, no, it's not an original Cave refractor. It's got a great 5" F15 lens though, and I built the tube and baffles. The upgrades includes a Moonlite electronic focuser and a dovetail mounting system. The original configuration of the mount would not allow for any tube rotation. (That's not actually true - from the photo you can see some straps around the tube...they were so weak that Cave replaced them and just bolted the scope right onto the mount!) I also scratch built the drive corrector - old technology, the RA drive motor is a 60hz synchronous motor so just running it in Australia with a step down transformer was not an option. I can post more details if anyone interested. The "Santa Barbara" photo shows the original version of the mount and scope...
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