Moving on an old Saxon 8” Newtonian and EQ5 motorized mount that would be a good tracking visual scope. It’s old (not sure how old as I bought it second hand) and the scope tube and mount head show wear (see pics). I has a threaded bolt attaching the mirror cell to the tube but this won’t hamper the performance (nothing loose). The mount could do with pulling apart and re-greasing, and some minor repairs to the RA motor housing. Despite this it does work! It does come with a few extras.
1. A dual speed focuser has been added (not entirely sure what brand but Taiwanese made - JMI related perhaps?) which allows the scope to be brought to focus with a camera. I also have the original rack and pinion focuser.
2. A dew heater is attached to the secondary mirror (need the Kendrick controller or similar to operate it)
3. Has a Telrad and a choice of finderscope, either the straight through or RACI. The Telrad has some corrosion in the battery box but still works (see pic).
4. Has Bob’s Knobs added to the primary and secondary for easy collimation. I removed the base plate to make this work (also included) and mocked up my own to avoid excess light getting into the back of the tube.
5. I will include the adapters that allow it to be used visually (as in the pictures). Also happy to add a Plossl 10mm eyepiece or 25mm eyepiece if you need it.
6. Has an extra tube ring and wooden ring that help rotate it around when using visually. Not the greatest system but could be made better. Also an extra dovetail was added to the top of the scope for stability.
7. EQ5 Mount is motorized so will track. I wouldn’t recommend it for long exposure astrophotography (won’t be accurate enough) but can keep objects in the field of view once you have manually slewed to the object (it is NOT a go-to mount).
8. Mount comes with 2 counter weights which balance the 8” Newt perfectly
9. Steel Tripod is in excellent condition and provides good stability.
10. Has a newish hand controller for the motors and comes with the correct 6V battery and 6V charger to run it all.
After around $450 all up. Only want to sell this to someone who can come and collect it from Moorooka (4105) in Brisbane. I won’t ship it. Happy to seperate too: Scope $280, Mount $170. Cheers and thanks for looking :-)
Good afternoon Benjamin. Can I take pictures of galaxies and asteroids and planets with this telescope? Will you teach me to use it? Can I learn to do space photos very quickly?
Good afternoon Benjamin. Can I take pictures of galaxies and asteroids and planets with this telescope? Will you teach me to use it? Can I learn to do space photos very quickly?
I don’t know the exact measurement but it comes to focus with an image train with a back focus of 55mm. This is with a Skywatcher f5 Coma Corrector and the focuser racked out a little way. Visually the way it is set up in the pictures works. With the original focuser I could move the mirror sufficiently up the tube to just allow enough room for focus with the same 55mm back focus. Hope that helps.
