I cleaned my equipment...

[absolut]

Hey!

I cleaned all my EP's and my scope which has dust inside it(?) and the world didn't end and I didn't ruin anything!! Quite an achievement for my clumsy self!!

Used a mix of demineralised water, isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds.
Big mistake choosing the homebrand buds though - hairy little buggers!
Thankfully compressed air dealt with any stray fibres!

I'm not sure I'd give my efforts top marks, but everything is vastly cleaner than it was when I started and I call that a win! :lol:

Not sure I'd want to try and clean a newt just yet, but I'm pretty ok with a refractor! /whee

Rob the newbie scope cleaner!

[gavcol]

Hi Rob

Glad to hear all went well :thumbsup:.

I too recently took a chance with my newly acquired SW120 refractor (achromat) and whilst not a very expensive investment at $300 s/hand. It was still enough to scare the bee-geebers out of me.

I took apart the objective, microfocuser and everything else. Put it back together and everything is working fine. Was a relief though :D.

I know what you mean though it was a real sense of achievement. I also did a 6" newtonian primary and secondary mirror last year which I actually found less daunting and a lot easier. It was the objective and its non-collimatable lens that really freaked me out on the refractor.

Great to hear all went well with your adventure too. Clear skies.

Regards

Gav

[erick]

Well done guys - pretty straight forward, isn't it! Watch that compressed air, Rob, for any impurities (oil? dust?) that might get into the stream.

[gavcol]

Thanks Erick

I don't think it seemed straight forward at the time though! :lol:

Laugh about it now though.

Regards

Gav

[absolut]

Too true!

I think Gav's pic of Beaker there summed me up pretty well when I started taking a screwdriver to my scope!... :lol:

The compressed air and alcohol came from Jaycar and they worked extremely well! :thumbsup:

I think I feel better about the routine maintenance side of my scope now. Dying to get it out into the black and see the universe now... less than 2 weeks and counting!! :D

Clean scopes and skies to all!
Rob