1950's Unitron 4" F15 Photo-Equatorial refractor C/W Clockwork RA Drive

[Star Hunter]

This item has since been sold.

[allan gould]

Can you please post images?

[Wavytone]

It would help if you could say exactly which Unitron model it is.

Also need to see some photos showing what condition the various parts are in, then I might consider driving up to see it first hand, if that possible.

What state is the Unihex in, and are the Unitron eyepieces included ? Original boxes ? Is the tripod original ?

[UniPol]

I contacted James and he sent me photos of the Unitron setup very promptly. He did mention in his post that he would provide photos to people who were seriously interested. I am sure James would be only too happy to provide any information about his Unitron outfit. As a matter of interest the 4" F15 photo-equatorial refractor was designated as the model 132E in Australia.

[Wavytone]

Is it Model 132E as per this ? http://geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/classics/unitron/PolarexUnitronEng.Max.Hi-Q.pdf

[Star Hunter]

Yes, it's a 132E 4" F15 model.

Wish I could get the double EP holder and two-way finderscope and astro camera!

[Nikolas]

Would really love to see pics.

[UniPol]

Do you mean the Astro camera or the Astrographic camera James? The Astro camera was commonly called a sun and moon camera because it was more suited to to this type of imaging and was a relatively common item particularly in the States. The Astrographic camera on the other hand was suited to wide field imaging (at least back when) and not the least bit common and are very hard to obtain. The double eyepiece holder or Deutron as the americans like to call them weren't so common in Australia and are only useful on the moon and planets or bright stars. The rear diagonal lost a huge amount of light after it went through the first prism.


I've added some scans from my Polarex catalogues to show the 132E model scope and the accessories mentioned. I submitted scans of some of my Polarex/Unitron catalogues on "Classic Telescopes" geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/classics some while ago.

[Star Hunter]

Allan,

Please send me your email address and I will send you some pics.

You are just 2-3 hours drive from me.

James

[Star Hunter]

Thanks for the info! Ahhh.. those were the days.. Anyway, my setup has no camera. Just the tube, attachments, weight drive and tripod. E. Esdales and Sons in Sydney were the Unitron dealer in the early 60's and that scope sold for 6,000 pounds. That money back then, would have bought a house and land package on the Gold Coast, which today would probably fetch $6 million or more.

What scope setup would you buy for 6 mil and why????