Carton Telescope info for a newbie

[welshy1969]

Hi all,

I was given a telescope last week that is so huge it takes up the whole backseat of my car in its travel box.

Details of it that I have found are:
Brand: Carton
Size: D 100mm and F 900mm
Type: Reflector

Its got a few different eye pieces and both sun & moon filters. Also an old camera adapter. I have had to pull the lenses out and clean them along with the mirror at the bottom. May have to re calibrate things now that they are cleaned.

Its been hard to find any data on this unit so I am guessing its pretty old school (legs are wood).

Keen to try this out and if there is advice anyone can give me I'd be grateful. In the meantime I'll have a look through the forum for what I need.

Adding a pic of the unit.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqm79t4zwoy9xfv/IMG_1959.JPG?dl=0

Regards
Welshy1969

[Somnium]

the best scopes take up at least the back seat of the car :) but what you have is a pretty standard scope and shouldnt be too heavy. the good thing is that given that it is an alt az mount (just a guess) and a refractor, you can pretty much set it up and start observing. no need for collimating optics, polar aligning or even getting a perfectly level set up. what you will need to do is get a planisphere or download some planetarium app on your tablet/phone to see what objects are up. try to get some views of the moon (when it comes a bit higher in the sky), the Orion Nebula, Jupiter (later at night) and its moons. you can also look at binary stars. spend some time learning the constellations and navigating the sky. you also might want to go to some kind of star party and meet up with people who can show you the ropes.

[welshy1969]

Hi Somnium,

Thanks so much for the speedy reply there. Orion Nebula..... That sounds pretty exciting. I havent had a telescope since I was a kid.

Here is a picture of the unit.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqm79t4zwoy9xfv/IMG_1959.JPG?dl=0

[Somnium]

sorry, i misread your original message. you have a reflector not a refractor. though it is not a large one so collimation might not be an issue. seeing jupiter and the orion nebula through an eyepiece is simply stunning. also check out the pylades, carina nebula etc. there are some good books out that take you through a tour of the southern hemisphere

[welshy1969]

Cant wait to check it out. I am Gold Coast based and its been too cloudy of late.

Now to look up "collimation" which you have referred to. lol

Thank you so much for your help.

Welshy1969

[Somnium]

don't get too freaked out by collimation, it is not as bad as it sounds, especially for a small aperture Newt. feel free to post whatever questions you have, i look forward to hearing how you go.

[welshy1969]

Thanks again,

I had to pull out the main reflector lense (terminology correct?) and give it a clean as it looks like its been sitting for a while and was a bit grubby. The edges of the mirror finish are not perfect. It looks like its been coming off. Not sure how badly that will affect the image. Will see how I go.

Welshy1969

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Awesome , Carton telescope,s are very good Japanese made instruments , top quality stuff with excellent optics, rare so well done .

Any chance of a photo of the mount and eyepieces' close up ?

Thanks.

Brian.

[Somnium]

The main mirror is referred to as the objective. Minor issues with the Mirror won't impact too much

[welshy1969]

Hi Brian,

I'll grab some pics of the bits and load them up. When You say mount, do you mean the tripod mount itself?

Welshy1969

[RAJAH235]

Andrew,
Just some quick advice...
If, as you say, there's a sun filter included, is this a small one about an inch or 1 ¼" in diam?

If so, then destroy it.....I mean destroy it.
They are extremely dangerous.
Do not attach it to any eyepiece.
The sun's heat will be concentrated on that filter & it will be shattered.
This will allow all the magnified suns full light emissions into your eye.

Do not use any kind of eyepiece solar filter.
For any kind of solar viewing, you have to use a full aperture solar filter that fits over the end of the tube.

Yes. He means the Tripod & how the telescope attaches to it.

[Sconesbie]

I've heard the advice about sun filters a few times now so it seems as though it's a good idea to heed the advice. I've got one that goes at the end of my telescope (114/900). Mind you, I haven't used it in ages. I've used it once I think. I might get it back out again and have another go.

[welshy1969]

Hi again Brian,

Heres some photos of the mount and the lenses.


http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/welshy1969/library/

Is there a better way to post photos here?

Welshy1969

[welshy1969]

The sun filter is small in height but the same width as the others. Years ago I used to be a welder by trade and the sun filter has the same kind of darkness as my old electronic helmet did.

I wasnt planning on looking at the sun though. Especially here in QLD. Id rather do like they used to and have that piece of white board that the image projects onto.

Welshy1969

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: That's it , looks like a nice sturdy German equatorial mount. , nice.

On posting photos here just scroll down the page you typed the message in and click Go advanced , follow the prompts and Manage Attachment,s and select a photo you want and Download into the box , then push Add Reply , done.

Brian.

[welshy1969]

Thanks Brian,

Yep its an oldy but is smooth as silk to operate. Cant believe I scored it. I do Tong Long Kung Fu with my brother and he was helping our master (Sifu) move house Australia Day. Sifu gave the telescope to my brother who had no use for it so offered it to me!

I had a little refractor unit when I was 12 and always dreamed of having a unit like this. Then this one lands in my lap. My sifu says its only good for looking at the moon with the current lenses but I am a little astounded by that. Why would such a unit out of the box be only good at looking at lunar cheese?

Given the eye pieces I havein the picture.... I have no idea what is the best one to use. I was going to start with looking at the moon and work up from there....

194520

Welshy1969

[brian nordstrom]

:) Yes those Japanese know how to make good mounts .

Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:) Those eyepieces' look nice quality but. PLEASE! Throw the sun filter in the bin , these things are dangerous as they have been known to shatter under the concentrated heat the scope produces causing horrible, painful instant blindness .buy a full aperture filter that fits over the end of the tube thus only filtered light enters the scope. , very safe.

Start with the 25mm that will give the largest field of view and about 36x ( 900 divided by 25 )

Great story by the way ��.

Brian.

[welshy1969]

The eye piece on its side with the K actually has Moon written on the top of it. It does not fit into the telescope and has a thread on it so not sure what its supposed to have on it. There is nothing else in the box to go with it. Sun filter is the same although shorter. And dont worry, I wont be using it!! Night time viewing only!

Thanks for the advice by the way. Found a good ipad app that I can point anywhere in the sky and it shows me whats in that direction. Going to be handy.

The best place is obviously away from light pollution. I am in the city though so will start there and move on from that.

[brian nordstrom]

:)The K-25 and K-12 are Kelner design and the Or-6 is an orthoscopic design , this is your high power eyepiece about 130x . You won't use this much , only on really good nights.
The. K-12 will give about 75x , mid range magnification .

Looking at the K-25 it looks to have the chrome bottom missing , these unscrew from the top black housing that holds the optics.
Look at unscrewing the Moon bit , that's probably a Moon filter like the dangerous Sun filter just unscrew it and the chrome bottom of the 6mm and see if it fits the. 25 mm .

Another thing. , measure the chrome barrels they will be either 24mm ( .965 inch.) or 32m ( 1 1/4 inch) .
Let me know what size these and the focus tube is .
Cheers.

Brian.

[welshy1969]

Hi Brian,

Ill check barrel sizes tonight and let you know. Thanks for the info on the eye pieces. Im going to see what unscrews from where.

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by a member of this group who is local to me. He has offered to show me the ropes and how to set up and care for my unit. Hoping to catch up with him this weekend.

Welshy1969

[SkyWatch]

Hi Andrew,

Hope it goes well, and great that you have found an observing buddy!

I don't want to contradict your Kung Fu master ;) , but you should be able to see heaps of objects in that scope, especially if you can get away from city lights. As you gain experience you will see more and more. I remember the first time I saw the "Leo Trio" (3 interacting galaxies in the constellation Leo) it was in a similar scope, a Tasco version of yours. You will be able to see most of the Messier objects, and many 100's of others: just don't expect them to look like Hubble Telescope images...

Certainly the moon, Jupiter and Saturn will blow you away to start with!

All the best,

Dean

PS: I strongly agree with Brian and others: I would destroy the sun filter, just in case anyone else grabs it and thinks they can use it... maybe if it has a barrel you can unscrew it and use that for your 25mm Kellner.

[welshy1969]

Hi Dean,

Its as I expected with a unit of this size and power. Thanks for the info. I plan to let Sifu (what we call our master in Chinese) know all about it when I get to looking at things.

Ive been advised by enough people to destroy the sun filter to take it very seriously, but I am glad I have not yet as the lower half, as you suggest may be a barrel I need to keep.

Im looking forward to having a crack at this!

Andrew

[welshy1969]

I just want to say thanks for all your friendly advice and assistance with a very high praise to Astronobob who is local to me and offered to get me up to speed and helped me get my scope tuned up.

Bob spent 4 hours with me on a saturday afternoon/evening showing me how to set up and evening gave me a small tour of the heavens and what to look for. I came away with so much more knowledge than I expected!

Im glad I joined this forum group!

Andrew

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: 3 thumbs up to Bob , it's what we all do , as I had the same thing happened to me many moons ago , amateur astronomers are a great bunch. So helpful and ready to help anyway we can.

Enjoy your learning curve and enjoy , your scope will show you years of stuff.

Brian.

[ausastronomer]

It has actually been illegal to sell those screw on sun filters in Australia for well over 20 years. As others have suggested throw it in the bin, they are extremely dangerous to use.

Cheers
John B

[astronobob]

Hey thanx Andrew, very kind words there :D
Was 4 hrs of quality time mate, totally enjoyed it and to hear quite a few times your words "Ahhhh, so thats how it works - makes a lot of sense now I get it" :D This is very rewarding in itself :thumbsup:

Cant beat 'field work' seeing gear in action etc.
Have you lined up on Jupiter yet ? oh, by the way, yeah, throw that Solar filter, we did find it was cracked right through the middle too !!!

All the best & good to have met you :thumbsup:

[welshy1969]

Hey Bob,

I am yet to set it back up again but was planning to do it this weekend. Jupiter should be a little higher in the sky than last weekend and as I have learnt, the higher it is, the less atmosphere I have to look through!

And please everyone its ok, the Sun filter is broken and not usable. I am keeping the case of the filter and discarding the lens itself. I can make my own collimation tool with the piece I have left. NO SOLAR LENS AT ALL!!! lol

Andrew

[Huey]

Hello Andrew,
You mentioned you got a solar filter to go with the telescope. If it is one of those small thingies that you screw into an eyepiece, DON'T use it. It can and will break and damage your eyes. Any solar filter that can go in front of the scope is ok. You can also try solar projection, but don't use a screw in solar filter. The moon filter should be fine.

Hopefully clear skies ;) and have fun with the scope
Huey