Found this at a garage Sale

[spiezzy]

hi to all
my wife found this at a garage sale today for $20 and brought it home
its a 12" Dob no branding on it has a 2" rack and pinion focuser that works quite well Tetrad finder which works heaps of eyepieces in 1.25" and one 2" 25mm in good condition .
the mount itself is very solid and well made unfortunately the primary mirror coatings a deteriorating and probably needs re coating but al in all its not to bad for the price just wondering if it would be worth getting the primary mirror re coated ??
cheers Pete

[rrussell1962]

It looks very much like a GSO Dob that I had for a few years from around 2003 or so. Mine was branded Southern Cross. Pretty good mirror as I recall, F5 I think, if it does badly need a recoat it might be easier just to buy a new 12 inch F5 mirror from Bintel but for $20 I think I would just give it a careful wash and enjoy using it. Does it have a lazy Susan plastic bearing on the Az axis or teflon pads? Bargain of the year I think! If it has the plastic secondary holder be careful collimating it - very easy to over tighten and damage the holder. Congratulations - what a find!

[spiezzy]

thanks Russell for the reply yep i think it was a good score just re installed the mirror and set it up out side took 3 minutes put the 2" ep in and my god the view is great even with a crook mirror .
it has a couple of nylon bearings in each side with operate quite smoothly and the bottom section of the mount is a bit rough but not to bad i was impressed
cheers Pete

[rrussell1962]

If the Azimuth movement is rough its possible that you may have one with the lazy susan bearing which has left indents in the mount which rumble as it turns. If so just take it apart and sacrifice a vinyl LP's either side of the bearing so it turns smoothly - Max Bygraves is pretty smooth!

[Nikolas]

Definitely an old bintel Style Dob. I had a 10 inch exactly the same as this. Your wife got an absolute bargain.

[doppler]

Good score, I got a 10" version of the same for a 6 pack of beer last year, primary mirror was really bad but a quick home silver job and it was back in action. Here's a link to the silvering process.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=123277

[Saturnine]

You seem to have all the luck Pete, refractors on council pick up piles and now a 12" dob for $20 at a garage sale. I've got to visit the " Burg " more often. Good score by the wife, hope you get plenty of enjoyment from it.

[spiezzy]

thanks Nikk .rick and Jeff I have been using the scope and even with the primary mirror in the condition its in the view is still very clean and crisp I gave it a good wash before installing the secondary mirror is in quite good condition
hey Jeff hows that little Mead refractor going
cheers Pete

[jarvisx]

Awesome bargain! Looks not bad either.