Cloudy primary

[Anch0v13]

Good morning folks. Hope we're doing well.


I found a second hand bt252 which looked like it had been in storage for 10 years.


Got it back to condition but the primary has seen better days. Does anyone have any tips that may bring it back to life, or is recoat the only option?


Cheers,
Tom

[bojan]

Just wash it :-)
https://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=187232&highlight=mirror+cleaning

[Anch0v13]

That's a great thread, thanks for the info, it's like all the YouTube videos I watched simplified to one set of clear instructions.


As you can hopefully see from my attached pics (can't get them work as yet), mine didnt clean with soap and water. It looks as thought the mirror has oxidised, and I can't find online if the coating should be THIS see-through.



Still getting good views of the moon and Jupiter so not totally gone. Just trying to make the most of my new toy.

[michael_qrt]

Sadly it looks like the mirror needs a re-coat. Often a mirror can still work decently when it has a few issues or doesn't look great but this one looks too far gone, looks like you can see the mirror cell through it and the reflection of your phone is weak and kind of fuzzy.

[Saturnine]

Hi

The mirror coating has seen better days and is getting thin and patchy, cleaning alone wont restore the coating, it will need re-aluminising sometime soonish. Will still work for brighter objects, as you have noted, but will not be much good for faint objects.
Saintech up in Tuncurry has a re-coating service.

[bojan]

Yes, it seems Al layer dissapeared.
Perhaps the easiest and cheapest option would be to simply buy new GSO mirror.
http://www.gs-telescope.com/content.asp?id=142

[Anch0v13]

Thanks for the advice folks. Not what I was hoping for but it is what I was expecting. Guess a re-coat (or replacement) is in my future.


If anyone has a spare 10 inch mirror they arent using (long shot I know), I would be most interested in taking it off your hands.

Thanks again. This community is awesome, looking forward to looking upward.

[Outcast]

Put an ad in the wanted to buy section of the classifieds, you never know your luck

[agprasun]

Some great advice from all :)