[astronut (John)]

Hi Everyone, Here are some of my improvements to the LB 12" Deluxe I purchased last week.
It hasn't had first light yet I'm waiting on my collimator to arrive, maybe Friday. The tube rings needed to be painted black and the top and inner part of the trusses needed to be made black. here I used short hair black felt.
After reading the problem that others in the U.S. had with collimation ( every time you collimated and then set the lock screws it would knock out the adjustment) I decided to replace the collimation springs with something stiffer. After a marathon effort, I finally found a place in Newcastle that would sell compression springs.
This eliminates the need for the lock screws and it keeps collimation well.
I'll post a first light report soon, in the mean time here a few photo's I've taken of my new baby.
P.S. I'm in the process of making dew heaters for the eyepiece, and the fan fan will also be controlled by a fused and switched box where the eyepiece rack should be.