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As mentioned in the article, I use an Astrosystems secondary dew heater to avoid the problem of the secondary fogging up. It is a great device which measures the temp. of both the ambient air and the diagonal and only puts in just enough heat to avoid dewing. The primary never dews up.
As it happens, I am currently installing Argo Navis and Servocat Junior onto this scope. In a way it almost seems a pity because it moves so well manually. I have had to retrofit a central point of rotation to the Azimuth and am using 2 tangent arms to get the Altitude pivot point.
I am also 1/2 way through making a shroud, using elastic cord to fill the gaps left by the 6 poles. I would only use this when at a public night to stop kids dropping pizza on the primary. I have tested the scope with a temporary shroud around the scope at a dark site and it has not improved the contrast. The secret here is the positioning of the (flocked) baffles.
Had an issue with flexure in the top ring leading to the secondary going slightly out of collimation when moving from horizon to zenith. Have solved this by reinforcing the top ring with aluminium tubing bent into rings. See photo from Snake Valley camp last month.
Will post an update when completed. The scope continues to provide outstanding images of hundreds of objects!
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