18" Telekit

Marke (Mark) · #1 04-05-2013, 05:17 PM

Well the Telekit turned up on Fri and all good

It was well packaged in 4 boxes and everything was in good order
and at first inspection everything seems to be there . I got a nice
orange Moonlight focuser and a box full of little labeled zip bags
with all the smaller parts needed along with laser collimator and secondary
heater kit . Couple of small items still on the
way including the 3.5" 1/14th secondary . Looks like I will have a bit
of work ahead of me in the next few months.

GrahamL · #2 06-05-2013, 07:54 PM

great stuff , enjoy the build

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #3 06-05-2013, 09:24 PM

Good stuff.
Keep us up to date with your progress, I am sure there are others very interested.
If you don't mind me asking, how much was the freight to get the kit over here?

Malcolm

Marke (Mark) · #4 06-05-2013, 10:08 PM

I will update with pics as I get a bit further into it , just doing a bit of sanding of parts and getting my head around it .
Malcolm , its sent air freight to nearest airport which was only a couple
hundred considering 4 boxes weighed in at 78kg ! . I used a freight forwarding thru DHL to bring it thru customs and drop it off which was a bit expensive and could have saved if I did it myself.

Marke (Mark) · #5 20-05-2013, 08:38 AM

Well so far so good , only a couple of minor things like some wrong scews
that are being replaced . Have done upper cage to point of urathane
and ground board finished. Just assembled and glued the rocker box
now waiting for it to dry so I can start sanding and routing it.
Will post some pics soon when I haver a few of the peices together.

Satchmo · #6 20-05-2013, 10:48 AM

I had a look at one at the SPSP ....the thick solid wood closed back mirror cell is seriously bad design for a large mirror dob...just the back plate will take hours to shed its heat and the single fan in the middle won't help...amazed they are still like this as the dob I looked at at SPSP was 1998 vintage.

I would be drilling as many holes as I could in the back with a hole saw to to reduce mass and improve ventilation.

Marke (Mark) · #7 20-05-2013, 02:54 PM

Mine has dual fans in the back and there is quite a bit of space between mirror supports and the rear , the design has changed a little in 14yrs. I dont have any concerns with it personally .

ausastronomer (John Bambury) · #8 20-05-2013, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marke

Mine has dual fans in the back and there is quite a bit of space between mirror supports and the rear , the design has changed a little in 14yrs. I dont have any concerns with it personally .

Hi Mark,

Who did the primary mirror? How thick is it and what F-ratio is it.

Cheers
John B

Marke (Mark) · #9 20-05-2013, 08:45 PM

John its a Galaxy optics f4.5 2" thick that I got from
peter at SDM .

Satchmo · #10 21-05-2013, 09:49 AM

2" thick mirror needs really good ventilation . A 1.5" thick layer of solid ply that holds heat much better than glass sitting below the mirror is not a good idea particularly in summer.

John - you have an 18" with a 2" mirror - thoughts ?

Marke (Mark) · #11 21-05-2013, 10:39 AM

Mark it wasnt my intention to discuss mirror cell design in this thread thanks
so maybe start another thread ?
For what its worth the thermal studies Ive seen for a 2" Pyrex mirror in a closed wooden cell with rear fans , takes 90min to reach equillibrum .

Marke (Mark) · #12 23-05-2013, 01:34 PM

John
With due respect I wasnt looking for any opinion on the kit I was simply chronicling my experiences assembling it good or bad . I appreciate advise when seeking it but I think you and Mark are getting a bit ahead of things.
For one the scope will not be used for any critical oberving in the near future it was just a project with end result being a scope my wife can play with while I am imaging , or to just to take away on the odd weekend. I am also well aware of cell design and have thoughly read Kriege's book . I was already considering adding boundary fans to the mirror box but I am a long way from even looking at assembling it yet - again people getting way ahead of me. As you already know the mirror cell in this kit is very easily removed and if I find cooling an issue then I will simply swap it out for something more open when the time comes.
Again thanks but I think I will just abandond this thread now and give up on updates as its not worth the greif .

Jen · #13 23-05-2013, 10:59 PM

Looks like good fun mark I can't wait to see how it turns out

Wigchuffs

koputai (Jason) · #14 24-05-2013, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marke

and give up on updates as its not worth the greif .

Mark, we're not all here to rain on your parade, please keep the updates going.

Cheers,
Jason.

norm · #15 24-05-2013, 09:36 AM

Hi marke,

I'm with Jason here....keep the updates coming as the majority of folks want to here your progress

Norm

Marke (Mark) · #16 24-05-2013, 09:49 AM

Ok guys thanks for the support , I have had a few people ask me to continue with it , and moderator has offered to remove distracting posts
so I will continue on with it again .
I will try and put some photos up on the weekend .