A question to Lightbridge owners ...

[dcnicholls]

Originally Posted by astronut

Hi DN, The shroud is a Astrozap $104AUS.

Direct from the Astrozap site? I notice Astro-Optical here is listed as an agent fro Astrozap.

The secondary & primary knobs were purchased through www.Astronomy-Shoppe.com and go to the Links [Kits?] box, Bobs Knobs are also suppliers of replacement knobs, the prices are about the same. Delievery from the States is about 1 week. The springs I purchased here, they are century spring branded. They are brought into the Australia by the Mayo group. Let me know if you want their details.
Or the two knob suppliers offer springs in their catalogue, this cuts down all the leg work for you

I see the Astronomy-Shoppe has a whole set of "rescue kits". Might be a simple way to solve the problem. Why do they offer an Azimuth knob? The Meade unit seems to work OK?

I have replaced the red dot finder with an optical 8X50mm.

That was the very first thing I did The Bintel right angle unit.

I have a heater for the main E/P and both ends of the finder, it's all sent through a switched and fused box, I've also carried this out for the fan.
It all runs well on the 12v 7a/h battery in the photo.

Thanks. Useful info.

I've found good quality black felt at Spotlight and it's not too expensive

Some felts have a "shiny" look to them, especially at glancing incidence, which is not good.

I hope this info helps, if you need to know more please ask! John.

Yes, indeed. Many thanks.

DN

[astronut (John)]

Hi DN, The felt at any angle appears like your looking down a never ending black hole
I've dealt with Tony Costanzo of Astronomy Shoppe many times and he is a very helpful person, going to just one supplier is the best way to go. I wish these things were available 6 months ago it would have saved a lot of leg work and frustration. I purchased the shroud from the astrozap site.
I would recommend that you try the local astronomy stores, over the last couple of months they have equipped themselves with a lot of the bits n pieces I purchased from the U.S. Cheers, John.

[dcnicholls]

I would recommend that you try the local astronomy stores, over the last couple of months they have equipped themselves with a lot of the bits n pieces I purchased from the U.S.

Thanks, shall do. BTW, where did you get the Unitron 4"? I've had a 2.4" alt-az since new (1960 - battered but still a great little scope).

DN

[astronut (John)]

Hi DN, I've had the 2.4" since new (1970) purchased at Astro- Optical supplies in Crows Nest. The 4" I've had since 2000, I purchased it from a club member and spent about a month restoring it to it's former glory, it is also a early 1970's model.

[bytor666]

That dew shield / light blocker on the end of your scope should be flat black on the inside no?.....it looks as though the inside of it is shiny, which would attract some unwanted reflections !!!
I put some really dark light trap inside of mine...check it out !!!...BTW....very nice telescope you have there !!!

[astronut (John)]

Thanks bytor, The inner side of the dew shield is flat black, only the outer is shiny. It all works well together. John

[bytor666]

With a nice scope of your size, you'll be sucking in photons by the second !!!...I myself used to have a 12" GSO and at that size, you're good to go !!!...Congrats on such a great looking telescope astronut !!!

[astronut (John)]

Do you have a scope at the moment?
Going from a 4" to a 12" certainly gives you a new outlook on things.

Originally Posted by bytor666

With a nice scope of your size, you'll be sucking in photons by the second !!!...I myself used to have a 12" GSO and at that size, you're good to go !!!...Congrats on such a great looking telescope astronut !!!

[dcnicholls]

Just got my Sky & Telescope (US) (October) in the mail. There's a very favourable review of the Meade Lightbridge 10" and 12" by Dennis di Cicco. An extract:

"...Some telescopes are more enjoyable to review than others. Squarely falling into the "more enjoyable" category are the new Meade LightBridge Truss Tube Dobsonians. Indeed, I can't recall a telescope that was more of a joy to test. No hefty instruction manual, no complex computerized electronics, no steep learning curve - just a highly portable scope offering serious aperture. Isaac Newton could have mastered these babies in about 2 minutes. And so can you. They are a dream for observers!"

Amen

The two main quibbles were mediocre collimation system for the 12" and the "white bits" inside the OTA.

Fixing both of these was described nicely by astronut earlier in this thread.

DN