Unitron 3inch Altazimuth refractor - galaxyman's first scope
Here's a trip down memory lane:
Here is my very first serious telescope, a 3 inch F16 Unitron achromatic refractor, on an excellent altazimuth mount.
The mount was a superb piece of machinery; not too heavy, precise, stable, and with microscrew controls that enabled very small & precise movements of the telescope. This is, in general, a much better mounting design than most of the small altazimuth mounts that are available today.
The supplied 30mm finder had good optics; better than many similar finders that you see today.
The Optics of the 3 inch were fairly good, but not brilliant. Worst thing was the supplied, small O.D., Huyghens and Ramsden eyepieces.
I got this telescope for $200 in about 1976, which was a good price, as the Unitron 3inch refractor had been at least twice this price, beforehand.
It may be hard for some of you "relative newbies" to believe, but a three or four inch refractor was regarded as a serious and quite powerful instrument, in those far-off days "way back when"! A 6 inch Newtonian on a german equatorial mount was a very expensive thing to buy in the 1970s
cheers, madbadgalaxyman
Oh, and one more thing, the focusser was excellent; smooth and precise.
Overall, the three inch Unitron Refractor was an excellent choice, at the time, for a beginning observer. Useability and ease of setup of this instrument were Excellent.
Well, it's nice to see new homes for the scopes in the above two posts and I guess I should thank Colin and Matt for helping me fund this (and Steve for selling it to me). Isn't it amazing the way good stuff circulates around the IIS community.
4 inch f/12 ,,, its gotta be an Istar , aye Matt? , the 102mm f/10-12' lenses are only $279 , they will build an OTA for not much more .
Just a thaught.
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kunama
First meeting of the Istar Perseus 150mm F10 and Takahashi TSA120 120mm F7.5
How I love the build quality of the Takahashi, unfortunately it is raining here in Jindabyne at the moment, who would have guessed it.
My thanks to Graeme (Rigel003) for packing and posting the Tak so perfectly protected from nasties.
I just need a 4" F12 refractor to complete the Quartet ( 3" Berry&Mackay c1880 under restoration )
Isn't it amazing the way good stuff circulates around the IIS community.
So far, I have found 4 previous owners of my Vixen FL102S from here on IIS - and each and every one regrets having sold it, but all were seduced by Mrs Aperture
Well, I know size doesn't matter, but how you use it , so it is NOT leaving me until I am very cold and very dead
So far, I have found 4 previous owners of my Vixen FL102S from here on IIS - and each and every one regrets having sold it, but all were seduced by Mrs Aperture
Well, I know size doesn't matter, but how you use it , so it is NOT leaving me until I am very cold and very dead
With the promises I made to my Chief Financial Officer to secure the purchase of the Takahashi, I might as well carve my name on the OTA as I doubt I will ever be brave enough to sell it.
I have heard the history of your scope and spoken to previous owners and, yes, it deserves a forever home. I would have bought one but none came up for sale, I even emailed Melinda about that one but you got to it just in time.
(I don't know that you have actually posted a pic of it though ...........)
Excellent Mario. Yeah, my finderscope is in the same spot. Hate it but it will have to do as I only have a Vixen plate on my EQ6.
How many extensions do you need for visual use? I'm really annoyed because I use 1x50mm and 1x25mm and there's just not enough in-focus when I use my diagonal and 25mm eyepiece. If I take the 25mm extension out, there's slightly not enough back focus.
The guide ring question first - I use these guide rings and attach the guide setup to the RC8 using this adapter.
As for visual, I use 1x50mm ring and diagonal with a 40mm eyepiece. I really only use it get everything lined up - I then go to CCD configuration which is 1x50mm & 2x25mm rings.
I'm also trying to see if there's a way to get the finderscope away from below the scope. Last time I had the scope set up I put the finderscope on the ST80. Boy was that a bugger to get everything lined up!! I'm going back to the old configuration although I've got a thread here about swapping the dovetail bars around...
I was hoping to use these rings for my 60mm refractor and perhaps my 50mm finderscope (which I could use as a guide scope as well). Unfortunately, the smallest OD that the rings can hold is about 60mm. This means they probably will just work with my 60mm refractor but I wouldn't be able to move the scope around within the rings given the screws will be fully in. ADM have some similar rings but i was hoping to buy locally.
I think I need a longer focal length eyepiece. Maybe I could find a cheapie because I'm the same as you as I only use it to line up objects before attaching the camera.
I was so excited to recieve my guide scope last night that I had to share it!!! I ordered it a month ago so yes it took a while to get here but worth the weight I think, I mounted it straight away.......just to get a look at how it would be set up....I thought it looked pretty good cant wait to do some imaging with it now!!! (Well after the counter weights arrive, I need to add some more to the under side to balance it properly!!) already orded so should arrive in just over a week!!!
Here is my Meade 10" f/10 SCT mounted on a Losmandy GM-8. It is set up to view Comet Lemmon. The only place I could find is near the garage door in the corner. As it is, it only just views under the door and is a little awkward to look through. The alternative is to leave the car outside and let the scope take a more central position. It has a JMI NGF-S focuser installed with a GSO 2" Quartz diagonal. It was my second scope after the Tasco 3" refractor.
I have heard the history of your scope and spoken to previous owners and, yes, it deserves a forever home. I would have bought one but none came up for sale, I even emailed Melinda about that one but you got to it just in time.
(I don't know that you have actually posted a pic of it though ...........)
Matt - I'll probably do a photo or two today - want to get the rig out to change a few things. Don't like the guidescope arrangement on it (got some differential flexure last time out) and will likely change the guidescope over to a 60mm Tasco refractor I got from Lars (makes the whole set ex-Lars ) that I had some custom aluminium bits made for (tube rings, 0.965" to 1.25" adapter etc).
Love the scope immensely. Even though I currently am hunting for a larger aperture faster refractor that meets the expectations I want, I will ALWAYS keep the FL102 because, simply put, it delivers the BEST visual image I have EVER seen in ANY scope - better than the couple Taks I have looked through of comparable aperture - better contrast and definition, and literally SNAPS into focus - no gradual focus - it's in focus or it isn't. It works JUST FINE imaging too, though even with a focal reducer, it is still a little slow (I use an AX103 reducer on it now, and that makes it a touch over f/6.Would like to make it f/5 if possible, but doubt it without surgery, which I will NOT do)
4 inch f/12 ,,, its gotta be an Istar , aye Matt? , the 102mm f/10-12' lenses are only $279 , they will build an OTA for not much more . 
, so it is NOT leaving me until I am very cold and very dead 
