I have been a member for a little while now, but I tend to sit back and read everyone else's posts, advice and in particular the buy and sell forums.
I thought I would share a little diy/fix-em project that I am working on at the moment. It is nothing amazing or flash, no huge apertures or super-computer controlled telescope mounts. It is just a simple but fairly old (I think it was born in 1975 going by a stamp on the front of the mount) 6" Newtonian Reflector!
The story behind this is that I found it on ebay (fairly cheap) and too my surprise it was in Adelaide. I believe that it had been saved during a house demolition, but thats about all I could find out about it. So I thought I would save it from a possible fate worse than death (the guy selling it was talking about making it into a coffee table, well the mount component and the rest would have probably ended on the dump ). So I put in my offer for a buy it now and won on my first go . The original pic from ebay can be seen below in attachment 1.
I have two boys one 10 the other 5 and I thought this would be a great project that we could share and achieve together. The 5 year old has been interested in Astronomy since he was about 2 or 3 years old and I have nightmares everytime he wants to "play" with my more expensive equipment . Although he already has his own 4" refractor and a set of bino's. I love sharing this hobby/interest with my children, in fact with anybody who will listen (by the way thats definitely not the wife, shes no listener on this topic)!
But I also have another motive for the purchase and this will become more evident in a later entry! And I will also need everyone's knowledge, guidance and technical know how (please).
So I went to pick up the telescope I was a little dissapointed at first as I thought that the OTA may have been an 8" one (there were no real descriptors in the advert), but on closer inspection it turned out to be a 6" OTA . I was surprised by the mount's weight, I had to split it into two parts to fit in the boot and the OTA had to go in the car (falcon sedan), it was a snug fit all round and I only just made it with a sedan! When I got it home I weighed the mount after struggling to get it in the house by myself, in total (not including the OTA) it weighs in excess of 75kg (approx - UPDATE: Sorry I should make mention that this includes the heavy pier) and it is just akward to carry.
So there we have it a new safe home for something that was destined to be a coffee table after almost 37 years of catching photons (or there abouts)!
Stay tuned for additional entries and futher info on my big plan.
Let the fun begin.
Regards & Clear Skies
Gav
Last edited by GC - South Aus; 15-04-2012 at 09:21 AM.
Quite creative some telescope makers. Half a bino by the looks of it for a finder. Must be a f9 or larger comparing height to other objects around it. Another interesting project to follow. Great mount too, looks heavy alright.
So we officially started yesterday (me and the little one) . I logged on to my favourite website, 'Ice in Space' (of course! ) and downloaded the informative entry by Mr. Mike Salway - Iceman (aka Sir Post a Lot) named 'Cleaning the Mirrors of a Newtonian Telescope'. Armed with this new knowledge (without reading it first ) I started to strip down the OTA.
My aims are to:
1. Clean the mirrors to a reasonable standard (but I am not expecting mircales, this will just be a cheap family and visual use OTA!).
2. Clean out the inside of the tube.
3. Flock the tube.
4. Re-paint the outside of the tube.
5. Fix the home made guidescope rail.
6. Undertake correct collimation.
7. Some how secure it to the mount saddle (I am thinking metal worm gear clamps/fasteners)
First of all we stripped the OTA down and extracted the mirrors.
They are in a real state, both primary and secondary!
Significant cobwebs, marks, dirt, dust and pigeon poo. Yes pigeon poo! The OTA must have been stood-up (without a cover ) for sometime in an old storage shed or garage. There is pigeon poo on the mirrors and down the inside of the tube.
We eventually extracted both mirrors (whilst being careful as to not catch avian (bird) flu) and then I started to read the article. Oops I don't have everything I need to clean with (i.e. distilled water and some soft paper towel etc). So I will post the images below of the stripped OTA and then head to the shop and will hopefully get around to cleaning them tomorrow .
Stay tuned.
Clear Skies
Gav
Last edited by GC - South Aus; 13-04-2012 at 03:33 PM.
Quite creative some telescope makers. Half a bino by the looks of it for a finder. Must be a f9 or larger comparing height to other objects around it. Another interesting project to follow. Great mount too, looks heavy alright.
Yes it is quite creative and the bino focuses really well too, but probably won't be staying on in the long run.
In relation to the f/ratio the OTA has 3 sets of 4 holes all in the exact same location (ie in line) and size but at different distances (up and down) on the OTA so I feel that the tube f/ratio can be altered.
At the mirrors present location, if my calculations are correct it comes in around f8.8, so yes f9, but like I said it probably can be made faster.
Well I am back from the shops and I now have all the items I need (listed in Mike's article) to clean my mirrors. I am almost tempted to do them tonight (1900 h CST now), but I think I will avoid the temptation to rush the job!
I have also just realised that I can't do it tomorrow as I am at the Footy, watching the Power beat the Swans. You are all probably wondering why the crazy icon isn't at the end of that sentence .
So what I have decided to talk about instead in this entry is my big plan!
As I said in the first entry I did have something else in mind other than a general family telescope.
Well, I have something to confess to you all that might come as a surprise to some of you. I have a very serious case of "Aperture Fever"!
Unfortunately I feel that I have reached the useful capacity of my EQ6 Pro mount (for imaging) without going OTT. The largest scope I use on my EQ6 is a C9.25 as well as a range of smaller refractors. Now I know what a lot of you are thinking, your'e probably going to say "I use my EQ6 for a far greater load than that" or "I have seen some guy on the internet who carries a 12 inch Newtonian on his".
I agree, the mount probably could do so much more and I also see people do it all the time, but you see I don't have bottomless money pits as pockets and I want (sorry I need) the EQ6 to be around for a long time as I can't afford to upgrade to anything with a greater load capacity. Plus its fun dreaming day and night about a G11 or a Paramount MX (until you wake up that is! ).
I have sought advice from people that I respect in relation to pushing the EQ6 that little bit harder (with a 12" Newtonian or RC Astrograph) but I think I need to come up with another answer.
So here it is. The mount that came with this appears really heavy duty and weighs a tonne, I think it could probably carry a 12" - 14" OTA easily. It has got me to thinking, how hard would it be to make this GOTO or at a minimum motor driven for imaging purposes. I have been looking on the net for a little while now and I am seeing alot of people attempt and even succeed at this.
That's where I need everyone's help , please. Could you have a look at the pics below and give me some ideas on how to achieve this, what to possibly use and where to go. Just one thing I ask you to keep in mind, I need to do this on a budget!
The mount moves fairly well, it does have some rust on the inside of the cyclinder. It needs some cleaning and is void of any grease whatsoever. The saddle is removable and could quite easily have a different saddle or puck put on it.
Thanks to everyone in advance, I look forward to your replies.
Hi Gav , I think the mounts bearings , eg. RA and Dec 's bearings are from a large , I mean LARGE !!,,, Machine's drive shaft . .
If so the bearings will be needle rollers on both axis's and will be super smooth if cleaned and new grease is used , you might even see where the old grease nipple used to live ?? .
I am a Boilermaker of many years and this mount looks to have been made by one of us ? or a fitter on the mine site's perhaps ?
Its a good piece of smooth and solid engineering .
Looking forward to the next chapter ,
Brian.
Hi Gav - what a great project. I was in Adelaide recently and went by the shop that the scope and mount was in. Was very tempted at the time but I was fairly certain it would not fit in as overhead luggage on the return flight! I'll look forward to seeing what you do with it.
Hi Gav , I think the mounts bearings , eg. RA and Dec 's bearings are from a large , I mean LARGE !!,,, Machine's drive shaft . .
If so the bearings will be needle rollers on both axis's and will be super smooth if cleaned and new grease is used , you might even see where the old grease nipple used to live ?? .
I am a Boilermaker of many years and this mount looks to have been made by one of us ? or a fitter on the mine site's perhaps ?
Its a good piece of smooth and solid engineering .
Looking forward to the next chapter ,
Brian.
I think your right it's definitely some kind of home job, but has been solidly made.
Interesting points about the bearings and I will keep them in mind.
Glad you are enjoying the project and I will try to keep it as interesting as possible.
Hi Gav - what a great project. I was in Adelaide recently and went by the shop that the scope and mount was in. Was very tempted at the time but I was fairly certain it would not fit in as overhead luggage on the return flight! I'll look forward to seeing what you do with it.
Andrew
Turns out to be a small world after all. Yes this item (which I originally found on ebay) was being sold in a salvage/antique shop in the Adelaide CBD. They originally wanted $295 but I got my offer through at $150. Hey some people might think I am crazy for even spending that amount on this item, but the coffee table idea of the bloke selling it still gives me nightmares !
I think you are right,it would have been a tight squeeze in the overhead luggage. I am interested to hear what you may have been looking to do with the scope and mount, please feel free to share your thoughts. Hopefully I don't destroy your ideas too much with what I am aiming to do!
For me, it was all a bit of wishful thinking, really... I have to be able to move my astro stuff out of a shed for use in the back yard (and then still move around due to trees) so anything I have needs to be quite portable.
If I was in a different situation, I think what you have has a lot of potential. I did have visions of building a big refractor with a lens from Istar. Oh well, something for the future. The mount looks like it could take a big load!
By the way I think that's a very good deal you got.
I think you will run into the same problem with this, I am no expert but I suspect the downfallings in your eq6 weight capacity wise are not due to the weight capacity of the actual structure.
The torque needed to move heavyer objects is what gives a mount its capacity. This comes from the motors so obviously you will need strong motors to run this mount when you put a large load on it. Im not sure the cost of the motors will be economical (I have not looked into this) but I dont imagine that they will be cheap.
I think you will run into the same problem with this, I am no expert but I suspect the downfallings in your eq6 weight capacity wise are not due to the weight capacity of the actual structure.
The torque needed to move heavyer objects is what gives a mount its capacity. This comes from the motors so obviously you will need strong motors to run this mount when you put a large load on it. Im not sure the cost of the motors will be economical (I have not looked into this) but I dont imagine that they will be cheap.
I agree with your comments, however the difference I feel between this project and my EQ6 mount is that I can more readily adpat and change the older mount (i.e. adding motors and gears). Where as the EQ6 is limited by its design and structure.
I am looking at larger (higher ratio, maybe 240 to 360 teeth) worm drives/gears for this mount, with better motors.
Thanks again and if you have any further advice in relation to gears, best placement location or any other considerations. I would be happy to receive them.
A New Lease of Life Pt 1 - The Disassembly (UPDATE)
Good Evening All,
Well I am going to have to eat humble pie after all, Sydney Swans got up over the Power (well least they put up a decent fight for 3/4's of the game).
My weekend didn't get any better!
On the Sunday I followed Mike's (Iceman's) step by step tutorial in cleaning Newtonian mirrors. Which I must say was easy to read, follow and produced great results. Well would have done until I found that after removing most of the dust and dirt I had a mirror missing quite large amounts of its reflective surface.
So I have now put the OTA back together and will test the mirrors visually once I have an opportunity (which probably won't be for a week or two). So I may now have to get both a new primary and secondary mirror for the six inch family visual OTA. Dependant on first light views/results, the OTA may have to go on the back burner.
Still progessing on with the mount though so stayed tuned all.
humble pie for tea ,, It dont taste to bad .
It gives you energy for the continuation of the build . . Gav.
Good the see some history emerging .. much more interesting than what is on television .. .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GC - South Aus
Good Evening All,
Well I am going to have to eat humble pie after all, Sydney Swans got up over the Power (well least they put up a decent fight for 3/4's of the game).
My weekend didn't get any better!
On the Sunday I followed Mike's (Iceman's) step by step tutorial in cleaning Newtonian mirrors. Which I must say was easy to read, follow and produced great results. Well would have done until I found that after removing most of the dust and dirt I had a mirror missing quite large amounts of its reflective surface.
So I have now put the OTA back together and will test the mirrors visually once I have an opportunity (which probably won't be for a week or two). So I may now have to get both a new primary and secondary mirror for the six inch family visual OTA. Dependant on first light views/results, the OTA may have to go on the back burner.
Still progessing on with the mount though so stayed tuned all.
...Could you have a look at the pics below and give me some ideas on how to achieve this, what to possibly use and where to go. Just one thing I ask you to keep in mind, I need to do this on a budget!...
Yeah it is surprising that you can buy a 2nd hand car for a couple of hundreds of $, with thousand of sprockets, bolts, shafts, wires, yet good 2n hand telescope mount starts at $2000+
Unfortunately that's market reality and I could only hope that Chinese manufacturers in the future will start producing mounts at affordable prices.
Regarding the project, I could only think of adding two (or 4) car starter motors from the wreckers. I am not experienced in either of mechanics nor electrics, however common sense is telling me the motors should be located as at the attached photo.
Pity you're not in Melbourne, otherwise I'd be glad to assist you in this project.
or super-computer controlled telescope mounts. It is just a simple but fairly old (I think it was born in 1975 going by a stamp on the front of the mount) 6" Newtonian Reflector!
). So I put in my offer for a buy it now and won on my first go 
. The original pic from ebay can be seen below in attachment 1.
. The 5 year old has been interested in Astronomy since he was about 2 or 3 years old and I have nightmares everytime he wants to "play" with my more expensive equipment 
. Although he already has his own 4" refractor and a set of bino's. I love sharing this hobby/interest with my children, in fact with anybody who will listen (by the way thats definitely not the wife, shes no listener on this topic)! 
And I will also need everyone's knowledge, guidance and technical know how (please).
. I was surprised by the mount's weight, I had to split it into two parts to fit in the boot and the OTA had to go in the car (falcon sedan), it was a snug fit all round and I only just made it with a sedan! When I got it home I weighed the mount after struggling to get it in the house by myself, in total (not including the OTA) it weighs in excess of 75kg (approx - UPDATE: Sorry I should make mention that this includes the heavy pier) and it is just akward to carry.
) I started to strip down the OTA.
.
).
, please. Could you have a look at the pics below and give me some ideas on how to achieve this, what to possibly use and where to go. Just one thing I ask you to keep in mind, I need to do this on a budget!
,,, Machine's drive shaft . 
. Gav.
. 
