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Living in RSA most of the time, in South Africa telescopes are virtually not for sale in shops , and only very few companies deliver here , but one has to use private couriers , which gets expensive so getting spares is impossible or too expensive
I went to a garage sale the other day and purchased a Mak 90 on a old abused EQ1 mount ,for the massive 30 US
The OTA was ok , diagonal needed cleaning as well as the corrector front lens but rest was ok, the finder was missing
The mount needed major work , counter weight and bar missing , slow motion cables missing etc
Anyway I made a plan after cleaning etc I put some tap rubber washers on the slow now and made a counter weight from an old brass knob that i filled with lead shot that a friend gave me
It work fine and will be given to needy
Attachments
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
Yes Rod a 90 Mak is a good scope , I still use one in the Czech Rep an ETX 90 , my main issue is the finder , before covid I imported 10 RDF but they are all gone now on various projects , anyone have an idea for a finder , tube with cross hairs ?
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
Nice scope rescue, well done! I like those basic RDFs but they went up in price and harder to find. Iron (open) sight as on old rifles should not be to hard to replicate. You can paint the front sight with fluorescent or white paint so it will be visible at night.
Richard wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 3:22 pm
Living in RSA most of the time, in South Africa telescopes are virtually not for sale in shops , and only very few companies deliver here , but one has to use private couriers , which gets expensive so getting spares is impossible or too expensive
I went to a garage sale the other day and purchased a Mak 90 on a old abused EQ1 mount ,for the massive 30 US
The OTA was ok , diagonal needed cleaning as well as the corrector front lens but rest was ok, the finder was missing
The mount needed major work , counter weight and bar missing , slow motion cables missing etc
Anyway I made a plan after cleaning etc I put some tap rubber washers on the slow now and made a counter weight from an old brass knob that i filled with lead shot that a friend gave me
It work fine and will be given to needy
~
I have acquired a couple of scopes and binocular sets from online Shopgoodwill here in the U.S.
I am dismayed at how people treat optical instruments. The careless abuse these things receive is really quite something.
Of course, donation sites like Goodwill Industries will generally get mostly unwanted things, so that is why they get so much junk.
The good ones are still with those who take care of 'em!
.
"A republic, madam, if you can keep it." - Benjamin Franklin
90 mak completeI was quite lucky I looked in my tray of old eyepieces the ones that come with scopes and there was a RDF (have not used them for years) , so I did not use all 10 that I purchased some time back , anyway also make a 'tray' to hold the tripod more steady , just need to get some bolts and wing nuts then I am done , just to add the scope must of taken a bump in its life so removing the corrector lens was a pain
All done now
[attachment=0]90 mak complete.JPG
Attachments
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
I had a power cut and was working on a desktop , which is not connected to the solar back up , sorry
Anyway as mentioned the scope took a bump quite bad as the O ring to remove the corrector was a pain , but with the correct tools was just ok,to my amazement the collimation was only a little of just a small turn and all good ( I use a home make star as keeping it in the center with a small EQ is a pain)
This is my 4 th 90 mak and they all seem to have amazing ability to keep well collimated even after major abuse
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
A nice refurbish job Richard.
The 90mm seem to be quite a sturdy Mak.
I used to keep one in the vehicle for terrestrial and astro sessions while travelling.
Even bouncing down forest trails never affected it.
Gabrielle See Far Sticks: Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser 127/1200 BV, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS 100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885 EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, SXP2, AXJ, AXD Az/Alt: AYO Digi II, Stellarvue M2C, Argo Navis encoders on both Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102 Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Tak prism, TAL, Vixen Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss (1000101) The only culture I have is from yogurt
This one must of fallen on a hard surface as the corrector holder bent , that's a big thing normally chips the corrector lens , I had to use a circular puller before removing it , but now all good , will do a final test tonight as it all looks clear will compare to my 5inch SCT on Jupiter
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
So today was a nice clear evening I have not looked thru a 90 Mak for some time so thought of comparing it with my C5 SCT on jupiter , I just used a simple planet tracking on the SCT with a cheap 10mm GSO plossl and a better Xcell LX 10mm in the Makl , well the 5 inch was much better as expected but the little Mak was not much worse , a good little scope
I am pleased with this scope hopefully will make someone like astronomy!
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5