New AE 4.5" Refractor

[F15Rules]

Well, at long last I have the AE frac now...and it is scarily HEAVY!!

It is built like a proverbial tank, the pier alone must weigh around 60-70lbs, the mount another 25-30, and the tube around 15lbs...so around a hundredweight as they say in old money! I really don't know if I will be able to manage it, it is so heavy. But I love it to bits!

The scope hasn't been used for around 15 years and came from Bedford. Before that I believe it lived in a small council house in Luton, where it was built by AE around 1972. It is English built through and through.

The pier was repainted in a nice hammerite dark blue about 15 years ago, though it looks like new. The OTA was lovingly repainted last year by a real craftsman, with 8 coats of cellulose, 4 undercoats and 4 topcoats. The aluminium cell and focuser are in their original state and in excellent condition. I also have the tiny 6x30 finder which is completely pointless as it fits for some reason underneath the main tube if the focuser knobs are oriented in the "normal" position..to have the finder "on top" of the ota, you would have to accept the focus knobs being "on top" as well! Apparently it was designed this way. I have a nice 70mm Vixen F11 OTA and would love to mount this as a finder - if I can find suitable mounting rings for the main OTA.

The mount itself is a work of art. No locking nuts, just slipping clutches on both axes so you just slew smoothly to your target then the RA electric drive kicks in, almost silently. It works perfectly and I use a powerbreaker just to be safe.

I haven't had a proper first light yet as the mount came with the wrong bolts to attach it to the pier..I have now got one of the three I need from the seller, just to check it's the right size, and it is, so the others should arrive early next week and I will be able to manoevere the thing safely by then. I also need to get a small allen key to be able to manoevre the counterweight and lock it in position..but even without it the mount moves very very smoothly on both axes..

I dissembled the doublet carefully and cleaned all 4 sides with Baader Wonder Fluid..it now looks very clean indeed and I have today tested it on some nearby trees - fabulous view!

It has a clear aperture of 112mm officially...I would say it is more like 114mm, and the actual diameter of each lens is more like 120mm when out of the cell, but of course the cell obscures some of the glass.

All in all it is a wonderful object, and I can't wait for first proper light. I attach a few pictures I took just today to give you an idea . Hope you like it..The Celestron ED100 is there for comparison of the size....

First light proper report to follow asap:p

cheers

Dave

[pbyrne]

That looks a beast Dave, the views of the moon and planets will be awesome:headbang:

What is the f ratio by the way?

[F15Rules]

Hi Paul,

The scope is F14.4, so CA should be minimal - in fact I know it will be as I looked at a couple of daytime objects and it was very very hard to see any colour at all..

I have a full set of Baader orthos with phantom coatings which should work really well on this scope...the shortest fl 5mm will give x325, so probably won't be useable often, the longest 18mm will give x90. My longest FL eyepiece, a 32mm, will give x50. Just can't wait to try them all out!

[Towa]

Classic lines, a real beauty.

[AndyH]

Woop, woop, woop !!!!!!!!!

Luverly.

Mounts that use clutches and no lock knobs are a joy to use. The Tal 2M uses this system to great effect.

A couple of questions if I may?

What is the thing poking out of the back of the focuser?

The spring/coil objects on the 2 axles. Is this to do with the clutch mechanism?

Cheers,

Andy.

[John]

What a fabulous looking instrument Dave

Take that to a star party and you will have long queues of folk wanting to have a look through it - the allure of the classic long FL refractor.

Look forward to a proper 1st light report in due course

[F15Rules]

Glad you like it guys:)..

Andy, the "thingy" poking out at the end is an RAS to 1.25" adapter machined in aluminium, and I had the two holes drilled into it and fitted with the grub screws to retain Eyepieces...before that it was a slip fit only. It came with the scope, and is a bit long for my liking as it reduces the back focus length by I reckon 1-1.5 inches.

The springs are definitely to do with the clutch, they can be tensioned up or down to increase or decrease resistance to the movement of the axes..but as it seems fine as is, I won't touch these for now.

I measured the length at exactly 72 inches or 6 feet from tip of dewshield to end of 1.25" adapter with the focuser racked in..there are 2 draw tubes which can extend out in total around another 7-8 inches.

The scope is remarkably stable on its' pier for such a lengthy beast:p!

[Tony.S]

That is a great looking scope, I'm sure your going to get some great views with it.

I dont know why but theres something about old classic reflectors that excites me in a way that modern scopes like my orion dob & 5se cant.

[philj]

Superb instrument Dave, not exactly grab & go are they I bet lunar and planetary will be a joy through that.

Thats intereting about the RAS to 1 1/4 adapter did you have it made up or was it with the scope?

Phil

[Doc]

I love it, I could imagine this in an observatory fully restored.

[Peter Drew]

Hello Dave, congrats on your AE scope. Sorry I missed your PM re this one due to illness. The objective is of the Littrow design which benefits from ease of manufacture as R1, R2 and R3 are of identical radius, R4 is flat. The design is therefore relatively straightforward to figure to a high standard, CA is well surpressed at F14.4 but off-axis aberrations dictate further supplementary correction for full field photograpy. You should find it to be a first class visual instrument, Hatfield Poly once had one fitted to their 16" Cass as a guidscope, it was often reported to out-perform the Cass on planetary detail!

[F15Rules]

Thanks Phil, Mick..

Phil, the adapter came from the previous owner who had a friend machine it..it is a work of art in terms of machining but I'd much prefer a slimmer, narrower one that interferes less with the available back focus (I'd like to use binoviewers with it but don't think it will work out, short of chopping some of the tube off - which I SO ain't going to do!).

You're right, grab n go it is not!..That will be the only thing that would stop me from keeping it longer term, the sheer weight of the pier and mount..however, my master plan is that, when SWMBO and myself retire to our little rose covered cottage (her choice) in the (dark sky) country (my choice:p)...then I could have it permanently mounted in one place...in the meantime, I was thinking I might make a flat board, mounted on castors, just an inch or so off the ground, and wheel it in and out of the garage when I use it...it would be quite easy to manoevre it on to such a platform, I think?

I observe from the drive at my present house, so it is flat and easy to roll in and out of the garage - if it were on wheels..

[david o]

'Strewth, she be a thing of beauty. Congratulations.

But the size... 6' !

Looking forward to the first light report too.

[Astro_Baby]

A real beauty there - really envious

[JAO]

Dave

As I suspected that is a real beauty. I am sure you will get much joy and many fine views with that great scope. The AE mount looks a winner too.

Clear skies

Adrian

[F15Rules]

My thanks to Peter, David, Mel and Adrian:)..hope I didn't forget anyone!

Peter, I hope you are well again now..I had a fiddle with various eyepieces yesterday afternoon, using a nearby building top, some 100 metres away...I managed to get good focus with all my Baader Orthos, and my Meade 4000 32 and 15mm's, and also my newly bought Tal 25mm Plossl...incidentally, I got this last Monday from warehouse express, for £19.99 plus postage -an utter bargain, if any of you want a really good general purpose low power eyepiece, try this Tal - every bit as good as EPs costing 3 or 4 times more!..

I managed to fit the counterweight tonight...it fits on by means of a small grubscrew which threads into the weight and tightens up with an allen key..I needed to find an imperial key, (got one today) and I cut a small brass insert to go into the weight hole first, then threaded in the grubscrew afterwards..it now holds nicely in place and sticks out about 3mm from the weight for easy readjustment if needed.

The mount could do with a service and repaint at some point, and I have some ideas about that from an AE fan of my acquaintance...the pier and tube I like fine as they are..hope to get a view of Mars in clear skies before the light nights chase it away:p..

Next step will be to fit up a finder worthy of the main OTA..

[nightfisher]

what a scope, did you ever get first light on it? as for a finder maybe an evostar 120 might be about right:)

[Doc]

The TAL 25mm especially the older one is one of the biggest sleepers ever, they are really good for the money.

[F15Rules]

Hi Nightfisher,

Sadly, I had to let the scope go as the mount weighed a ton..I did get a quick view of the moon and it was excellent, very sharp, with almost no CA at F14.5. I traded it for the F12 6" refractor by Beacon Hill which you can see pics of on my other posts...then got diagnosed with a double hernia (not the fault of the scope though) and had to sell that baby too.

That was when I bought the Lomo Astele Mak, and I intend to keep it, it is so good..

Dave