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Si Ricketts

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Everything posted by Si Ricketts

  1. Great thanks, I’ll take a look at the pic. The only wear I can find is on the small clutch shaft where it enters the motor. Will take a proper look when I strip it completely for a repaint. At the moment I just want to get it pointing skywards. Although the weather over here is pretty appalling at the mo.
  2. Thanks star man, that’s good to hear. Whereabouts is the nylon bearing located? Any pics? The new chassis transformer arrived and I jury rigged it to test the motor and clutches etc. a couple of bits to complete the enclosure are on their way. I’m currently working through a few things. Motor works fine, I had to adjust the spur gear to eliminate back lash. Next step is to mount up the scope and check and adjust the main clutch. It hasn’t been stored very well over the previous years so lots of fettling to do. After this it’s a proper optics check and collimation. (First time for me) Will no doubt be posting again soon.
  3. I like a bit of project Geoff, that’s why I bought the Tal…..😉 Making up the psu will be fine as I've got all the other bits required to make a nice job of it. Thanks again for your help and advice.
  4. Thanks again Geoff, after some more browsing last night I found another more recent TAL manual which stated the power rating of the psu at 10W which works out at 0.8A. I think this chassis trans should do the job? It’s a dual output 12VAC with a total 20VA/0.8A rating. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/chassis-mounting-transformers/0504571
  5. Many thanks Geoff for taking the time to reply, yes I've done all the normal checks with a meter and had a look around for off the shelf transformers, both the packaged and bare units providing a Primary AC mains tap and secondary tap of 12V AC. There are a number of 12V AC options here. https://pulsardevelopments.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=+12v+ac+adaptor I've also found this chassis mounted trans which I could easily make up. Its 50VA which should give just over 2A output for the 12V AC side. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/chassis-mounting-transformers/0504672 This or something similar would be my ideal choice and I could easily make this up. Any thoughts on the 2A output being good enough
  6. Thanks for the replies, Thanks Geoff, the pictured transformer is actually a block about the size of a block of butter, sorry about the photo. It’s also a sealed unit and very solid so maybe filled with resin. Theres no way I can get inside without destroying it. You have made me think though as the only thing I haven't done is check the mains cable continuity between the plug and trans but if a conductor has broken it'll probably be right where the mains cable enters the trans. I could cut the cable close to the trans and check. My concern is I've seen a picture online of the Tal psu and it’s about 3 times bigger than the one I've got, hence I was concerned about the current rating. I did read somewhere that the original Tal psu was problematic and my broken one may be a replacement. Hence the question. Thanks Peter, I had a poke around the Douglas site and will probably contact them once I've confirmed the spec. This will teach me to take on a old basket case. Hopefully someone may be able to confirm what she needs..
  7. Hi, I recently bought a pretty rough Tal 2 which included a non working motorised mount. At the moment I’m trying to feel my way around a list of problems which includes buying a new psu for the drive. The psu supplied with scope is UK made and is rated 12v AC 0.7A. This unit does not have any output and is obviously faulty. Unless I’m patient and very lucky I’m not expecting to be able to buy an original Tal psu, so my question is does anyone have an original unit which may have the spec written on it. I’d like to ensure that any new non Tal unit I buy has the same or better current rating to ensure it’s not overloaded. I do have the original specification for the scope but of course those kinds of specs aren’t included. Thanks Si
  8. I hang my head in shame. After a bit of experimentation this afternoon I got the eye pieces working with a bit of sawn off water waste pipe. Whilst celebrating this little triumph I was looking at the 15mm eye piece, the only one that worked, which I though had a fixed screw mount. Yes, you guessed it, it was pushed in and the little clamp tang slot was full of fluff and rubbish so looked part of the tube 🤦🏼 If you have any forum awards I’d like to put myself forward for newb dumb question of 2022. Thanks Micheal for taking the time to come back to me. Onwards and upwards.
  9. Evening all, to set the scene, I'm a newbie to telescope ownership and came home with a very tatty Tal 2 yesterday. It’s been in its box for years. All sorts of issues I knew about before buying, non working motor drive, bad cosmetics, possibly some bits missing. Good bits I 'believe' I new about, good primary and secondary mirror and all the relevant standard extras, eye pieces, filters, screwdriver etc etc. I bolted it together this afternoon and observed the moon, Jupiter, with one ring (which I could not believe) and 3 moons and I even got a glimpse of a pink fuzz of Saturn near the horizon. All a first for me. All done with the Kellner f15 eyepiece. My first of many questions, I'm not quite sure how to use the eyepieces. The f42, or any other combination of the eye pieces, with the exception of the Kellner, would not focus. Looking at the manual, see attached pics, it looks like there’s a piece missing which fits between the eyepieces and the focusing mount. Also if I carefully held the f42 eyepiece away from the focuserI could get a clear image. Hope that makes sense. The extension tube with the silver locking screw looks like it should fit on but the eyepieces are to small to insert into it. I wonder whether this is an incorrect replacement for the original Tal extension tube? I know there are issues with some Tals as they have 32mm dia eye pieces, I've measured mine at 1.25”. Any ideas..?
  10. Evening everyone. I'm new to astronomy although I've been intending to dip my toe in since childhood. After a bit of reading and plenty of YouTube I've decided to take the plunge and did the wrong thing… and came home yesterday in possession of a tatty Tal 2 Newtonian with a non working motor, poor cosmetics and goodness knows what other issues. Got the manual out, bolted it together and after some trial and error spent the late evening looking at the moon, then got a good view, in my very limited opinion, of Jupiter and 3 of its moons and then a pink fuzz of Saturn just above the horizon. Obviously loads of stuff to check, clean and adjust and I'm looking forward to the challenge. Also I'll be looking to join the Norman Lockyear Astronomy Society at Sidmouth later this month, so would be good to hear from anyone on here who already belongs. Bye for now. Si.
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