A McEwan

Sorry to go off-topic slightly, but... does that have Vixen/Celestron optics? And a metal objective call? Do you know how old it is? Have you posted about this scope before? When are you selling it?

As this thread includes "from our Dob history" -and I'm not sure if I shared this on here, here is my long-departed GSO 8" f6 Dob. It started off basic enough, but after a while I stripped it all down, sent the mirrors for Hi-lux coating, sprayed the interior flat black, sprayed the exterior in Peugeot Blaze Yellow, added a "steering knob", added a Skywatcher electric focuser motor (later on I upgraded to a Moonlite with motor drive), added a proper flexi dew-shield, Bob's knobs, uprated collimation springs, had magnetic counter-balance weights instead of the tension-adjuster springs, did some work on the base to make it super-smooth with just the right amount of stiction.....and.... it was a GREAT performer! Had many great nights with that scope - but it always point blank refused to show me the Horsehead! It's one of the scopes I shouldn't really have sold, but I'd kind of tired of it and wanted something else, so it went. Later on I would get the 10" GSO and even a 12" Driven Skywatcher Dob, but both of those went fairly quickly as they were a bit too cumbersome for me to transport easily. Oh well.

I've had two of these 90mm Evostars in the past (maybe three actually...🤔) and they performed excellently under the stars with well aligned optics. The focusers needed cleaning up and regreasing, but this one's coming with a 2" Crayford already attached so that's (probably) one foible pre-empted. I'm highly optimistic it will be excellent for solar - as long as it's generally a good 'un!

Skywatcher Evostar 90!

Personally, I think a good refractor with a Herschel wedge (and a Baader Solar Continuum filter on the Wedge's eyepiece holder barrel and variable polariser on the eyepiece) is the best way to view the Sun in white light. I have read that longer focal ratios provide a better image, but I haven't really tested that. I've used f7.5 ED scopes (80mm, 120mm, 100mm) and f9 (100mm) and had great results with them all. I have looked through other people's filtered Maksutovs and found the view quite underwhelming, but that may be because I'm used to what I'm used to, you know? For what it's worth, I'm waiting for a 90mm f10 achromat to arrive in the next couple of days so hopefully will be reporting on its performance with the Baader 2" Herschel Wedge I have. Ant

Congratulations! I have a 90mm f10 on its way to me for exactly that purpose (and to use with the Quark), and if I can ever pick up a 1.25" HW then I'll be using my Swift 77mm f12.9 (proper classic!) for that job too! 😎

I'm afraid it's not something I have any experience of. If my garden wasn't surrounded by bright street-lights I might have done it myself, but not worth it for me. I do have a freind who set up their ETX permanently on a pier in the garden and installed a tool storage box over the top of it so it just had to be unfolded open to be used. It was VERY weatherproof, especially with a secondary lining of a tarpaulin over the top of the system inside the "box". He set his up so that apart from opening it up it could all be fully controlled remotely from inside!

Is a permanent setup an option? Maybe a pier in the garden with mount head fixed and aligned on it and with a weatherproof cover on it until it's needed? It seems a shame to have one's "dream setup" and then find that some aspect of it is preventing you from getting enjoyment from it. I know for me too carrying heavy stuff around is one of the major downfalls in the hobby. Ant

Example pic (no longer owned):

Yes! Spotted first in my Lunt and thought it was so amazing I set up the Tak with Quark. Most amazing views today. So much structure. Wasn't expecting it: a nice surprise for today (day off)!

Hi. Looking to get a small amount of paint made up to match the paint on my old Swift 831, and wondering how to go about it and who would be the best people to approach. Have any of you done this in the past and how did it go for you?

Astroboot often have things like this up for grabs (and lots of other useful little bits n bobs that you didn't know you needed until you see them....) https://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot Ant

Hi all. I would like recommendations for a company or individual who would be able to assess (and adjust if necessary) and clean a refractor objective lens for me. I have had lenses cleaned by Orion Optics in the past and they did a pretty good job, but to get them to assess/adjust would be quite pricey. The scope objective in question is a Swift 831 77mm achromatic doublet. Any recommendations gratefully received! Ant

Nice wax, good resuls - but wow it can take some buffing! 😬

Amazingly, I have a tin of this too! I bought it when I was working on a project Skylight Telescope package, and it was recommended by Richard Day, but the project didn't take off and the tub went into the cupboard under the stairs! I'd forgotten all about it until I saw this post! I must dig it out. Got some time off, so I must treat my scopes to a coating! (specially as I need to polish the wooden tripods again too) Ant

That's what I was doing with my Telrad, and what I wanted to get away from. But yes, it certainly works!

It's not on the wrong side, it's just not on the right side. Which for me is perfectly right anyway.

Happiness....!

AZ4 is great with it. AZ3 (modified with counter-weight) is also great, but it really needs the modification. AZ5 I don't know as I haven't had one.

Well, I got a very quick half hour First Light session. The scope cooled outside for half an hour first, and first target was Mizar & Alcor. Beautiful sharp stars at 50x with no hint of false colour. Increasing to 100x showed similarly sharp views. I then switched to Polaris. The companion B was easily seen. There was some turbulence so I can't be 100% sure that my short session can really confirm anything yet, but I feel there is some astigmatism. I'm assuming that is what I detected, as outside of focus the rings seemed slightly oval horizontally, and inside focus slightly oval vertically... But I really need a longer session. Pleased overall, and at low to medium power the two objects I viewed were very presentable! At least I know "it works"!

Just a quick question. Not really aware of the Vixen HR eyepieces, but I see adverts for them occasionally, and am wondering... how good are they? What are their positives and negatives? do people part with them regularly? Thanks Ant

My Vixen GP is my workhorse EQ mount. Bought it at least a decade ago and it gets regular use. I will take some pictures hopefully this week sometime. I'd like to get a nice old Polaris mount too as a light-weight alternative for my smaller (classic) refractors.

Focuser update! After a couple of hours work (- honestly, thought I'd NEVER get some of those tiny screws undone -) this is what I'm left with. Oh yeah 😁 - this is what I was aiming for! Can't wait now for a proper astronomical first light. If you haven't seen one of these older focusers before, there is an inner drawtube, which slides in and out, and is fixed by a compression locking collar. This is used to achieve "rough focus" and then the actual rack & pinion focuser is used to achieve fine focus.

Superb looking scope. Looks like it has a lot of the necessary mods done already. I love the fact that it comes with TWO finderscope mounting points - so you can effectively set it up for use with left or right eye. Something that is missing from most other Newts. What do we know about mirror specs on these scopes?

Another small update. I got a card through the door today, inviting me to visit the local Post Office and pay them some money so that I could get a parcel to open. After doing so, I made myself a cuppa, cleared a space, and opened up this box - all the way from the US of A, and a gentleman over there who is very active on the Classic Telescopes section of Cloudynights, Dave Trott. Inside the package, an original 40mm finderscope for the Swift 831! Complete with the adjustment mechanism, and home-fabricated attachment brackets. I'll need to finish those off - paint, line with felt, select a suitable bolt to hold it all together. Getting excited now about getting this project near ready for the coming season. Not that it needs much work, really. I've been really lucky to find this scope - and the finder - in such good original condition. As an aside, my brother, who is more familiar with binoculars and prisms etc, is dismantling and cleaning the correct-image converter for me, as although it works well, it needed a really good clean. Ant