Astro_Baby

Hi All,

Hope your well. Just a quickie to say the site is backup. Domain expired but we didn’t get a notification and were blindsided. Apologies  to all you collimators out there. 
 

www.astro-baby.com
 

Mel

Great review - I can only imagine the work and time that went into it.

Mel

N8Allen - I bet that scope and mount combo provides for a zero wobble viewing

If its so bad, why do you have it ?

I like the look of it, its quite a sweety to look at and in its wooden fitted box its quite charming to get out occasionally and have a fiddle.  I have two of them.  One thats quite old and tatty and the one in the pics which, until I bought it a few years ago, had never been out of its factory wrapping.  It was still wrapped in its greaseproof paper and the tripod had clearly never been used.

Its kind of collectible, its got the full white light kit and its pretty much just that - a collectible.  Optically its fine and its objective does give sharp enough views but a telescope is much more than an objective lens.  The mount is horrible, the focuser worse.  In its day it represented the best there was but almost any modern scope will run it off the road.  Its no match for the TAL 100 either in its views or the ease of operation.

I really only keep it so I can occasionally get it out the box and go brrrrrrrrr - horrid old telescope - mostly to annoy the rose tinted glasses folks

Occasionally I toy with the idea of converting it to a solar scope as the lens is good but its an awful lot of cash and why bother when I could buy an off the shelf dedicated solar scope without all the headaches of conversion.

If I could ever rouse myself I would get some rings to mount it onto my HEQ5 (the Unitron rings are uniquie and only mount to the Unitron mount) and add a .965/1.25 diagonal to give it a run on a modern mount but I never seem to get this up the priority list.

Hey F15 - I am good, well as can be expected as I have had some health issues over the last few years.  You see I was right not to sell you my Unitron you may have hated it and all your nostalgia would be destroyed You'd never get misty eyed again at a long focus frac

A blast from the past...but believe me one look through this for nostalgia reasons will kill off that nostalgia for good.  Tricky focuser, wobbly mount, hideous .965 eyepieces that look like the came out a christmas cracker.  Amazing how far we have come since 1972 when this scope had its first light.

On the upside it has a nice wooden box  - probably because thats the best place for it

Its a Unitron/Polarex 114 with its white light kit.

I offered Synta an option to do a guide for the AZ EQ6 but they never responded.  They asked for the rights to post the other guides but we couldn't come to an arrangement.  I offered as part of that that if they would loan me an Alt Az EQ6 I would do a complete strip, rebuild and tune guide but never got a reply.

Shame because in time it will become useful - altruistic as I am I am not inclined to buy a mount just to have the guide made available.

Crazy really that for a few quid they wouldn't  play ball but hey ho.

The bearings that need replacing the most I have found is the small ones on the end of the worm roller shafts.  The main bearings in most mounts I have worked with are as good as any.  I would have to consult my notes to see which ones they were.  Strangely I didn't put it on the guide so if anyone can say with certainty what types and quantities they are it would be good.

Well the 130 comes , at least as far as I know, with a 10mm and 25mm eyepiecelus a Barlow, filters will be of little use on such a small scope though a moon filter is always handy.

I dont know what quality the eyepieces are with the Celestron but the truth is neither scopes standard eyepieces are really anything that should sway the decision. Decent plossl types are relatively inexpensive anyway.

I am being honest as I can here, having played with Celestron 130EQs because their owners were in tears was enough to make me curse the scope and even I found the collimation horrific on them to carry out. Witha ll the other headaches I would prefer to pay a bit more and buy the Skywatcher and just pay out for a few decent Plossls once you hakve had a bit of rime to decide what you want....get some eyetime in before you make a choice.

But looking at your pic would suggest to me that collimation mayw ell be out asw ell, that wont affect focus but assuming that view is kind of centred the collimation is out.

I'm with John....took the long way round and used a lot of cheap, mid priced and expensive EPs on the way to eyepiece Nirvana.  I learnt a lot on the journey though so it was worth it and most of the kit was resold on at a decent price.  I cut my stuff down to the point where it all fits in a single case which makes travel easier and also reduces the 'obsessive eyepiece swapping' disease when observing.  If you only have one 10mm eyepiece you are less inclined to keep thinking 'wonder if the ortho will do better here, or maybe the plossl or maybe the TMB - I dont know I am not sure this Pentax is doing what its supposed to and it seems mushy - lets try the ortho again etc etc'

I am now at stability and unless some amazing eyepiece came along which could see through cloud I doubt I'd change from what I have - contentment and peace at last

If its any consolation at all I almost tore my hair out when doing collimation for the first time - years back all most of us had was a collimation cap and for the scopes back then with long focal lengths it was adequate.  A cheshire tool makes life simpler (note most modern Cheshires are in fact combination sight and cheshire tools).

Lasers in my opinion cause beginners more problems than they solve - its perfectly possible to get a good laser response when in fact the mirror are not aligned.  Solid lasers like the Hotech or the Blug are a lot better in this regard but also a lot more expensive (I have never used a blug but some people who know about collimation swear they are the bomb).

A handy tool to have with you as well is a short tube refractor collimator - they are useful for quick field collimation of the primary mirror and can also be useful on some large and fast reflectors as they give a wider view down the tube.  Some combi/schesire tools have too long a sight tube which makes them cranky at times to use with modern fast reflectors.

Half the problem with collimation, especially of the secondary, is the confusing reflections hence the paper stuffed down the tube.

I am currently revising my own collimation guide to include alignment of the focuser to ensure its square.  I originally quite intentionally left this out as it seemed to make the process even harder and more daunting for the beginner but quite a few people have asked me to include it.

Writing a collimation guide is no easy task - if you make it too simple people get bad collimation, if you make it thorough people complain its complicated  I tried to capture all of the major issues and cover them step at a time in a logical manner with drawings and pctures to help the beginner get a view of what things should look like.  I would earnestly encourage anyone with time on their hands to write a guide of their own because a) you will learn stuff yourself and you may just make a guide thats useful to others - there can't be enough resources for this kind of thing.

The funny thing with collimation is that once you have got your head round it you kind of wonder why it ever seemed so hard before.  It is a very confusing thing as I am sure most of you would agree.

If you want a really comprehensive guide that covers everything (but at the risk of your head exploding ) I can recommend Vic Menards 'New Perspectives on Newtonian Collimation'  Jason Khadder who did the illustrations for that learned tome was kind enough to review my guide and peer review to make sure its all accurate as well as to graciously allow me to use some of his drawings/schematics.  That reminds me I must get another copy - mine got lost in a recent move.

Mel

I had a 5" reflector back in the late 1970s that looked a little like Tascos 16T - it was super deluxe and even had a clock drive.  Ok it was wind up and only ran for about 15 minutes but back then  it was the bomb and VERY expensive.  The clock drive had a teeny chime in it so when it was getting low on wind up power is would go 'ding-ding' to alert you to wind it back up  

No idea who the manufacturer was - I think it was marketed as 'Helios' but it came out of Japan it didn't have any manufacturers labels on it except at the back end it said something like 'Superiorr Japanese Astro Scope' and some Japanese markings, serial number etc  and unfortunately I have no pictures of it at all now but it was probably the prettiest scope I ever owned.  All white tube, black fittings and wooden legs.  I daresay if I had one like it today I would probably be horrified at how mushy the views, how duff the focuser was and the constant 'ding-ding' from the chimes and having to wind it up every 10 minutes would drive me nuts  but back then it was my pride and joy.

Amazing what you can get these days - that old scope probably cost about what a car would have cost back then

Jules,

How do you know how tight to put the front retaining ring in and also the outer retaining screws.

I have no reason to doubt my own scopes optics BUT I recall ading some time back about someone having their TAL 125 hand tuned by some whizz....any idea who that might be and or some source data on establishing the perfection of the set up ?

Good job by the way on cleaning.

The main problem usually with refractors is that you are financially stuck with a small telescope. 

Get a Mak All the aperture for lots less - course then you are stuck with a very high F ratio but nothing is perfect

Kerry, you have my sympathies as does anyone who blows stuff up. I have done myself in the long distant past through ignorance, stupidity and haste. Thats why I can advise now having learned better

For myself if there was any doubt in m mind I would have either tested the lead out with a multimeter OR taken the lead the lead apart to check OR thrown it away and got one I knew would work.

Many moons ago I blew up something a deal more expensive than an astro mount and also with potentially fatal consequences for a colleague and it was a lesson to me not to gamble on stuff and to be very sure before stuff gets connected and power is applied.

Your right that the manufacturer should but to be far if Sykwatcher implemented everything the astro world says they should do.....

better altitide bolts

pre align the polarsopet

tune the mount to perfection at tha factory

use ceramic bearings

put better chrome on the weight bar

have a higher QC finish for the inside

fi a better saddle plate

put overvoltagae protection onboard via fuses

polatity protection

put a locking fitting on the power lead

...and all of these have been asked for a various times then I rather suspect a few pence here and a few pence the would rapidly translate into a very much more expensive mount.

Honest Kerry that wasnt a pop at you....more of a general caution. You arent the first to blow up a mount but it would be nice if others took heed so you were the last. That wont happen but it would be nice if it did.

HUmmmmmmm why not just use a relaible lead and make sure you have the right polarity.

If you have a car ciggy adapter and a correct end on it thes no reason for this to ever be a problem surely. If you run from clip on terminals or a banana plug type outlet surely its simple enough to make sure red goes to red, black to black.

I have always steered people away from ANY lead which has one of the cursed poarity change over elements in it...its just plain dumb to have something like that around a piece of equipment that costs almost a grand which has no polarity protection. Its just asking for trouble.

Get the right gear and this stuff needs never happen but I am always amazed in this hobby that people will happily spend thousands on a scope, mount and eyepieces but ask them to pay for a power supply or lead and they are straight off down to poundland to see if they can get one for 99p and then post asking why things arent working. Seen it to many times and its often tragic to hear about.

Thats not a pop at the OP by the wau, I do understand that the universe is often arbitary and unfair but take reasonable precuations and. A lot of this grief needs never happen.

I did a bit of searchingfor you and it wasnt a rectifier that blows, i did think i was probably weong on that , its an inductor and it will be lcated nearbthe power input on the small board under the cin of the mount near the power connector. There should be two or three of them denoted on the board with an 'L' marking.

Ai will have another search romoz for you and see if. Can find the old post.

There are a couplempf small rectifiers on the circuit board near the power input. These often burn out, they are replaceable. If you do a bit of huntimg you will find a thread on it on here somewhere. It was quite some time ago someone else had the same problem and the kindly put up a few pics of how to fix it.

Having heard Widescreen Centre had some BGOs at a soecial price as Astrofest, which I missed out on due to my youngest getting the lurgie. I deceided to give them a call and see if there was any chance they still had some at the offer price of £59. Tyey said they would call me back and didnt. I put in a few calls none of which was returned but in the end spoke to somone who said yes they would do a pair at a special price as oer the show. I duly gave my card details and waited, and waited and waited. Nothing forthcoming so I called again to be told "they are on their way" nothing happened. Eventually I called again and was asked for the card details again as they hadnt in fact shipped. I handed over the card details again and waited. Zip, nada, nothing.

Another phone call......they are on the way........zip

another phone call........they are on the way......zip

another phone call....they should be there by now...well they arent...hmmmmm ok give it a few more days. i did give it a week. Zippo in the post so I call again and ask for the postal details having been told they were being sent recorded. i got told they coldnt check this bu would call me back.....needless to say they didnt.

Another phone call......ummm we need to check the book and will call back. No prizes for guessing that they didnt.

By now we are about five weeks from the initial call and at least three weeks since they claimed to have dispatched the goods. Fearing that another phone call by me would cause me to lose my temper ( which is pretty hard to do but once gone can become something alarming ) i had other half call up on my behalf. They got told over the course of about half an hour on the phone......

Can we call you back because we have a customer in the shop....no you cant was partners answer.

then they said the goods were not delivered and I should take it upnwith the post office. Partner told them no way...its your problem you sort it out and finally after much ado they agreed to credit the card back.

My opnion of widesscreen centre is their customer service is useless and they should stick to selling televisions or whetever else it they sell. I wont ever use them again. The amount of time and hassle over this has put me off ever using them again.

Thats my experience.........i havent dated this as I am weiting it after the event but that story is about as it happened to the best of my recollection.

John, the optics on the Unitrons are good but like most scopes of their day they are undermounted, well mine is anyway. The finder is a joke, it looks tres cool but woeks about as well as a bog roll tube.

The focuser is a horror all to itself......the focus tube extends about 12" but the focuser only has enough travel to gake the tube maybe an inch and a half. The EPs are about as non parfocal as you could ever make them. So when you swap EPs you have to unlock the focus tube lock, manually push the tube in or out unyil its close to focus and then use the focus knob for find focus. Some of the Polarex EPs focus massively far apart from the others. It all adds up to a lot of grief in actual use.

Optically the EPs and scope are very good but probably no better than a modern achro.

I have often considered converting my unitron to a solar scope. Its optics are very good and in a more limited role with more modern EPs it would probably be cracking. I keep meaning to get a calshell so I can mojnt it on an HEQ5 and a .965 to 1.25" converyor so I can give it a run on a modern mount with modern EPs and see how it fares but I have so much on it nit a project that will mature quickly.

There was a rime when they were ace, made in Japan and they did some beautiful hardware. Of course back when they were god they were also pricey. Back in the day it was common practice for the scope to come with a range of accessories and eyepieces and back then the EP choice was somewhat limited.......i was browing an old catalogue the other day and I wonder where the gearheads would be back then....a choice of a Kelner or a Ramsden, maybe a Plossl if you were flush cos they were primo and widefield and most scopes didnt come with them.

Even my Unitron from that period was pnly supplied with a single symmetrical ( plossl ) and that was only if you were good, ate all your greens, went to bed on time and had flipping great wadges of cash for the 'de luxe' model

Some of Tascos stuff from when they actually sold good hardware is quite colectible. Think its the 7TE thats the one that Tasco buffs like a lot........

I took my Unitron out once, never again, all the horrors of 1970s telescopes came back to life the buffs can say what they like about how brilliant the optics were but they probably like steam trains, trams, folk music and everything else that rightly died out 50 years ago . Thank the Lord for the Chinese for bringing us quality optics at a decent price.

Astro Baby.........is that the Central Scrutiniser in your signature?

Both really but maybe more leaning on Zappa . I change my sig often, when I get bored, or when i i amuses me to have something else. Sometimes philisophical, sometimes profound, sometimes stupid or just weird.

Bit like me really though I incline to stupid or ( being kind to myself ) weird

Rr ro go off ropic, tired and not with it today.

Stee, I wish I could have kept mine but at the time ai had noweher to store two scopes. The 130p is an amazing little scope and I couldnt rate it highly enough. Its got all the bits to introduce a beginner to the concepts of EQ mounts etc before they move on to more complex kit. But its not just a beginners 'toy' its a very fine scope in its own right. Lord years ago I would have given my eye teeth for a scope as good as the 130p.

It has its faults but they arent many and for the money its not much short of miraculous. I loved mine.

I did a similar mod ages ago for a polarscope illuminator, similar in approach to your power socket.

http://www.astro-baby.com/articles/polarscope%20dimmer%20for%20HEQ5/HEQ5_polarscope_dimmer.htm

Actually I wouldnt use a screw in power connector as I am mobile and I would always prefer to have the cable come loose if someone stepps on it or trips but I was going to do the mod just as a guide bu I have been sooooooo busy with other stuff.

Your. Od is very neat though, looks the business.

Weird.....I am doing the same mod on my own HEQ5 using the new style SW connector.......you beat me to it.