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Evening SGL

I have been refurbishing a vintage Meade ED127 scope and I'm looking for some replacement tape for the focus tube. After taking apart the focuser there are two very thin strips of a clear teflon type material that I need to replace. It's so thin it's almost like sellotape.

Could anyone  suggest a source where I could obtain some? Had no luck searching the web so far.

Thanks

Paul

Hi SGL

Does anyone have any info on a controller for old vixen stepper motors called the Pinpoint Pro. It's been given to us with an EQ5 to be used with some cubs and scout groups and seems to track and do things but I can't seem to find anything on the interweb and could do with a set of instructions.

Many thanks

Paul

SOLVED: Just to update in case of any use to other astronomers searching the internet with a similar issue. I have found that Meade used 3.27" and a slightly finer thread and Celestron a 3.29" thread. Both called them 3.25" threads but they are not the same. Celestron being bigger will likely fit the meade but meade will not fit celestron.

Thank you @Plantins for the mental nudge to consider a new adapter, it solved the problem.

I will also like to mention Rother Valley Optics were very helpful and rectified the problem by sending out the correct lower flange.

received today and the celestron standard moonlite CS flange does not fit either. It's 3.25" and not 3.27" so fits my meade lx200 but not my celestron C11.  A bit stumped. Did Celestron change from their 3.25" which was actually3.27" to the meade 'standard' 3.25" somewhere down the line?

Thanks for the advice. I managed to find a replacement ex demo celestron format upper and lower flange from RVO. My existing flange is a one piece unit that bolts directly to the CS focuser meaning it can't be rotated easily. The replacement has a seperate upper and lower flange allowing for rotation which is useful as I intend to  defork the OTA in the near future and also will make it easy for me to just change the lower flange if I  ever need to fit it to another scope.

Evening SGL

I have a lovely Moonlite SCT focuser from a Meade LX200 and I would like to use it with a Celestron 11" SCT. The moonlite uses a 3.25" Meade SCT thread so it won't screw on to the Celestron 3.29" rear cell adaptor directly.

If I remove the 3.29" thread adaptor from the C11 it reveals a 2" 24 TPI thread . I wondered if anyone knows of a (meade) 3.25" to 2" thread adaptor that I could replace the celestron 2" to 3.29" thread adaptor with so I can fit the moonlite focuser. I haven't so far been able to find anything online.

A couple of photos to show the 3.29" adaptor fitted to the 2" rear thread and the moonlite focuser I'm trying to fit. 

Any help much appreciated!

Paul

Thanks All

the original one has a what looks like a teflon end to it. The thread looks very fine though so 0.75 is correct. I haven't had a response from WO but I have tried the screw from a friends Altair 60mm scope and it fits. So these are probably China generic and used on many different scopes and not just WO.

The bolt put pressure on the focus tube to stop it moving when a heavy load is connected. The smaller screws I thought were for alignment of the drawtube.

Thanks Billy, it looks like a very fine thread. I'll see if I can get hold of a M8x1.

Thanks Gus

I have contacted WO and waiting for a reply. 

Hello all

I wondered if anyone could help me identify the size/thread of the focuser shaft locking thumb screw that I somehow lost on my William Optics Z61.

It's the thumb screw that fits the top of the focuser, shown in the picture below missing (the white circle)

It seems to be an 8mm diameter but a metric 8mm (M8) bolt thread is too coarse.

I'd appreciate it if anyone can identify the size and thread or even a source of a replacement.

Thanks

Paul

Thanks both. yes I opened it up and doesn't look like much in the way of protection (nothing). Looks like the IC's have popped. Looks like I'll have to buy a new one. £75 for a new enhanced handset so not the end of the world and yes I shall be more carful in the future.

There does look to be a lot of space inside so I might pop in a 7806 3 pin voltage regulator IC and then I can run it on 12V which would be more convenient.

And as luck would have it someone has just advertised one in the for sale section! Great timing!

Hi All

I wondered on the off chance whether anyone is familiar with the internal circuitry on these handsets? Whilst not concentrating I plugged in my 12V power supply rather than the 6V supply and have properly killed it! I briefly took the top of and nothing obvious to the eye. Before I set about further probing with multimeters etc. I wondered if anyone had experienced this before and knew if there was any protection in there (blown diode or similar) There doesn't even look like there is any basic voltage regulation from my cursory look and if the 12V is just applied directly to the pins of the chips  then I'll probably be wasting my time investigating. So before I do I'd be grateful if anyone knows if I be wasting my time and I'll take the plunge and buy a new one.

Thanks

Paul

I had a startravel 102 (well the celestron equivalent) bought secondhand for £50. I wasa quite impressed with the bright view from such a cheap refractor although there was quite a lot of false colour/CA.

I used it as my grab and go and as a guiescope. I decided to use a manfrotto tripod and head for travel purposes rather than a cheap EQ1 or 2.

The ST80 is nont a bad little scope but I think if you can find a 102 used then you'll appreciate the extra aperture.

One other thing to consider is the weight - I was suprised at the weight of the 102mm so this may be something to consider if you want to use your 200p for imaging on a EQ5 - once you start adding cameras etc it can potentially reach the limits of the mount.