DRT

Incoming... This is turning into an episode of Pimp My Polarex

Good one The same seller also has a very secure looking 1.25" eyepiece adapter that would solve my problem with attaching a heavier diagonal/EPs - have emailed to ask if it fits this model - if it does I might treat myself to a nice dialectric to hold my new BCOs

I found a solution for the broken finder on Ebay today that is now on its way from Belgium so this... Will soon be replaced by...

Stop it - you've made me spend enough today already!

I certainly will, Mark

Good progress being made on the renovation... The mount looked like this yesterday... ...but now looks like this... I am even more impressed with this mount having taken it apart and re-assembled it. It is simplicity itself with only about twenty parts (excluding washers and bolts) and is as solid as a rock. None of those cheap, fragile Synta castings and stripped threads here The focuser is now smooth and much easier to use than it was last night. It is a strange affair with a long free-running draw tube that has the diagonal attachment at one end and the other end slides into the body of the main focuser. The long tube slides in and out manually to achieve coarse focus and then a smaller tube with an adjustment knob and only about one inch of travel is used to achieve fine focus. I do worry that the long tube could simply slide out and hit the ground if heavier accessories were attached to the back end So that is the main cleaning and servicing job done. Next is to sand down and re-varnish or oil the tripod legs.

The hybrid diagonal is on its way from Astroboot. At £6 it's worth experimenting. The supplied diagonal is a solid prism so lots of glass to go through. Might be a bit brighter with a mirror diagonal.

Thanks to Chris's excellent early-morning sales technique I now have a set of Baader Classic Orthos incoming for use with this scope I think I need to replace the 0.965" prism diagonal to get the best out of these but they should perform better than the supplied EPs and will have a wider FOV that will help me find things in the sky

It sure is!! I've now had a look at the Moon using the supplied EPs and also my TV 32mm Plossl and 8mm & 13mm Ethos using a 0.965" to 1.25" adapter I bought this week - WOW!! Still problems with the sticky focuser but I had no idea the small aperture at the front and the 0.965" fittings at the back would allow such a wide field with the Ethos EPs. That said, it was a terrifying few minutes trying to cradle the Ethos whilst not touching it so that I could catch it if any of the push-to fittings gave way. I need a more secure solution before I repeat that! But this scope certainly seems to come into its own when the Moon is in the sky I think some good quality Plossls is the answer for now

Here is an article written about this model by Company Seven who appear to have a number of museum pieces of astro kit: Unitron Model 114 - 2.4" (60mm) Achromatic Telescope

That's what I was thinking. If I can get some ply that is weathered to a similar extent than the rest of the box but still sound it will be easier when it comes to oiling or varnishing it to get a consistent colour. Not the biggest priority at the moment but I think the scope deserves it's original box in better nick than it is now.

I just had my first look at Saturn through it - very nice through the 18mm but a bit mushy with the 12mm. The focuser is the problem so I'll definitely spend a bit of time cleaning that tomorrow. I must say that the mount is a fabulous piece of engineering. The slow motion controls are very smooth and precise and don't transmit any vibration to the OTA. I'm looking forward to cleaning that up too. You're right, Chris, the objective cell is in tip top condition. The red paint looks like the original, factory applied, anti-tamper treatment to help maintain collimation and alignment of the lens elements. I read about this in an old article about these scopes and it seems to be genuine and untouched. The hard work will be in restoring the tripod and box. Lots of rubbing down to do to remove what little is left of the original varnish and the top of the box needs to be completely replaced so I need to find some reclaimed plywood. I might outsource those bits to my now retired father-in-law

Thanks, Steve. The objective is much cleaner than I thought it would be and nothing like any of the other glass parts which were all completely covered in dust. The picture of the "Achromatic Amplifier" (Barlow) at the end of the above post shows how all the other glass bits looked when I opened the box. I was dreading taking the lens cap off the OTA but was pleasantly surprised when I did Looking forward to the Moon coming up later to give me something easy to aim at!

It arrived today and I have started a review thread here.

I picked this up on Ebay last weekend for the Princely sum of £93. The seller was very honest in his description so I knew I was taking on a renovation project but thought it worth the risk to grab this little piece of history for not much money. Here are some pictures from the unpacking this afternoon... I spent a couple of hours cleaning the eyepieces, diagonal and barlow this evening so that I could give it a go. The focus tube, focuser and Alt-az mount are very grimed up and stiff so that is tomorrow's job. I have just come inside having experienced my first light using this scope and the supplied 18mm eyepiece. I couldn't see anything through the finder but managed to line the scope up at Venus and had a fabulous view of it in half phase with no sign of CA. The view was very crisp despite the stiffness of the focuser, which made it difficult to fine tune the focus. Lots of work to do to get this into shape but I am very pleased with my first few hours with it More later.

I can confirm with all certainty that it is not!

Can I borrow your Achromatic Amplifier please Dave?

Provided the clouds cooperate the review will certainly come. I have been reading up about these for the past 48 hours and apparently they sold a barlow under the name of an "Achromatic Amplifier" that you can stick in the focus tube and turn the scope into an f/30 If anyone has a Unitron Achromatic Amplifier kicking around please let me know

I certainly will, Jules - I think it is going to need a little TLC to get a few decades of dust and grime off it before it will show its best but I'm very much looking forward to trying it.

Very nice, Michael. Is that a third frac hiding on the wooden table in your second picture?

I didn't think it was a bad deal to grab a piece of history at £93 I'm not sure the focuser will be too chuffed about holding the Nag31 so I'm going to try it retro with the supplied 0.965mm EPs I haven't had much chance to use if for what it is good for yet due to the weather and some of the more familiar open clusters not being visible from my garden at this time of year. But from what I have seen through it I am very impressed - the FOV is enormous and I can't wait to try it under a dark winter sky.

My current gaggle of fracs... Skywatcher ED100 and Lunt LS50THa Skywatcher StarTravel150 and Tele Vue Pronto Polarex-Unitron 60mm f/9 (circa 1950s and on its way from Ebay now) Gone but not forgotten are my Evostar 120mm and StarTravel 102mm ...and I sold my Dob

...and then you wouldn't need your barlow for the 24mm Pan so you would end up with another space to fill. What a dilemma!

If I am not mistaken that space would be a nice snug home for one of these, which coincidentally would fit right into your line-up

My wife had a look through my £30 Ethos 8mm at Saturn this evening and agreed that it was worth every penny