Alan64

The dust-cap was masked-off where needed... ...then painted matte-black(chalkboard-black, as usual)... The recessed rim round the stopped-down aperture was blackened(left), and the reverse was blackened utterly. I will not be fitting the plug until after a day or so, and to allow the paint to dry/cure completely.

And there I was thinking, all along, that Japan had handed over the blueprints; no, not really. The heart of any telescope kit is the objective. You can re-figure the primary-mirror of a Newtonian, at the home-level, but not the doublet-lens of an achromat. I've acquired a few entry-level telescopes, and the mirrors and lenses have been very good, if not excellent, and that determination made whilst simply observing with them. You will get your money's worth, and more besides, in so far as the objective. I feel that the manufacturers must provide at least that. Else, sales would drop dramatically. Incidentally, I'm not through with the mount yet. I had gotten a spare mount-head from Meade, under warranty, and for a wonky DEC shaft-assembly. For, in addition, I may have to replace this... ...as that hole for the RA-shaft results in slop. I've thought about a partial bronze-bushing of sorts, to tighten it up, but first I'll need to test the hole of the spare, to see if it would be worth the while in replacing it.

The plug is not too loose, nor too tight, just right rather. Yes, you guessed right, and a final application of... ...felt; hard, red felt. For this type of shimming, you want the hardest self-adhesive felt you can find; none of that down-soft stuff, no, but it would be better than nothing at all.

Aluminum-foil tape was applied round and over the plug's glossed flange, for a smoother substrate for the final application, and of...whoops, mustn't spoil it... I haven't even collimated the telescope yet. That will have to wait until the dust-cap and its plug are completed; although, it doesn't have to, but is going to rather.

These mounts were designed and manufactured in Japan. The Chinese then cloned them, yet something was lost in the translation.

Shhh, you're going to spoil the surprise.

A 32mm Plossl serves two purposes: for the widest view of the sky possible, in helping you to find objects in the sky, and in tandem with the finder; then, for the widest views of the Milky Way, the Pleiades, and the galaxy in Andromeda.

For the secondary-mirror, the hub, I take one of the recessed set-screws(for sizing up) to my local hardware and get socket-cap screws(thumb-screws essentially)... The white-arrow points to a white-nylon washer that I epoxy on the back of the secondary-mirror's stalk. That gives the set-screws something to dig into besides the soft metal of the stalk. Without it, the set-screws make dimples in the metal, making it difficult to create new, slight re-positionings of the mirror. The screws will simply want to slip back into the dimples of an older collimation position; a simulation...

The next step was to apply clear-gloss enamel onto the flange all round... On top of that, something else will be applied. Then on top of that, something else again; but nothing else after that.

The satin-black enamel I use is obviously oil-based, as it hasn't cured quite yet. Still, I attached the knob, permanently, and in order to handle it for the next step; glamour-shot...

These overseas kits arrive somewhat unfinished, not finished properly. It is then that we take them into our homes and finish them, and to where we want them.

That's rather poor-quality felt they provide, but I am surprised at that having come loose, as Chinese adhesives are notoriously tenacious. The old felt peels off somewhat easily. Some or most of the adhesive may be left behind however, yet is easily removed with BBQ-lighter fluid, at right... Think nothing of replacing that sub-standard felt with that of better quality, which should be easily available locally. In this case, I had to replace the factory-felt with that slightly thicker... The surfaces of the rings and what-not should be wiped down with isopropyl-alcohol or 100%-acetone before applying the new material. The narrow strip of felt lining the dew-cap of the refractor acts as a shim, and is apparently too thick. Self-adhesive flocking is thinner, yet more difficult to source. For example, I used flocking for this holder for a finder-scope... Felt would've been too thick in that event. To adjust the thickness when using flocking, add however many layers of aluminum-foil tape required to the substrate.

The top and thin side of the plug was primed, then sprayed with satin-black enamel... It'll be tomorrow before I can even think about handling it.

Oh, that's just a decorative yet practical knob, static; for removing the plug when I'm bored, and in having nothing else better to do than to observe with that stopped-down, grossly-obstructed, 60mm aperture.

Cake's done... After the edge was ground, sanded and smoothed, for the application of satin-black, I temporarily installed the knob; glamour-shot... The reverse... That won't be seen of course; good thing, too. It looks like a lid for a jar of sweets; candy...eye-candy.

That's J-B Weld steel-reinforced epoxy mixed up there. You want to retain the unused portion, and to know when it's safe to handle... ...and in about 16 hours. After it cures, you'd be hard-pressed to separate the two components, even with two pairs of pliers.

This particular online-shopping experience tested my patience; but at the same time it taught me patience... Again, last late-November, I ordered two of these... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-plastic-M4-M5-M6-M8-M10-M12-thread-ball-shaped-head-clamping-nuts-knob-ah/392308035882?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=661295015533&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 ...and from China, and all that that entails. I ordered a spare in case one of them got squished out, out of the notoriously-skimpy bag these sellers tend to use, and during transit. The package arrived in the U.S., the west coast, on December 3rd. But did I get all excited? Of course not, as I knew that USPS was not going to be in any hurry whatsoever in delivering it; been there, done that, before. The bags they use are not unlike those used for packing sandwiches. All the way from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, which is right next door to China, to the west. Aren't they lovely? See that screw? I had gotten that locally, an M5, and round the time I placed the order. It fits perfectly, but I will have to shorten it somewhat; glamour-shot...

I had no idea you were there until now. You should've alerted me... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5FwsIkJCXU It's not glued heavily, not at all. In any event, my own wasn't. You gently work round it with a dull knife or other, then pop it off. In so far as a desire to re-attach it, why would you want to do that?

My apologies, Anthony, as I was looking at the 50ED on a U.S. vendor's site; my bad. Not too long ago, I got this 70/300, a 70mm f/4.3 achromat... I live about 40km south of a large city, but in a semi-rural to rural area. I have trees all around me, and an occasional power-transformer. I took this afocal-shot through that 70mm shortly after it had arrived, and not bad, not bad at all... ...not nearly as much false-colour as I was expecting, and this one should've exhibited oodles of it. On top of that, a camera will reveal more false-colour than the eye might. I didn't get it for travelling, but hopefully to integrate it as a finder-scope for my blind Maksutov. Have a look at this 70/400, a 70mm f/5.7 achromat... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-21035-Travel-Scope-Telescope/dp/B001TI9Y2M Now, I'm not saying to get that one, but it does have a longer focal-length, and would exhibit even less false-colour than my Barska. According to that listing's image, it comes with a short, Vixen-style dovetail-bar, which would enable you to attach it to standard telescope-type mounts in addition. It may, or may not, press all of your buttons.

Would this be too large for your purposes... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/sky-watcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-ota.html It's at about the same price as the wee 50mm.

I have to wonder if there would be any need to mark the position of the meniscus in relation to the optical-tube, and for that particular telescope. Then, in the next moment, I have to wonder if a glue immune to creeping might be used, like 5-minute epoxy. In the end, I'd rather a more permanent solution.

The secondary-baffle is glued over and round the mirror. It sounds as though the baffle has either come loose or has slowly shifted off-center... https://i.imgur.com/c1wgrNY.jpg You want to work in as dust-free an environment as possible. Great pains must be taken not to soil the mirror, and to apply whichever adhesive that would be suitable sparingly yet thoroughly. You don't want the adhesive to spread over and onto the edge of the mirror, nor onto the meniscus outside the baffle. Be certain to remove the old adhesive from the baffle and the area of the meniscus surrounding the mirror.Be certain to remove the old adhesive from the baffle and the area of the meniscus surrounding the mirror. The surfaces to be joined should be clean, grease- and oil-free. Incidentally, the secondary-baffles of these commercial Maksutovs are configured for daytime/terrestrial use. For nighttime/astronomical use, the baffle should be reduced in height. That would also reduce the diameter of the secondary-obstruction, which would increase contrast and sharpness. Re-blackening/flocking the baffles within would also help in improving the contrast even further. You may or may not wish to pursue that. I will be, myself, as this is the flared secondary-baffle of my 127mm Maksutov... ...and it's begging for a reduction.

There are a few tutorials online on how to make one. Here's one I came across some time ago, and when I was toying with the idea... https://stellafane.org/tm/dob/mount/index.html Back in the early 2000s, I had purchased this OTA, without a mount... It's a 200mm f/5 Newtonian. To this day, I've yet to observe with it. The two items that require some effort to procure: textured laminate, like that used for kitchen countertops; and PTFE(Teflon) pads. In addition, to make the mount as light as possible, aircraft-type plywood is preferred. The mounts of the commercial, mass-produced kits from China are made from laminated particle-board; much like that of assemble-it-yourself furniture... ...and quite heavy. You want to try to get away from that sort of material; run from it even. It's quite possible at that to study images of the commercial mounts, and go from there, but using said plywood instead.

Which one?

My bad, as that must be the PS1000 kit from Jessops, and with these eyepieces instead; my bad...