lansonlad

After further work on the scope I thought I'd include some pics of my findings. As observed by some of you the diagonal does have a passthrough. Someone has for some reason cut a section out of the tube as some point, hence the black sleeve that was acting as a connector. The images show the "clean" focuser end of the tube compared to the cut end and the inside of the sleeve. The focuser I've ordered has substantially more travel than the existing one but I'm keen to make sure that I re-attach the objective end the correct distance apart so any tips would be welcome. Marcus

Thank you all for the input, its been greatly appreciated. Update time. I've spent some time looking at the mount and tripod and decided its not worth battling with. The legs of the tripod are jammed completely and won't extend, even after a good soak with some silicone spray. The mount body is nearly all plastic construction so is showing signs of wear on some threaded parts, and again like the tripod some parts are so stiff that even after removing parts and applying spray there was no improvement. My plan of action is to replace the mount and tripod with something that is a little "future proof", replace the knackered focuser with a 1.25" version (no need for crazy expense) and a star diagonal, then I can use my existing eye pieces that have been sitting unused for the last few years. The adhesive that fixed the lens housing onto the tube has also failed, luckily the polystyrene tray that the tube packs into gives me the "length" that the tube should be, combined with a new focuser that has more travel that the existing focuser and this should help compensate if I secure the housing a bit too far down the tube. Look out for updates. Thanks

Last night my wife came home with a very large black box, a colleague was moving and did I want their old telescope. After doing some digging it is a Carton Optics (CoC) scope that has clearly seen better days. The mount is stiff and there are no slowmo controls in the box, theres only one screw to hold the finder in place (and the finder appears to be a barlow lens as I can't get anything into focus) and finally the focuser is slipping, after stripping it down it appears the teeth on the focus tube are worn. It also 0.965" eye pieces, there are two on the box but they've seen better days. I could replace the mount and try and repair the focuser but is it worth my time and money? Opinions please. Thank you