helios carbon fibre 6" f5

[nightfisher]

well its finished, the transformation of the old helios st 150

carbon fibre tube and dew shield, 9x50 r/a finder

and a dual speed crayford focuser! im very pleased with the changes and it star tests spot on, will be great for galaxy hunting:D

have to confess the carbon is fake! its carbon vinyl

[oldfruit]

I think that looks the biz!

[swamp thing]

Awesome:)

Regards Steve

[spaceboy]

WOW Well :cool::cool: Nightfisher!!!

[hunterknox]

Very nice. Very nice indeed. Well done, sir!

[Moonshane]

it would be interesting to guage people's reactions when you ask them to 'see how light carbon fibre is'. I wonder how many would be like the 'emperor's new clothes' story and confirm that it's much lighter than they thought!

[Damo636]

Very very nice job.

[Revs]

I like it! Has it made it any lighter?

[russ]

Awesome job, looks the absolute business......and now got me thinking about the Astromaster 90

Quick look on Ebay and i could pimp my 90 for £6.50

[Rob]

Nice job. how did you go about connecting the lens cell.. its a thread it is not?. did you have it milled

[russ]

Nice job. how did you go about connecting the lens cell.. its a thread it is not?. did you have it milled

I think it's a self adhesive sheet. So just stick it on the tube...at least that's what i'm hoping as i wouldn't mind doing this myself.

[Rob]

Right.. I've already got some of that on order for my AR80.. looks great and very cheap, should be waiting for me when I get home. I have been thinking about ordering a true (real) carob fiber tube for my 200P DS though. Theres a few stockists in china that will ship.

[philj]

You nalmost had me there Jules In was about to ask where you got the CF tube from:D Looks very posh that much nicer than the plain black gloss paintwork. Does it feel lighter in weight:D

phil

[nightfisher]

thanks for all the great comments, i should have saved this for 1st april and tried to pass it of as a real carbon fibre job, got to admit it turned out better than i planned, still got some air bubbles to sort, and had a silver sticker made "HELIOS ST-150" this has been worth doing as the objective lens is in great condition

[astroimpulse]

I tell you what...that is very very good.

I normally avoid things like this because they usually look tacky.

Not this! In fact...it will solve my soon to be scope issue. I'm not a fan of white OTAs and I reckon I'll give it a go.

Nice one nightfisher

Any linkies?

[astroimpulse]

Edit: Tons on eBay

[nightfisher]

yes got it from evilbay, but have a think about how you will apply it, its very forgiving but you want to get it right 1st time, pm me for more details if needed

[astroimpulse]

Nah, it's cool. I do this as part of my job over the years (well, using sticky vinyl to cover things...never a scope ).

Just never crossed my mind as a solution to white OTAs

Very grateful

Saying that...I also know how horribly wrong things can go!

I'll have to plan carefully, as you say

[F15Rules]

Jules, that was worth waiting for!. I must say it had me fooled! And I bet you will think the views look better than before..maybe the CA will be less, the views sharper, the contrast better...much cheaper than buying an Apo or a Chromacor:D..

Great job my man!

All we need now is a very detailed first light report..

cheers

Dave

[nightfisher]

i have had a quick first light with new focuser and finder, its good but proper first light will be a session of galaxy spotting

[russ]

Good luck with the first light. They are cracking scopes for galaxy spotting!

My sheet of fake Carbon is ordered from Evilbay.....will hopefully pimp the 90 next week.

[nightfisher]

nice one russ, we will of course want pics

[astroimpulse]

Looking forward to seeing it Russ. Maybe nightfisher has started a new craze

Did you guys go for the '3D' stuff or just the standard. I'm thinking standard as real carbon finishes tend to be glazed over.

[nightfisher]

just the standard one the 3D would be to much

[astroimpulse]

Agreed