Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Pics of my freebie telescope

Darth_Vader

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 33
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • 2 years later...
badhex

badhex

Posted
Posted

Hi Darth,

I have *exactly* the same 'scope! Amazing to have just found this article as I've dug around before for info on it. Great job on the clean up!

I inherited mine from my Granddad who used to be a member of Chesterfield Astronomical Society (my home town) many years ago, who in turn got from from a member there. I didn't have much info about the history of the scope so I did some research, along with getting in touch with current members of the Chesterfield Astronomical Society (unfortunately no one could help)

I hope some of this will be of interest to you! If you can add anything about the history of yours I'd be most grateful.

- Some of these particular scopes were built by CF themselves, some came as kits for self assembly
- The ones built by CF were possibly 'deluxe' models, as they had slow motion gears like yours
- It's hard to tell how much of my scope is original or whether it did indeed come from a kit as several parts are clearly hand made, or are taken from other places
- The motor is probably not original. It's made by a french company called Crouzet Valence, it rotates at 1 rev. per 15 minutes and is mains powered. I have since replaced the cable to the motor with brand new cable, new soldering etc and a male IEC connector so it will now take any IEC (kettle plug) lead and in theory could be plugged into a UPS battery unit for portable power
- The motor bracket has been custom made by someone. It's likely (yours helps confirm this) that the worm and worm wheel at the back were originally manually operated (I've seen at least one other CF scope like this, message on SGL seems to not exist any more), but a bracket has been built and a linkage attached to connect the worm and motor drive shafts (as per above). I hope to replace this as it is a bit of a heath robinson affair, along with cleaning up the worm and other gears as they are pretty grimey with really old gunked up grease as you can see from the pictures (although still pretty smooth)
- The tripod is almost certainly not original. It looks possibly military in origin, and was cemented into the ground at Chesterfield Observatory I believe. I have read also that the tripods on similar CF scopes were often military in origin due to being kits/hand built, although many seem to be the pedestal type
- Most interesting is that the finder scope is an illuminated Aldis gun sight; my research suggests that was originally from a WW2 era anti-aircraft gun. It originally came in a wooden box and may have attached to a 24v connection for the lamp. Your finder seems to be the same, see links below. Someone previously fitted a light to it made from an old torch (it took a now discontinued/hard to get battery size slightly larger than AA, cannot remember the size). I have now replaced this with a red LED powered by a CR2032 with a hold-push on switch on the end of a cable
- Althoguh not in the pictures, the OTA is *exactly* the same as yours, from what I can see - even down to screws and washers etc on the spider
- The focuser on mine looks identical same although it is not threaded inside - it is 0.965" push fit and came with two eyepieces, 12mm and 26mm Swift Kellner (see below link for pics same as mine)
- It also came with another eyepiece which I'm not sure is a 'scope eyepiece at all, 1.25" fitting with a shallow thread, Charles Frank Ltd. Ultra Wide Angle written on it. Incidentally however, it does fit into a normal 1.25" fitting and does give a wide angle view - I'm guestimating 30mm focal length. I'm also looking for info on this but can't seem to find any. See link for a similar one below
- When removing the primary mirror to get it re-aluminised (too far gone even for decent moon viewing), I discovered an inscription etched on the back detailing the focal length etc (see below)
So, that is basically the sum of my knowledge about the scope really, and I'd love to know more about the history of it and its siblings! I have included links to a few of the pictures I took when I first got it for perusal, along with various links to the other sources of information I have found on the internet. Let me know if you want any more specific pictures. The fact that various parts are different to the few similar examples I have seen of this scope (aside from your own) suggest it has been modified over time, or maybe just that it was one of the kit form - it's obviously very hard to tell.
Additionally, there was a lovely little typewritten poem folded up in the small box the EPs came in - see below
I hope this is of interest to you - if anyone else has any info at all please let me know!
PIcs of my mount:
Eyepieces the same as mine:
CF Ultra Wide Angle eyepiece
Aldis gun sight pictures: 
Etching on back of primary mirror:
Charles Frank Ltd
6 1/4 inch parabolic mirror
FL = 122.174cm (48.10ins)
No. 72
Poem in box:
Since time was begun, both the earth and the sun,
Have been plunging through limitless space;
And I find it appalling, to think that we're falling,
But won't ever land any place
It doesn't seem right, that we'll never alight,
And the same thing applies to the sun,
It's indeed a great pity, no one's approached the comittee
To consider what ought to be done.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.