Newbie swift 831 attic find!

[Evansp349]

Hi guys!

Newby here!

Believe it or not i have just found one of these whilst insulating my loft!!! from what ive read here they sound pretty good especialy for their age!

Model no. 831 serial no. 673042 D=77mm F=1000mm

i have a tripod stand here too but no attachment to the scope it has seen better days but i would like to restore it back to proper use, all i have is in the picture below, the eyepiece on the end is a kellner 12mm

simple question but after cleaning the lenses should this be all i need to point up and dicovering things?

I am a total newbie, but i guess you have to start somewhere!

Regards,

Paul

[kniclander]

ooh lucky you! i never found anything except a dead pigeon in my loft. objective lens might need a clean but with luck and a new e/p (and maybe a 0.965:1.25" adaptor to hold it) you'll get lovely lunar and planetary views:)

[Evansp349]

haha yeah there was some other unsightly gifts up there (such as underpants) but this was the only thing worth keeping.

im afraid i was lost after loft, sorry im a total newbie... objective lens, now would that be middle lens inside the tube about where the 2 wheels are in the picture? or the one closest to the eye? one closest to the eye is a kellner 12mm if that is of any significance? i take it you can get different adaptors for the end?

would you know of any place to find said adaptors or eyepieces to fit?

Thanks and sorry for all the questions!

Paul

[Chris H]

The objective is the big lens at the end (left in the photo). The kellner 12mm is an eyepiece (12mm is the eyepiece focal length) this is removable but as kniclander said it maybe 0.965" diameter, ep's now tend to be 1.25" in diameter so you may need an adaptor prior to putting in any new ep's. Check out the forum sponsor First light optics they'll sell what you need.

[mdstuart]

You will need a mount of some sort. You should be able to get one which can take a 77mm tube either new or second hand on here..

Mark

[Evansp349]

Excellent! thanks for the help!

Paul

[philj]

You know, this is just like the antiques roasdshow when folks find the something in the attic worth a fortune, why does it never happen to me.

You indeed have a good scope there Paul, the optics on these are particularly good quality even by modern standards.

From the serial number it was made in 1967 and will more than likely have a small symbol on the nameplate looking like AXA. This denotes the optics are Takahashi, a very good name:)

It also appears you have the kellner eyepiece fitted into a barlow lens. May I suggest it will help initially looking through the scope if you remove the barlow lens and just use the kellner in teh end of the focuser. The barlow doubles the magnification and will make initial observing a little tricky until you get used to the scope.

You will need a mount and tripod of some type, get yourself a nice solid one to do the scope justice, too many good scopes are spoilt by rickerty mounts unfortunately.

Philj

[AndyH]

This denotes the optics are Takahashi, a very good name:)

I'd add an extra 'very'. Awesome find !!

haha yeah there was some other unsightly gifts up there (such as underpants)......

That's just nasty

[Evansp349]

Wow its better than i expected then! i know im never usually this lucky! think this is the first thing ive ever found!

thank you for explaining about the eyepiece, anything like that helps my understanding as im a complete newbie! having a look online at the next time we get to see a moon here and seems like i have a few weeks wait to wait yet. Good opportunity to source this mount!

is it worth getting new end lenses? or would the kellner 12mm i have suffice for most things?

makes me wonder why it was discarded? the previous owner must have upgraded to a better model than that and used the mount off the swift hence leaving me without one!

will have a look at the nameplate later on.

Paul

[Chris H]

If you can acquire a mount don't wait for the moon get out and look at Jupiter, you can't miss it after dark look south east brightest thing in the sky. For the moment the 14mm ep would be fine.

[philj]

The Kellner will keep you going for a short while but you can still get the eyepieces that will fit your scope, note; they are the old 0.96" diameter size as oppossed to the modern standards of 1 1/4" and 2" diameter.

Not essential at the moment but it will make life a little more comfortable would be a bit of kit called a star diagonal. This fits in the focuser of the scope and then the eyepiece fits in that making life easier in that you dont have to be on all fours to look through the telescope, e.g the diagonal turns the eyepiece through 90 degrees making observing more comfortable.

When you have got used to the scope and if/when you get bitten by the observing bug you may wish to upgrade to more modern 1 1/4" eyepices these are a bit more forgiving than the older types, unless you can get top quality older ones. There are diagonals around that convert 0.96 scopes to 1 1/4"

Have fun

Philj