Well, that was much easier than I thought...

[heathenwoods]

After facing up to the fact that the mirrors in my secondhand Tal were, um, a little dirty I decided to bite the bullet and give 'em a clean. Although I was fairly intimidated by the idea of doing it I opened up the TAL-1 Telescope Restoration Project page and was guided through it all, step by step. What a fantastic help that page is. It's also worth noting, as it says, the mirror cleaning page is applicable to any Newtonian reflector.

Before:

After:

I also found the mirror's "birthday" written in pencil by a Tal employee. Maybe, come the 13th of April, I'll give the whole 'scope a going over for the mirror's 18th birthday

As you can see (provided Google is letting you view the images), the finished version is far from perfect but it is a huge improvement. For one, you can actually see a clear image relected back! EVerything's back in place now and collimated 'enough'. Hoping for some clear skies now!

[Moonshane]

well done! not always a good idea but you seem to have negotiated everything successfully and have a lovely mirror now.

[Mr Spock]

Looks like a huge improvement! You should get good views from that now.

[bullettooth]

wow what a difference. well done!

[AndyH]

Nice looking job !

Also it lets you realise how, well built the spider and primary mirror cell are, when you take em apart. Solid as a rock.

The military-esque coatings obviously do therir job of protecting the aluminised surface, as all my Tal's are nowhere near needing a recoat, even with some of them being 18-19 years old.

Andy.

[heathenwoods]

Cheers all

Andy, yes, I really like the reassurance of such a solidly built 'scope! Simple and solid - great stuff!

[datman]

Excellent job, well done! Now the mystery has gone there will be nothing you can't do! I went through similar worries before putting a doughnut on the mirror of my C130EQ but reality wasn't so bad.

[Tinker1947]

Well done, look a lot better now.

[nightfisher]

big improvement, well done

[PreludeToADream]

Great job, definitely an improvement. Hopefully you'll notice a difference next time you're observing.

[heathenwoods]

Excellent job, well done! Now the mystery has gone there will be nothing you can't do! I went through similar worries before putting a doughnut on the mirror of my C130EQ but reality wasn't so bad.

Thanks again folks. I think datman has hit the nail on the head by saying the mystery has gone; it's gone from being an almost magical object to being a really nicely put together tool that can be worked on as and when necessary.

It's also probably a lot less nerve wracking to learn these basics on a £50 s/h scope than a dream scope!