Advice for an old telescope

[Elenboreth]

Hello everyone

About 12 years ago, I got a Helios 6 inch reflecting telescope as a birthday present. However, I never got to use it as much as I wanted, then a house move ended up with the mount, eye pieces and weights missing or unusable. However, I still have the telescope.

I'm looking for some advice on what tripod that I should get, eye pieces, and if there is anywhere I can get the counterweights?

[LukeSkywatcher]

You could try here:

AstroBoot

A lot of SGL members get great bargains on the site.

[Elenboreth]

So, what equipment do I need to get?

[LukeSkywatcher]

Well first off you need a mount/tripod. I am not sure what type. Others can advise you better on that. Then you need tube rings or a dovetail plate,a star diagonal of some sort,finderscope or RDF or Telrad. Then you need some EP's.

Just so others can help if you have an image of your scope to post. That would be good.

Is it similar to this:

[John]

Is the only thing you have now the telescope tube ?

If so, your shopping list could include:

- a finder scope or red dot type finder

- a couple of eyepieces

- a some tube rings

- a dovetail bar (this bolts to the tube rings to attach the scope to a mount)

- a suitable mount and tripod - something like a Skywatcher EQ3-2 would be OK.

To buy the above new would cost around £150 I reckon. You could save a lot if you can pick the stuff up used.

[Elenboreth]

Yes, it's very similar to mine, here it is. Though looking at it, I now remember that it was actually an 8 inch telescope, not 6. Oh, please ignore the cat trying to be an astronomer.

[Elenboreth]

I've just found the eyepieces, and the tube already has a finder scope

[John]

An 8" will need a more substantial mount than I have indicated. It needs a Skywatcher EQ5 or equivalent, with steel tube tripod legs. Those cost around £230 new but can be picked up used for as little as £100. This site is good for used astro equipment:

U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

The Helios 8" F/5 newtonians are very capable scopes - the same as the Skywatcher Explorer 200P's in fact.

[Elenboreth]

Right, where should I go to get the rings?

[MjrTom]

Just as an idea John but wouldn't a dobsonian mount be cheaper?

Not sure how easy it would be to source??

[John]

First Light Optics sell the tube rings and dovetail bars:

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Telescope Tube Rings

Give them a ring to make sure you get the right ones for the scope.

MjrTom / Mark does raise a good point. If your aim is just to get the scope usable then a simple dobsonian type mount could cost less. The only place you can buy them commercially is Orion Optics (UK) but they cost as much as the EQ5 mount. A much more economical approach would be to make your own mount from heavy weight plywood. Something like this:

Plans for a Dobsonian telescope

You might still need the tube rings to hold the tube in the plywood box but otherwise the cost could be under £50 plus your time I would have thought.

[MjrTom]

Great info John