Skywatcher ST80 Mods

[Jaxxxxx]

Hello

This is nothing new and many people on here and the internet have already done these mods however I decided to do them straight out the box on my new Skywatcher ST80.

I also tried a few new mods that I have not seen done yet and am really pleased with the results and I just wanted to share with you guys.

I flocked the tube infront and behind the baffle and then decided to flock the baffle as well while I was at it... Although not perfect 99% of the original surface is covered. Forgive my working mess!

I also decided to flock the internal tube of the focuser inbetween the baffles and have to say was most pleased about this part especially the time it took to actually get the flock perfect within a 1.25" tube.

This is one of the best ideas of the modding and would recommend to anyone who is thinking about modding or further modding to try it out it works amazing!

Firstly I sprayed the focuser tube Matt black and found the internal plastic strip that puts pressure on the tube to stop it rocking was scratching my nice paint. I tried smoothing it down a little and take away the sharp edges with wet and dry which worked ok.

My second attempt worked better I simply cut some flock and ran it the length of the plastic so the tube runs along smooth flock it has given the focuser a lovely feel compared to out the box and I just had to back off the little adjusters slightly.

Black edged lens

The focuser with the black tube

Setup outside working brilliantly

Thanks for reading and sorry about the massive post!

Regards

[BigBlueOne]

Hi Jaxxxxx,

That looks like a fine job you,ve done there, I dont think

I,ve the patience to do mine.

Was'nt it hard in such a confined space, or are you a very very

patient person.

BigBlueOne.

[Macavity]

V.Nice job. Must give my (much abused) ST102 an OTA "birthday" sometime. Fellow "Man of steel", re. extracting the objective? <G> I recall I used a small plastic bowl or cup, to support the lenses - Ensure I didn't get it stuck half way in / out of the threaded cell!

[spaceboy]

Sure did a quality job of that mod!!!

[John]

Nice job. The standard R&P focuser can be made to work pretty well with a bit of TLC

Replacing that 45 degree prism with a 90 degree star diagonal would be worth adding to your "to do" list on the scope, unless this is already in hand. The 45 degree types are fine for terrestrial viewing but are not so great for astronomy purposes.

[Earl]

Tidy

[Jaxxxxx]

Hey,

It took about 2 hours to get the focus tube flocked due to such a tiny space to work in but feel it was well worth the effort as there was almost no reflection in the tube accept slightly on the baffles which unfortunately are to small to flock

I have been looking at the William Optics 1.25" Carbon Design Dielectric 90 degree today on FLO and will possibly go with that one. I was actually shocked how bad the equipment that comes standard with these scopes actually is and its a good job most of the money goes on the scope! On a side note was happy with the quality of the coated optics on the finder scope as well!

I have a GSO 25mm and TeleVue Radians so didn't have to use any of the equipment other than the 45 degree for the time being!

Thanks

[Mikejh]

The WO diagonal will make a difference for sure-I got one to replace the stock one on my EVO120-much brighter.

[Gina]

I use an ST80 as a guide scope (with QHY5) and wondered if flocking would help with that. Anyone tried it?

[pritc]

Great job

I did mine a while back.But I only use mine for guiding.I did not flock the focuser tube, but instead painted it with matt black blackboard paint.

I also painted the inside of the focuser housing to stop any reflections and upgraded all the bolts to black allen heads to get rid of the shiny supplied ones.

Wayne

[pritc]

I use an ST80 as a guide scope (with QHY5) and wondered if flocking would help with that. Anyone tried it?

I did it to mine Gina........

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/136048-200pst80-flocking-mods/page__p__1358018#entry1358018

Living in Birmingham with a lot of light pollution.I found that after flocking my ST80, I was able to see a lot more stars to get PHD to lock on to.

But where you are situated, I doubt you really need to..........

Wayne

[steppenwolf]

You've certainly done a lovely job with your ST80. The old blue tube version was my first refractor and I still have it and use today even though it has been superseded with better optics at home now. An amazingly versatile little 'scope for rich field observing and, of course, autoguiding.

[Gina]

I did it to mine Gina........

http://stargazerslou...8#entry1358018

Living in Birmingham with a lot of light pollution.I found that after flocking my ST80, I was able to see a lot more stars to get PHD to lock on to.

But where you are situated, I doubt you really need to..........

Wayne

Thank you Wayne