my bst rattles!

[Tiny Clanger]

You had me diving for the eyepiece case and shaking my BSTs like maracas , none rattled .

I don't own a 5mm, but in the spirit of investigation tried lifting the eye cup rubbery top section of my 8mm , which peeled off easily with a bit of thumb pressure with the eye guard wound up. Maybe you could try warming the thing up a little in your pocket or hand  to soften the rubber ?

Heather

[Tiny Clanger]

And then I had to pop the covers off all of them, and get the blower and the wonder stuff out and clean the lenses ...

[Zermelo]

Great, thanks all - I just needed to know I wasn't wrecking it.

It was resisting because I was trying to pull the thing off all at once. If you prise at just one point, it peels off quite easily.

I ended up disassembling the whole thing to see what goes where. To fix the particular problem with the rattle, you need to remove the eye cup, rotate the outer part out as far as it will go (if it isn't already) and then you can get at the inside ring that holds the lens. There are two small holes that are actually underneath the outer section, bur when it's screwed up, you can get to them with the proper tool that I don't have an unfurled paper clip. Rotate clockwise to tighten, and the paper clip is enough because you don't want to overtighten.

Refitting is the reverse of removal, as Messrs. Haynes usually say.

[Franklin]

It's just the rubber eyecup that needs removing to expose the retaining ring which needs tightening up. The collar which rotates up and down with the eyecup on is seperate from the lens assembly. Most of the BST's (not sure about the 25mm) have a barlow element at the field end which can be accessed by unscrewing the nosepiece. The field lens side also has a retaining ring if memory serves so the rattle could be coming from that rather than the top eye lens?

[wookie1965]

13 hours ago, Zermelo said:

The OP seems not to have been active on here for a while now, but I'm resurrecting this one as my Starguider 5mm has also developed a rattle. I hope someone can answer the question below.

I've unscrewed the nosepiece and that isn't the problem. But that exposes a lens in the body that rotates freely in either direction - it doesn't seem to be held - and it's that which is rattling.

So I assume that the problem is the same as with this thread - there's a ring under the eyecup that needs tightening. The advice suggests that if I fully screw up the eyecup, it can then be pulled off - but mine seems to be very reluctant, and I'm wondering if the design has changed.

Has anyone removed a Starguider eyecup?

After reading this I took my 25mm 15mm and 8mm  fully screwed up the eyecups then took them off, took the ring off under them tightened the next ring down carefully put the top ring back in place tightened them, placed the eyecups on screwed them down now no rattles on any of them

[rwilkey]

On 12/07/2012 at 18:59, Prador said:

I have never had the same issue as you Spec-chum. I have had a loose barrel on my 5mm "Starguider" branded ep but thats about it.

Yes, having 5 BST's and one Starguider is annoying. Might put a wtb on astro buy/sell for a 5mm BST.

Dave

I have all BST's bought when they first came out after trying an s/h Astro Tech Paradigm, they were only £29 each when I bought them!  Alan is a top man, I met him once in London and he actually recognised me first when I started talking to him!

[Tiny Clanger]

2 hours ago, rwilkey said:

I have all BST's bought when they first came out after trying an s/h Astro Tech Paradigm, they were only £29 each when I bought them!  Alan is a top man, I met him once in London and he actually recognised me first when I started talking to him!

In the course of several purchases from Alan's own site (which is cheaper than his ebay shop)  I've had several email conversations, and one 'phone call with him.  nice chap, extremely helpful and honest.

Heather

[rwilkey]

4 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

In the course of several purchases from Alan's own site (which is cheaper than his ebay shop)  I've had several email conversations, and one 'phone call with him.  nice chap, extremely helpful and honest.

Heather

Hi Heather, I absolutely agree, he's always looked out for me and I have appreciated that over the years

[Astro_Dad]

Seems like a few of us have been shaking our BST’s to check for rattles on reading this! I had this issue with a 10.5 inch “generic” Orthoscopic  eyepiece some time ago and was a little concerned but seemed to be able to retighten in the end  😀. Happens from time to time. 

[Franklin]

18 hours ago, Astro_Dad said:

a 10.5 inch “generic” Orthoscopic  eyepiece

That's one heck of an eyepiece!

[doublevodka]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I recently purchased a used 8mm with a rattle with a vague memory of this thread.

Quick inspection twisting up the eyecup I could see the retaining ring and the two holes, one cocktail stick later (aka diy anti mark lens spanner), now no more rattles!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread 👍

[DavieH]

Hi all, I'm relatively new so apologies if I'm breaking any rules, but who is Alan and what is the name of his website - I think I need to spend some money with him!

[Astro_Dad]

On 15/10/2021 at 15:26, Franklin said:

That's one heck of an eyepiece!

Ha! Only just spotted this error! 😂

[Astro_Dad]

5 minutes ago, DavieH said:

Hi all, I'm relatively new so apologies if I'm breaking any rules, but who is Alan and what is the name of his website - I think I need to spend some money with him!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/skysthelimitastroandoptical?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5337487965&customid=&toolid=10001
 

And 

https://skysthelimit.org.uk

[DavieH]

Brilliant - thanks Astro_dad

[Ian McCallum]

A how to fix guide...

https://youtu.be/VAgAN6QPyfY

[ollypenrice]

Just for information in case anyone doesn't know about these things:

https://www.amazon.fr/Neewer-Professionnel-Réparation-dOuverture-Inoxydable/dp/B00J5F73GA/ref=asc_df_B00J5F73GA/?tag=googshopfr-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=227916778552&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4978925880824984634&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9054932&hvtargid=pla-405661153168&psc=1

It isn't a tool I use very often but when I need it I need it, and it's reassuring to know it's there. (Saying this made me go and confirm that I still know where it is 😬 and, glory be, for once I do!)

Olly

[Zermelo]

On 17/06/2022 at 19:06, Ian McCallum said:

A how to fix guide...

https://youtu.be/VAgAN6QPyfY

Interesting, that video deals with a rattle in the Smyth lens at the inward end of the EP. My rattle was at the other end.

[Zermelo]

16 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Just for information in case anyone doesn't know about these things:

https://www.amazon.fr/Neewer-Professionnel-Réparation-dOuverture-Inoxydable/dp/B00J5F73GA/ref=asc_df_B00J5F73GA/?tag=googshopfr-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=227916778552&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4978925880824984634&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9054932&hvtargid=pla-405661153168&psc=1

It isn't a tool I use very often but when I need it I need it, and it's reassuring to know it's there. (Saying this made me go and confirm that I still know where it is 😬 and, glory be, for once I do!)

Olly

I did end up buying one of these, in spite of successfully using a paper clip to fix mine. Since then, of course, I've been hunting for rattles in vain (the eyepiece repair equivalent of causing a month of cloudy skies by buying a new APO).

btw it was worth clicking on your link just to see the French concession to the Internet age "accepter les cookies".

[ollypenrice]

16 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I did end up buying one of these, in spite of successfully using a paper clip to fix mine. Since then, of course, I've been hunting for rattles in vain (the eyepiece repair equivalent of causing a month of cloudy skies by buying a new APO).

btw it was worth clicking on your link just to see the French concession to the Internet age "accepter les cookies".

J'aime les cookies!

My wife and I were puzzled by a radio broadcast on artificial intelligence this morning. The expert kept talking about licornes (unicorns) but neither of us had a clue as to what this had to do with AI. Needless to say, Google came to the rescue. It was reassuring to find that billion dollar startup companies are les licornes and not les unicorns over here. (I probably only know the French for 'unicorn' because our grand children have an inflatable one in their pool. For some reason I never learned this useful term at school. 😁)

Olly