Anyone dismantled an Equinox 120

[moriniboy]

Just as the title says. I'm hoping to flock it internally but don't know where to start.

The focuser flocking worked wonders so l'm hoping for a similar improvement if l can flock the tube

[Peter Drew]

The internal baffles should take care of any stray light, also they would make flocking very difficult. You've probably done the best bit already.

[cs1cjc]

I would agree that the internal baffling looks very good and the black paint is very matte, so I do not think flocking would be useful. However access to the inside is easy. The Equinox focuser is attached to the tube by a large fine thread. Do not cross thread it on reassembly! You may be struck by the length of the 2" draw tube (just over 200mm), which must cause significant vignetting, particularly with a diagonal.

There are a couple of articles here on disassembly of the lens (of similar scopes) but that is too much for me!

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/14017495722666/Number/5031249/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/all/vc/1

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.astrosurf.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/030325.html&ei=wDjYT_LxCNSQ8gPo-6SeAw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CGsQ7gEwBQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsite:astrosurf.com%2Bastrosurf%2Bsynta%2B120%2Bed%2Bdoublet%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dubuntu%26hs%3DRyN%26sa%3DX%26channel%3Dfs%26gl%3Duk%26biw%3D1680%26bih%3D930%26prmd%3Dimvns

[John]

On the flocking, I might be tempted to do the inside of the dew cap and the focuser tube and perhaps a few cm of tube immediately behind the objective lens but I don't think I'd bother flocking in between the baffles all along the tube.

..... You may be struck by the length of the 2" draw tube (just over 200mm), which must cause significant vignetting, particularly with a diagonal......

But does it actually cause any vignetting ?.

I asked this question on the Cloudynights forum a while back and got a fairly emphatic response that, at worst, the the clear aperture of the scope remains within a couple of mm of the published aperture.

Or is there new evidence of this available now ?.

I'm not disagreeing with you, just interested in finding out more, as an ED120 owner

[AndyH]

A good way to check for viginetting in a system is .................

Point the scope at a wall, say a foot or so away and place an eyepiece(I usually use a 25mm one) in the focuser and/or diagonal. Now point a green laser pointer into the eyepiece, roughly about 4" or so away from the glass. If you can mount the laser on a photo tripod or something, it means your hands are free to measure the green disc on the wall. It should be the diameter of the scopes aperture.

I 'think' I read this on Cloudy Nights, some time back.

Something to do when it's cloudy !!

[John]

Thanks Andy

Just to clarify, does the objective end of the scope point at the wall or does the eyepiece project onto the wall ?

Sorry if thats a dumb question - I'm just trying to picture it in my head !

Edit: It's OK - I've just re-read your post - got it now ! (that will teach me to have that mid-week bottle of wine !)

[AndyH]

Oh sorry John. Objective to the wall.

Just tried it with my red holographic laser. That works too. Far easier too as it sits in the diagonal and lets me go to the wall to measure.

Also tried the green laser simply shining down the diagonal without an eyepiece. That seems to work just as well as with an eyepiece. Wonder if using an eyepiece is important? Not sure. Mmmmm.

[moriniboy]

Well as it tuns out that the OTA was not that difficult to dismantle.

Flocking is now completed, one concern though is that the internal baffles are a friction fit and one had started to slip out of alignment (a portion of shiny original tube was showing)

As they were not fastened in I took them out and flocked all three of them easily.

After flocking I put them back and lightly araldited them in place to ensure no movement would occur in future.

Internal baffles

Intenal baffles flocked

Pre-flocking

Post flocking

[Astro_Baby]

You do need the ep.......cant remember why .....it was on cloudy nights....the thread is in the mak/sct section somewhere.

[AndyH]

....the thread is in the mak/sct section somewhere.

Ah yes, that's right, they were discussing Skywatcher Maks and their baffle tubes n stuff. Ta Mel.

[John]

Oh sorry John. Objective to the wall.

Just tried it with my red holographic laser. That works too. Far easier too as it sits in the diagonal and lets me go to the wall to measure.

Also tried the green laser simply shining down the diagonal without an eyepiece. That seems to work just as well as with an eyepiece. Wonder if using an eyepiece is important? Not sure. Mmmmm.

I tried it today, with an eyepiece. My ED120 appears to be un-vignetted

It's not got the original focuser though - I've a Moonlite on it.

[Mr Onions]

Good job done there.

What a flocker.