Another project, another Big Mak!

[A McEwan]

I'd missed my old gold-tubed Skymax 180 too much.

Then I saw an advert for this Orion version in the original gunmetal grey colour scheme. Basic ota with a brass rear port to SCT thread adapter thrown (carefully) in.

The scope is in very good condition, and of indeterminate age. Optically very very clean with very minor dust. Tube has a few minor scuffs here and there - which I am confident about polishing out. Focuser is smooth and it was a very good buy!

I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Questions:

Is it safe to remove the screws holding the finder shoe or do they have nuts on the inside? I'd like to mount my TAL bracket instead.

Is there a comp ring 1.25" visual back available?

Is the removal of the dovetail bar a complicated or hazardous procedure?

Ant

[nightfisher]

Ant, welcome back to the 180 mak club!!

I can help you regards the dovetail: i removed the front corrector by marking it with some bits of tape to get orientation for putting it back together, undo the small allen screws around the outer rim, then i would suggest wearing "operating" gloves, undo the 2 allen screws on the dovetail, but be very careful that the little nuts inside, dont fall against the mirror.

Not sure about finder shoe, i would think there is no nut on the screws. You will need to make a huge dew shield, and i guess you have a set of rings to put it in?

Nice find, dont see many orion 180`s over here

[A McEwan]

I read Astro-Baby's very educational review of her 180 and it was confirmed there that the finder shoe has no nuts on the screws to fall inside. Means I can finally find a home for my Tal 6x30 and bracket!

I'll keep an eye open for rings but they're not top priority. Good to know that removal of the corrector is a simple affair. Assuming I can find the right tool for the odd shaped bolt things...

I love the colour and will start work on modifying the supplied 10" Astrozap dewshield to fit the tube today, in preparation for first light...

Ant

[nightfisher]

Good stuff Ant,

i use the skywatcher 9x50 r/a finder on my 180, but a straight through one like a tal would be as good.

Will you be fitting a crayford focuser to yours?

and post up your first light report, hope its a good one

[A McEwan]

I haven't decided what to do about any additional focusing requirements yet.

I like the idea of a helical focuser on the rear port, but good quality ones that will carry heavy stuff are quite expensive.

Still to try it as is and see how it fares yet.

Ant

[John]

Nice looking scope Ant

I always liked the gunmetal grey colour scheme that Orion selected for their scopes. Skywatcher rather got the short straw when they went for the "champagne and cream" look I feel

[A McEwan]

It took a bit of growing that gold scheme. Some scopes it suited better than others, I thought.

It's clear here...

Ant

[nightfisher]

It took a bit of growing that gold scheme. Some scopes it suited better than others, I thought.

It's clear here...

Ant

If its clear, get of the internet and get it pointed at the Moon, and then Jupiter :grin:

Then post your findings

[Astro_Baby]

I always quite liked the gold and white color scheme, at least on the Mak, it looks dashing on a white EQ6. Sadly mine is black

I'd love one in the deep red color of some Orion scopes but whatwver the color the 180 is a great bit of kit so congrats Ant.

[John]

It took a bit of growing that gold scheme. Some scopes it suited better than others, I thought.

It's clear here...

Ant

Clear here too - my gold / cream / black / red ED120 is cooling right now ! (the last two colours are the Moonlite focuser )

Hope you get a good one Ant !

[A McEwan]

Nice one John! Hope that rainbow scope of yours gives you some good views!

Sadly, the collimation on my 180 is out quite a bit. That's a little bit scarey for me... I know that it's doable - in theory at least - by anyone with some allen keys and a view of Polaris, but it didn't go so well for me last time I tried it and I ended up getting it done professionally...

Lots to think about...

On the other hand, the M603 threw up lovely perfectly collimated views, so the night wasn't a complete loss!

I agree - the champagne and white did really suit the white mounts that came in round about the same time.

My HEQ5 is white and I think it works well with most telescope colours!

Ant

[nightfisher]

Bad luck with the collimation, but if you look at how it works, its only three grub screws, as the other three are locking screws, half the collimation of a newt! there is a method called "daylight collimation" for maks, that involves looking at the front of the scope, from the focal length, hang on i wil look for a link.....here it is http://www.robincasady.com/Astro/myimages/collim.html

I found this very helpful with my old omc 140, not had to do the 180 yet, but it is out a tiny bit

[A McEwan]

I spent an hour or so with it and a picostar artificial star today. I think I have definately improved the collimation, but I doubt it will be perfect yet. I hope to test on stars tonight, though I'm not sure if it will clear properly. Not much I can do now except wait for a star test/observation!

Ant

[A McEwan]

The collimation is definately improved! To such an extent that swinging thre scope over to Jupiter tonight gave me a real "Wow!" moment! However, it can still be improved. The star-test shows rings that are still slightly lopsided. Even given that though, the scope revealed a taste of what it is capable of tonight at 270x on Jupiter (in not quite perfect collimation!)

Ant

[nightfisher]

The collimation is definately improved! To such an extent that swinging thre scope over to Jupiter tonight gave me a real "Wow!" moment! However, it can still be improved. The star-test shows rings that are still slightly lopsided. Even given that though, the scope revealed a taste of what it is capable of tonight at 270x on Jupiter (in not quite perfect collimation!)

Ant

with lop- sided stars, its probably about the same state of collimation as mine, must get round to tweaking it, but it does not really bother me much

[A McEwan]

Did some work on the scope tonight.

New Revelation Superfocus R&P focuser arrived, so I installed that. Then I tried the new tube rings I ordered from Sky's The Limit. They were a bit too large so I stripped off the foam and put strips of 6mm thick neoprene foam padding on, then replaced the foam. Much better fit, nice and snug now.

So then it was off with the dovetail bar! The four torx screws were removed relatively easily, and the screws holding the dovetail bar on. I was quite shocked to see how those two screws, and the force exerted through them, had distorted the metal they were sitting in. Think about it - a hefty 180mm Maksutov sitting on a dovetail bar on a mount - and the bits holding the bar to the tube are two small m4(?) screws! The tube metal was quite visibly pulled out by those forces. Thankfully, I no longer have to worry about that as I have the rings all sorted for it. Though I still need a dovetail or mounting bar for the rings as the original one doesn't have large enough holes for the bolts that came with the rings. I may just drill them out, but I'll see...

Finally, as the corrector plate was off, I used a puffer to clean some dust etc off the inside of the corrector. It looks quite a bit better now. The main mirror was absolutely immaculate!

Collimation still needs some final tweaks, so I was not too worried about removing and replacing the corrector, even though it should have little if any impact on the alignment anyway.

Onwards and upwards!

Ant

[A McEwan]

And now, in its mounting rings. Pleased to have done this mod. Will have a lot more confidence in the mounting now, especially having seen the stress that those two little screws that attach the dovetail put on the tube wall!

Ant

[nightfisher]

Nice one Ant, those rings look better than the orion ones i have on my 180, i had the same problem having to pack the rings out a little, but better to big than to small

[philj]

Nice one Ant, lovely scopes them.

Good choice on the rings, my old 127 Mak I did the same, takes the stress off the tube. Interesting about the collimation, I never tried on my 127 but was only discussing this the other week with an owner of a new Mak.

[nightfisher]

My other f15........the little one

[A McEwan]

Woohoo!!

I did it ... I DID IT!

Ahem. Sorry if I seem a little excited, but....

I DID IT!!

Collimation, that is!

I finally got a clear night with decent (not perfect) seeing and the Mak had cooled, so I took my time and have finally got it tweaked to near-perfect!

Next time I'll go to a higher magnification and get it perfect, but for now I'm happy that it's perfectly good enough not to be ashamed to show it off any more!

Before and after views of the Moon and Jupiter showed vivid improvement in detail sharpness. And WOW - what a performance it is!

Ant

- - - - - Normal service will now be resumed - - - - -

[nightfisher]

Well done Ant, im struggling to decide whether to keep my 180, or down size it to a 150 pro, so i can use it on my AZ4 mount, better to have a smaller scope you use more often rather than a huge one that rarely gets used

[A McEwan]

Hmmm.... twin 180mm f15 Maks... mounted side by side.... system of pulleys and levers (and mirrors).... hey Presto: 180mm f15 Bino-Scope!!

Maybe!

Ant

[nightfisher]

they would look odd, my black diamond along side your gun metal..............you would have to repaint them both vixen white

I think i will keep it, just a shame it is like a vampire, lives in a wooden coffin and comes out on the rarest of dark nights

[A McEwan]

They are hefty, I'll give you that. Reckon my HEQ5 creaked once or twice tonight!

Hmm, Vixen white would be very nice for these scopes actually, at least for the Orion with it's satin black trim...

Ant