Cosmetically challenged Celestron ED80

[Chris]

I was doing my usual routine check of AstrobuyandSell when I spotted an ED80 with rings and dovetail for the very reasonable price of 120 quid, and only an hours drive from me. The add said that the optics were fine but the scope did have some cosmetic issues? Despite the fact that I'm suppose to be saving for a 200mm Quattro for my obsy I couldn't really turn down the opportunity to own a Synta ED80 after hearing so much about how good these scopes are for the money, both for imaging and for grab and go.

I picked up the scope last night and it does need some cosmetic TLC, although I think for the money I can't really complain, the guy even gave me some guide scope rings which was good of him:)

Anyway, I'm probably going to put the Quattro f/4 on hold for now and see how this scope fairs in the obsy. With this in mind I need to tickle this scope up a bit with a lick of paint and perhaps a few little mods here and there. Does anyone have any not too expensive mod suggestions for this scope? I want to make it fit for the centre piece for my little obsy? Looking at the pics does this look like a paint touch up job or a total strip down and respray? If so should I keep it black or go for shocking pink, only joking:D

Any advice welcome and I'll post my progress on this thread.

Thanks

Chris

[Ags]

Pretty bashed up! Did the previous owner use it as a cricket bat?

[Gina]

I just hope the external damage hasn't impacted on the internals Other than that I wouldn't be bothered about the look - it's how it works that matters.

[NGC 1502]

Hi Chris. The problem with DIY painting is getting a hard & durable finish. I learned this years ago when trying to renovate classic cycle frames. I could get it to look ok when I stripped to bare metal, then primed & topcoated with spray cans, but the finish was always soft, it chipped and marked very easily.

Maybe have a word with a local car body repairers ? Could be worth it to get a nice job. Of course, you would need to remove the lens cell in one piece, with the lens elements undisturbed.

If the lens cell unscrews, I'd make sure it goes back on in exactly the same orientation.

Regards, Ed.

[John]

What about that "carbon fibre look" sticky back plastic you can get ?.

I've seen a few scopes with that applied and the finish is pretty impressive:

[steppenwolf]

If it was mine, I have to sort out the appearance as all my gear is immaculate but John's idea of the carbon overcoat is a good one, it would transform the appearance. I too hope that the optics don't match the tube although it is unlikely that they do!

[JamesF]

Or you could just go with the "used as a cricket bat" look. No-one can see it in the dark, anyhow

James

[Chris]

Thanks for all your responses guys:) I'm fairly sure its just the paint making the scope look bad, theres no dents which would be a worry. I think the carbon fibre look is an excellant idea! I would wan't to rub the paint down still for better addearance but I think thats a winner!

There is intermittant cloud at the moment but I'm heading out to check the optics of the scope, fingers crossed hopefully all is well, I'll report back soon.

If I get the chance tonight I also need to line up my pier adaptor with polaris so I can get it postcreted in position on my pier, all depends on the clouds of course:)

Chris

[Chris]

Ok, I've got the scope out side cooling. Theres fast moving low cloud heading south so I've secured a bin liner over the scope just in case it decides to rain, hopefully I'll find a gap to test it out. It Looks good on the HEQ5, well at least in the dark it does:D

[dtr42]

i have an evostar 150 frac which has a used look about it [paint scratches,ring scratches etc ] but it views very nicely indeed , hope your scope is the same , the carbon fibre look is a neat idea worth a punt

[Chris]

Pretty bashed up! Did the previous owner use it as a cricket bat?

Well he did say he used it for everything:D He said he used it for birding and as a 600mm lens for wildlife photography as well as astrophotography and a grab and go scope. He said that the scope isn't actually that old just 3-4 years!!

[Chris]

I just hope the external damage hasn't impacted on the internals Other than that I wouldn't be bothered about the look - it's how it works that matters.

Well Gina I'm very pleased and relieved to report that all is well with the scopes optics! The clouds cleared so I tested the scope out on several objects including the Moon, Jupiter, M42 and M45. I particularly enjoyed Jupiter and the Pleiades. I have a pretty decent 1.25" dialectric diagonal but considering I was using cheap plossl's I was pretty blown away by the views for an 80mm frac! Jupiter with the 9mm plossl showed 3 very crisp caramel coloured bands and the four moons on show, I barlowed up x2 not expecting the scope to take it but it did albeit with less sharpness but still good detail, I made out 2 large bands and two smaller bands with this mag. The pleiades was a lovely sight as well very crisp stars edge to edge and they really shined like diamonds. I also checked for CA on the limb of the moon and I couldn't see any fringing just lovely crisp craters. The focuser although single speed is a large wheel which works well to snap into focus.

I also managed to set up my mount and pier plate on the pier, I've lined it all up with Polaris so its ready to be concreted in, hopefully I can do this tomorrow. While I was at that I though I'd check out the scope clearence with the ED80 and the roof. My pier is a bit on the high side but with the scope parked horizontally I've got about 5-6" clearence, I estimate I could fit an 8" Newt with no problems apart from I'd probably need a step ladder to access the eyepiece:D I can reduce the height of the pier plate by about 3" if needs be but my gut feeling is that my pier height is ideally suited to scopes with the exit pupil at the back like refractors and RC's.

Logically I agree with you Gina, it doesn't matter what the scope looks like as long as it works, so I guess I'm not 100% logical because I do like Aesphetically pleasing equipment, and I think this scope deserves a little TLC:)

I

[Chris]

Hi Chris. The problem with DIY painting is getting a hard & durable finish. I learned this years ago when trying to renovate classic cycle frames. I could get it to look ok when I stripped to bare metal, then primed & topcoated with spray cans, but the finish was always soft, it chipped and marked very easily.

Maybe have a word with a local car body repairers ? Could be worth it to get a nice job. Of course, you would need to remove the lens cell in one piece, with the lens elements undisturbed.

If the lens cell unscrews, I'd make sure it goes back on in exactly the same orientation.

Regards, Ed.

Thanks for the advice Ed:) I think this will be my contingency plan, although it would be pretty tempting to try Hammerite and lots of clear lacker if the body shops too expensive:D

[Chris]

What about that "carbon fibre look" sticky back plastic you can get ?.

I've seen a few scopes with that applied and the finish is pretty impressive:

http://stargazerslou...bon-fibre-6-f5/

Thanks for the idea and the link John, very nice indeed!

[JamesF]

it would be pretty tempting to try Hammerite

Now there's a plan. Hammerite in the original dark grey metallic hammered finish, with nice brass fittings for that "steampunk" look

James

[Chris]

If it was mine, I have to sort out the appearance as all my gear is immaculate but John's idea of the carbon overcoat is a good one, it would transform the appearance. I too hope that the optics don't match the tube although it is unlikely that they do!

Me too, I've definately got the urge to clean this scope up a bit and the carbon wrap is a genius idea. Can you think of any other little mods this scope could benefit from? I was thinking about flocking the inside of the dew shield to both help cut out stray reflections and also it might help keep dew of the objective?

[Chris]

Oh blimey James, now I have two great choices:D

[jnc71106]

I had one of these C80ED's was a great scope. I went with a carbon makeover as well first as the paint had seen better days but I then stripped the paint and polished the tube with a couple of tubes of auto sol and plenty of elbow grease, coupled with the Baader steeltrack I fitted it looked the dogs danglies

[Gina]

Well Gina I'm very pleased and relieved to report that all is well with the scopes optics! The clouds cleared so I tested the scope out on several objects including the Moon, Jupiter, M42 and M45. I particularly enjoyed Jupiter and the Pleiades. I have a pretty decent 1.25" dialectric diagonal but considering I was using cheap plossl's I was pretty blown away by the views for an 80mm frac! Jupiter with the 9mm plossl showed 3 very crisp caramel coloured bands and the four moons on show, I barlowed up x2 not expecting the scope to take it but it did albeit with less sharpness but still good detail, I made out 2 large bands and two smaller bands with this mag. The pleiades was a lovely sight as well very crisp stars edge to edge and they really shined like diamonds. I also checked for CA on the limb of the moon and I couldn't see any fringing just lovely crisp craters. The focuser although single speed is a large wheel which works well to snap into focus.

I also managed to set up my mount and pier plate on the pier, I've lined it all up with Polaris so its ready to be concreted in, hopefully I can do this tomorrow. While I was at that I though I'd check out the scope clearence with the ED80 and the roof. My pier is a bit on the high side but with the scope parked horizontally I've got about 5-6" clearence, I estimate I could fit an 8" Newt with no problems apart from I'd probably need a step ladder to access the eyepiece:D I can reduce the height of the pier plate by about 3" if needs be but my gut feeling is that my pier height is ideally suited to scopes with the exit pupil at the back like refractors and RC's.

Logically I agree with you Gina, it doesn't matter what the scope looks like as long as it works, so I guess I'm not 100% logical because I do like Aesphetically pleasing equipment, and I think this scope deserves a little TLC:)

I

That's great Chris Actually, I'm not averse to things that look nice either - in fact I aim for that too.

[jnc71106]

That's great Chris Actually, I'm not averse to things that look nice either - in fact I aim for that too.

i completely agree. i spend more time looking at my scope than looking through it so would prefer it to look nice

[Gina]

That's certainly a point with all the bad weather we've been having!

[jnc71106]

new i had some pics somewhere

[Luke]

Snap, we've got one of these!

Sounds like you got a good buy!

[Chris]

Wow! thats a great job you've done there jnc thanks for posting the pics, hhhmmmm shiney!

[Chris]

Snap, we've got one of these!

Sounds like you got a good buy!

There good arn't they:) I think I got a good buy, it will only cost me about 20 quid max to get it looking near new. I've carefully cleaned it up and it looks better allready, just need to sort out the paint or carbon wrap on the tube, and a few other little mods then it will be bonza:)