Televue Pearl River f5 Genesis

[NGC 1502]

Thanks Olly, that makes perfect sense now, I was expecting the lens cell to be seated within the main black piece which the dew shield slides over. Your clear description, using simple language such as 'the big black thing' and 'the long white tube' have certainly helped me, with my pea sized intellect, understand how it works! :-)

I fear any retort I give to your last point may land me in trouble so I will leave it there :-)

Cheers,

Stu

Hi Stu, I'm sure Olly is right, a mallet is no way to treat a nice TV refractor 

Simple hand taps should sort it, that's if you decide to have a try.

Please let us know how you get on.

Regards, Ed.

[John]

My refractor collimation has usually been done using push-pull type adjusters but I've also had to re-center a couple of objectives and found loosening the objective retaining ring, with the tube pointing upwards and then gently slapping the sides of the object cell all round works well to settle the objective elements. 

I don't know if this approach has any application in the Genesis's case though. 

[ollypenrice]

My refractor collimation has usually been done using push-pull type adjusters but I've also had to re-center a couple of objectives and found loosening the objective retaining ring, with the tube pointing upwards and then gently slapping the sides of the object cell all round works well to settle the objective elements. 

I don't know if this approach has any application in the Genesis's case though. 

The cell is internally very strong. TV told me that they doubted the miscollimation of mine would be internal to the cell. They were confident it would only the whole cell itself that had moved.

Mine had slight cosmetic damage to the tube but TV told me, rather apologetically, that they didn't have any replacement tubes left for the F5. That was maybe ten years ago.

Olly

[Stu]

The cell is internally very strong. TV told me that they doubted the miscollimation of mine would be internal to the cell. They were confident it would only the whole cell itself that had moved.

Mine had slight cosmetic damage to the tube but TV told me, rather apologetically, that they didn't have any replacement tubes left for the F5. That was maybe ten years ago.

Olly

I'm sure that is correct Olly, having looked at the cell itself, and the way the elements of the objective are held, I'm confident nothing is likely to go wrong with that while assembly. It looks very solid and well engineered.

Just a minor tweak and I'm sure I'll get there.

Thanks all for the input.

Cheers,

Stu

[John]

The cell is internally very strong. TV told me that they doubted the miscollimation of mine would be internal to the cell. They were confident it would only the whole cell itself that had moved.

Mine had slight cosmetic damage to the tube but TV told me, rather apologetically, that they didn't have any replacement tubes left for the F5. That was maybe ten years ago.

Olly

I assume that the focuser would be spot on square with the optical axis with these ?

With lesser quality scopes I've found that some adjustments to "square" the focuser with the optical axis are often needed before you can start on the tilt of the objective. I can't imaging that being needed with TV scopes though. 

[Merlin66]

I though the "standard" Genesis colour was the TV Ivory satin finish....

I've checked my Genesis on numerous occasions over the years and never found an collimation etc issue.

I'm sure when you gently re-collimate the objective cell there will be nothing else that needs to be touched.

Just look forward to the next twenty years of using a great and wonderfull scope.

(Did you get the TV diagonal with the Genesis???)

[Stu]

I though the "standard" Genesis colour was the TV Ivory satin finish....

I've checked my Genesis on numerous occasions over the years and never found an collimation etc issue.

I'm sure when you gently re-collimate the objective cell there will be nothing else that needs to be touched.

Just look forward to the next twenty years of using a great and wonderfull scope.

(Did you get the TV diagonal with the Genesis???)

Yes, I think that is right Ken, I've not seen them in anything else.

Again, agreed on the collimation front. This one really is only a fraction out and the whole assembly looks very rigid and well manufactured.

I'm certainly looking forward to keeping this scope for a very long time. It feels like owning a piece of history, but with very nice performance too.

I didn't get the diagonal with the scope but have a 2" Everbrite with my 76 so can use that with it.

Cheers,

Stu

[Merlin66]

I've already measured up my box....when I go the Genesis goes with me!!

[Merlin66]

A photo of the thirty year ol' Genesis still working hard in the TSOIII.

[Stu]

Looks wonderful :-)

Thanks for sharing

Stu

[Stu]

This is a bit of a zombie thread revival, but I think i might just be justified. I have missed the lovely flat, widefield views through the Genesis since I sold it some time ago, and have always had my eyes open for another decent example. One came up recently and I managed to acquire it with a nice 2" Everbrite diagonal for a reasonable price.

Pictures attached. It is very similar to the original one in this thread, quite close in serial number. Had a first look through it tonight and am pleased with what I saw. CA seems better controlled than I recall perhaps a better example or just better aligned? Anyway, nice view of M45 plus the Double Cluster and M31 between the clouds during a quick session tonight.

The scope mounted very easily on my Giro-WR mount, ideal for low power sweeping of the Milky Way.

 

[djpaul]

Sounds like something  similar to what I'm looking for.?

[Merlin66]

I’ve already measured up my box....

when I go the Genesis (serial #1007) goes with me!!!

(Mine has the screw on black dew shield)

 

[Stu]

5 hours ago, Merlin66 said:

I’ve already measured up my box....

when I go the Genesis (serial #1007) goes with me!!!

(Mine has the screw on black dew shield)

 

I think I will hang onto this one if at all possible Ken, it is in great condition.

[Rob]

Very nice Stu.. a keeper for sure!

[Merlin66]

I should have re-read all the old thread....I repeated myself.

 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Merlin66 said:

I should have re-read all the old thread....I repeated myself.

 

Must be true then Ken

[Alan White]

So what other long missed scopes are you going to replace Stu?
Serious question not click bait.

Pearl River as in that's where it's from I take it?

[Stu]

On 08/11/2018 at 14:49, Alan White said:

So what other long missed scopes are you going to replace Stu?
Serious question not click bait.

Pearl River as in that's where it's from I take it?

Yep, the Televue facility moved to Pearl River, New York in 1982. There is a history of the company here.

http://www.company7.com/televue/telal.html

Hmmm, I seem to have restored the fleet a little currently, not sure if they will all stay but nice to have some options. I wanted to give a decent sized and decent quality Mak another go after selling the OMC200, so I do now have an Intes Micro M715 Deluxe, a 178mm f15 mak which is very nice. Not had much time with it yet, and it needs a little collimation but first impressions are excellent.

I also bought the TS72mm as I missed having something very portable to hand. I've had a load of small, high quality frac from 60mm to 85mm and this one sits nicely in the middle. Feels really well made and has lovely quality optics.

No more scope purchases for me unless I sell something, I'm out of storage space!

[GavStar]

39 minutes ago, Stu said:

Yep, the Televue facility moved to Pearl River, New York in 1982. There is a history of the company here.

http://www.company7.com/televue/telal.html

Hmmm, I seem to have restored the fleet a little currently, not sure if they will all stay but nice to have some options. I wanted to give a decent sized and decent quality Mak another go after selling the OMC200, so I do now have an Intes Micro M715 Deluxe, a 178mm f15 man which is very nice. Not had much time with it yet, and it needs a little collimation but first impressions are excellent.

I also bought the TS72mm as I missed having something very portable to hand. I've had a load of small, high quality frac from 60mm to 85mm and this one sits nicely in the middle. Feels really well made and has lovely quality optics.

No more scope purchases for me unless I sell something, I'm out of storage space!

Hmm storage space?? Yes that’s an issue I do also have ?.

[Alan White]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

No more scope purchases for me unless I sell something, I'm out of storage space!

Same problem with me too, apparently the Dining Room is for Dining not astronomy, outrageous!
So I have to thin my collection or risk storage in the garage.
You can see who 'runs' our household....?

Yes it's the cat!

[Ruud]

Hi Stu,

Congratulations! You can do some wonderful rich field observing with this telescope. I bought mine new in 1990 (serial number 1691) and it looks just like yours. It really is a wonderful telescope!

There were two other fluorite refractors around those days (Takahashi and AstroPhysics) but I chose the Genesis because it is very fast, has a flat focal plane and is very well corrected. It also was the most affordable of the three. Never regretted the choice!

It's a Petzval and the fluorite element is the third from the front, in the dry nitrogen part of the tube. It's protected from condensation which is a good thing, as calcium fluorite (CaF2) is slightly water soluble.

Mine is nearly thirty years old, and it seems it will last at least a century.

Enjoy your Genesis!

 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Ruud said:

Hi Stu,

Congratulations! You can do some wonderful rich field observing with this telescope. I bought mine new in 1990 (serial number 1691) and it looks just like yours. It really is a wonderful telescope!

There were two other fluorite refractors around those days (Takahashi and AstroPhysics) but I chose the Genesis because it is very fast, has a flat focal plane and is very well corrected. It also was the most affordable of the three. Never regretted the choice!

It's a Petzval and the fluorite element is the third from the front, in the dry nitrogen part of the tube. It's protected from condensation which is a good thing, as calcium fluorite (CaF2) is slightly water soluble.

Mine is nearly thirty years old, and it seems it will last at least a century.

Enjoy your Genesis!

 

Thank you Ruud. Wow, you've had yours from new, that's pretty cool! My serial number is very close to yours I think, 1785 perhaps, will check.

I've actually got it outside at the moment and am really impressed. The previous ones I had were very good at low power (That flat field you refer to), but showed plenty of CA and were not great at high power. This one is quite different, much better corrected and I think better collimated. I've just had some cracking views of the Double Double, four lovely little bullseyes. I have sometimes been tempted by the SDF versions but love the speed/short focal length of the original f5, and enjoy the larger exit pupils it gives, along with the wide, flat views. It even gave me some dark markings on Mars just now, and a very clear view of the phase. Not what I expect from a rich field scope!

I'm having a bit of a retro evening actually, the Genesis on my equally lovely Vixen GP-DX with Skysensor 2000PC. With a basic 2 star align the gotos are very accurate, am having fun out there! ?

Bathing the small person currently but will get back out there later on.

[andrew63]

Very nice Stu - that's Christmas sorted!

 

andrew

[Ruud]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Wow, you've had yours from new, that's pretty cool!

Actually, after about twenty years I wanted to sell it because I thought there would probably be something better and lighter around so I tried to find a fast scope with a carbon fibre tube. I could find nothing faster than f7 that came close, so that's why I still have the Genesis.

On the Moon's terminator you may see a very dim, deep violet glow leaking into the shadows. A friend of mine says I'm imagining it, but I'm pretty sure it's there. I can also see  it around Venus. It is pretty obvious there. Everything else is free from CA as far as I can tell.

By the way, I use the scope up to 240x on the Moon and planets. On most nights the atmosphere won't allow this high, of course.

It is a wonderful instrument for open clusters and you can lose hours panning along the Milky Way.

---

I bought to finder shoes like this: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p8710_TeleVue-Quick-Release-Finder-Scope-Bracket.html which accepts standard finder foot dovetails. (TS wants €46 for one. That's strange, mine were €18 each in 2010, if I remember well.)

I got my Genesis at Adorama in NYC. It wasn't available in the Netherlands in 1990. I could get it in Düsseldorf, where they had it for 6000 DMark, but that was more than twice as expensive as in New York, so I went there and  stayed with friends over Christmas. I remember that it cost $1395, including two TV barlows, three TV Plössls, one TV WideField and a Nagler.  One of the Plössls was the 55mm which gives 9x magnification with a tfov of 5.5°. I used that as finder.

These days my widest tfov eyepiece is a Maxvision 68° 34mm. I hope you have a nice wide tfov eyepiece because you'll really need it for your next lunar eclipse. The eclipsed Moon looks so pretty with plenty of room and those pinpoint stars around it!