Slight movement of the primary mirror... should I be worried or am I being paranoid?

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi all,

This evening when I arrived home from work, I thought I would give my 'modded' ETX105 a bit of a clean. The OTA with a 'blob' a well known auto wax polish and the meniscus cell with a 'squirt' of Baader Wonder Fluid.

I mounted the 'scope on my Giro as I did not fancy dropping it on vinyl floor whist handling it and get access all areas. It looks clean now! 

Now upon turning the OTA 180^o I noticed a slight movement of the primary mirror... (about 1/16^th of an inch +/- the odd micron) ...should I be worried  or am I being paranoid? 

I don't know if it was due to the 'bump' it took several years ago, in which the rear plastic cell got damaged. I have never noticed it before... until now! 

[xtreemchaos]

id give it a closer look mate just incase somethings broke in the mirror cell ,the last thing you want is the mirror falling down the tube when its inverted. clear skys. charl

[ronin]

I suspect there should not be enough movement to be able to see it move, and I do not intend to give my 105 a shake.

But I would not worry about it as there is not a lot you can do in reality.

I think the rear cell actually removes fairly easily if you thought you had to attack it. But there is the fact that the whole lot moves to achieve/alter focus so it cannot be an overly tight fit.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Just arrived home after taking my beloved 'modded' ETX105 to SCTelescopes.

1. The collar that holds the primary was a little bit loose -   - now tightened.

2. Collimation was slightly out -   - now 99.999999% spot-on.

[Steve Ward]

Glad you're sorted , there's not a lot that Steve can't fix ...