First light with Lunt LS50

[mog3768]

apologies for not replying earlier  mine is the LS60 do not know if the 50 should have one or two O rings

be interested as how you get on.

[Highburymark]

Don't think the second o ring idea is going to work - basically if you add another ring the size of the existing (red) one ( cross section is 4mm), it's impossible to thread the piston back onto the cylinder. There are o rings with a smaller cross section (2.5mm) - but they are not going to stand proud of the ridge and hence won't affect the pressure. Clearly the LS50 is designed to have just one o ring - though not sure why there are two ridges. On we go with the journey.......

[jabeoo1]

That missing O ring would make all the difference.  No wonder you are not seeing consistent detail, and having to compensate by winding the tuner right to the top. Once you have the chamber air tight the views will improve no doubt.  

I take this back then  , without being near my scope when I wrote this I thought you had the solution.....

[Highburymark]

I take this back then  , without being near my scope when I wrote this I thought you had the solution.....

Appreciate all your comments - it's clearly alearning curve for everyone.

[Pete Presland]

Yes definitely and with this weather it's going to be a long one as well.

Might be worth emailing Lunt if you still concerned about your tuning ring still.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

[Highburymark]

Yes definitely and with this weather it's going to be a long one as well.

Might be worth emailing Lunt if you still concerned about your tuning ring still.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

As you say Pete, weather is a big factor - I still haven't had a session of more than 30 minutes with completely clear sky with this scope. And I thought solar astronomy was the perfect answer to light pollution.

[Highburymark]

Just in case anyone's still reading, or if anyone stumbles upon this thread in the future........

I have finally found a way to attach a second o-ring to the piston of the tuner. It's not an easy process, as the LS50 was not designed to have an extra o-ring. You have to push the detached piston into the brass cylinder yourself - obviously it's pretty tight - then while holding the end of the piston to keep it inserted, you attach the black handle over it, lining up the small hole at the back so the screw can be quickly inserted, and then tightened with the Allen key, making sure that the o-rings remain in the cylinder.

I did contact Lunt about this. Their very EU agent in Germany did say it was worth trying my 2 ring fix if I could make it work, though he also said they'd be happy to take a look at my scope if I didn't get satisfactory results.

Anyway, fast forward to this afternoon - my true First Light with this 'scope - and it was simply stunning. Gorgeous hedgerow proms in perfect detail at maximum magnification with my zoom (60x), clear sunspots and active regions surrounded by bright plage, all of this in sharp focus in same view.

This may not work for others with pressure issues, all I'm doing is reporting back what worked for me. But it has transformed my telescope and shown that the initial reservations I had about the views were in fact correct.

[John]

On 22/08/2015 at 17:49, Highburymark said:

Just in case anyone's still reading, or if anyone stumbles upon this thread in the future........

 

As a new owner of a Lunt LS50 I have just stumbled over the thead and it has been very interesting, if a little alarming !

I've still to 1st light mine and to find out which of my eyepieces will come to focus with it. I hope one or two do at least !

Thanks to the contributors to this thread - it's a valuable resource on this topic