Mag 1 Portaball - it's back!

[osbourne one-nil]

I sent my 8" Portaball off to be refurbished and upgraded on June 1st and it's just been delivered back to me. 

Dave Juckem, Mag 1's new owner, said he could refurbish the scope and make it identical to a brand new one for a fraction of the cost. So it's been in Wisconsin over the summer having a new electrical system, secondary cage, truss poles and 2" focuser fitted and a new base for it all to sit on constructed. The only original parts are the primary mirror (which is just as well as it's a Zambutto), secondary mirror and original fibre-glass sphere which acts as the primary housing. 

I'm self-employed so I could just put it all together right now, but I'd be scared of telling myself off if I did, so it's going to have to wait until tonight. 

FedEx did ok with this too - it didn't leave Wisconsin until about 3pm (their time) on Friday and it was here in Penrith by 8.30 this morning. 

[John]

I'll look forward to some pics of that and reports on it's performance

[osbourne one-nil]

Never mind its performance - I've got a mug!

I've also got a very nice looking (and incredibly lightweight) secondary housing with nice curved veins and all the wiring for the secondary dew prevention built in, along with a rather splendid Starlight Instruments 2" focuser which should be a massive improvement on the previous 1.25" helical one. 

[John]

Now thats a stylish secondary housing !

[Mr Spock]

Very nice!

[niallk]

Beautiful scope design + a Zambuto mirror!

Looks like a real nice job on the UTA ring/spider/dew control.

Feel free to post lots of pics ... please!

[Stratis]

Damn.... are these even available in the UK?

[L8-Nite]

A Mag 1 Dob is on my bucket list, more detailed photos please !  

Cool mug, would make for a good avatar.

[osbourne one-nil]

Damn.... are these even available in the UK?

Oh yes, although they're not cheap and import duty/VAT doesn't help, but you'd never regret it. 

A Mag 1 Dob is on my bucket list, more detailed photos please !  

Cool mug, would make for a good avatar.

Good idea!

Right - here goes. 

I assume the caviar-looking stuff is lead shot as I asked Dave to adapt it so it would take my 35mm Panoptic. With no bearings, there's no way of adjusting the "sticktion" other than weighting the bottom. We shall see!

[osbourne one-nil]

Well that was easy. Dave provides an excellent instruction manual that leaves almost nothing to ponder over.

First of all I unpacked the primary which has a new support structure and fan - all very neat. 

Before I placed it in the sphere, I noticed an electrical somethingorother which does somethingorother...and three small pipes which I assume is to bring cool air from outside in as the fan runs. They weren't there before. 

The truss poles snap into their housing with a ball and socket type joint, the secondary attaches smoothly to the top and the only thing you need to be careful of is that the pole which takes power from the battery (in the sphere) up to the secondary dew heater and quikfinder, aligns. Both ends plug into small telephone jack type sockets. 

Attach the power cables to the battery, slip in the fuse and done. 

     

Finally, the shroud. Even this is great, with holes for the finder, focuser and truss bolts cut out perfectly, a really robust zip allows it to wrap round rather than slip over the top and the material feels a realy robust tent-type nylon. 

All in all, I think Dave's improved on everything (other than the optics which were top-notch already). Even the movement's better, with the scope balancing in all positions whether there's no eyepiece in or a Panoptic 35mm and every single part of the sky as equally accessible as any other. 

Wish it had come a week ago though - last week was cloudless!

[John]

Superb

What an innovative design it is.

[niallk]

There's something just so elegant about the Portaball design

[osbourne one-nil]

And best of all, it really does work. 

I might try a video at some point to show its movements, because they're just perfect. 

[Stratis]

A large Newtonian is also my next ogle-purchase.

Like with any telescope, I have to decide whether I want to go cheap, or go nice. 

In this case the decision is "Buy a huge SkyWatcher and stick it on my equatorial mount at the payload limit" (so basically a 250/300P OTA) or save up and get something like this with a mirror a human has actually looked at before shipping to me.

Having never viewed through a good or bad large Newtonian, it's hard for me to know what 'Zambuto mirror' actually means at the eyepiece

[osbourne one-nil]

I'm not the sort that actively assesses the quality of the view; I don't go looking for faults, so I'm not especially analytical. The best way I can describe it is when I look through this scope, I never feel that I'm looking through a Newtonian. The views are just as crisp and full of contrast as they are through my Tak, only a lot brighter and a lot more detailed. The ONLY giveaway was the flares on bright objects from the secondary vanes, something which I think the upgrade will have sorted...not that they ever bothered me. In fact, I always through they looked pretty smart. I've had plenty of other Newts before where the view would never be as sharp and crisp as an Apo.

[L8-Nite]

And best of all, it really does work. 

I might try a video at some point to show its movements, because they're just perfect. 

Thanks for the close up photos !

It's interesting to note that the Portaball now comes with a skeletonized top section.

[osbourne one-nil]

This should work - a link to a little video showing its movement complete with a heavy great Panoptic 35mm eyepiece. 

https://flic.kr/p/zvMxcn

[Stu]

Impressive!

[laudropb]

Very nice looking set up. Enjoy!

[triton1]

Like it a lot it would certainly take the weight off my legs.To sit down to observe joy.