Picked up an old Weltblick

[glennbech]

In relation to my recent Polarex classic telescope purchase, I educated myself on the Unitron, Polarex and Weltblick brands. That's how I noticed a neat little scope at the german https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/teleskop-weltblick-fernrohr/268630165-242-4818

This is a pre-Unitron/Polarex Weltblick and not produced by Nihon Seiko. It has a "circke K" mark, that I am still digging into. It seems that the Welt Blick brand was put on a whole range of Japanese telescopes all the way back to the 60s (Maybe even 50s). As far as I know, the scope I have purchased is mid / late 60s.

The scope invoked that "must have it" feeling, and I probably should have saved my 100 Euros for my 16" Dob savings project. But now I can't wait for clear skies and a  "double star split shootout fest" with my Carl Zeiss, Polarex (not arrived yet, not worried yet...) and this "Circle K" enigma.

The photos taken in a garden are not of the scope I purchased but from another source.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Frank the Troll]

Its a Unitron branded for the German market

 

http://www.company7.com/library/unitron/notes.html

 

 

On your travels, look out for a Jason 303  Another hidden little gem

[glennbech]

7 minutes ago, Frank the Troll said:

Its a Unitron branded for the German market

http://www.company7.com/library/unitron/notes.html

On your travels, look out for a Jason 303  Another hidden little gem

1

According to my understanding, Unitron and Polarex are both produced by Nihon Seiko. But I am not sure all Weltblick scopes are produced by Nihon Seiko.  

From Company 7

"In Germany these were marketed from the early 1960’s through the Spring of 1985 as UNITRON by Manfred Wachter Präzisionsmechanik und Optik of Bodelshausen at Tübingen (near Stuttgart), whose well illustrated literature remains a good source of information about these products even today. In the mid 1980’s these were distributed by Neckermann AG based in Frankfurt, Germany that sold these bearing the trade name WELTBLICK (World View)."

If you find a Welt Blick after 1980 it's a "Unitron" (N.S), earlier Welt Blick scopes may not be "Unitrons" (or N.S produced). 

Correct me if I am wrong here.

[Frank the Troll]

35 minutes ago, glennbech said:

If you find a Welt Blick after 1980 it's a "Unitron" (N.S), earlier Welt Blick scopes may not be "Unitrons" (or N.S produced). 

Correct me if I am wrong here.

Yes I saw that

But it also says not all had the N.S name on them, probaly hence the circle K

Circle K could well be the company Kasai.  Circle T is another major producer

 

 

[glennbech]

The marking identifies the producer of the scope (Towa is Circle T, N.S is Nihon Seiko etc)? As far as I understand the Polarex and Unitron scopes are sought after, exactly because they were produced by Nihon Seiko. WeltBlick scopes, produced by other producers would not be so collectible? 

[glennbech]

As an example.this is no 12 Euro Unitron/Polarex  

(https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/weltblick-teleskop/415729736-187-1140)

[glennbech]

On 3/9/2016 at 21:45, Frank the Troll said:

On your travels, look out for a Jason 303  Another hidden little gem

Do you have any links or references to it? 

[Frank the Troll]

11 hours ago, glennbech said:

Do you have any links or references to it? 

I came across reports of them on Cloudy Nights after seeing one for sale here in the UK.

This one was for sale on ebay , com  http://www.ebay.com/itm/JASON-STAR-SEARCH-TELESCOPE-100-MODEL-303-/281954522586?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

 

 

[Frank the Troll]

Intresting, seems that circle K is also on some old tasco telescopes as well

It would seem to me, that circle K were a producer of optics used by others too, along with circle T and others

Could it be, that circle K was in fact Vixen  http://www.company7.com/vixen/history.html

Most people seem to think circle K belonged to Kenko

 

[glennbech]

Quote

Most people seem to think circle K belonged to Kenko

This is my impression is also, after scanning lots and  lots of posts over at CN :-)

[glennbech]

Quote

This one was for sale on ebay , com  http://www.ebay.com/itm/JASON-STAR-SEARCH-TELESCOPE-100-MODEL-303-/281954522586?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

Thanks for the heads up. I won it for $15 :-) 

[Alan64]

That one will be a Tanzutsu(Circle Z), produced during the 1980s, and of a good deal of plastic.  I have one myself, and also had off of eBay...

 

The doublet-lens within my own is quite good, and seemingly too good for its housing...

[philj]

Great find there. If its circle K its more than likely a Kenko. Circle T and K made scopes that were sold by different companies, Tasco, Swift etc, I have a Circle T (Towa 339) which is actually branded Swift so seeing the same scope under different names like Weltblick is not uncommon.

That's a Japanese EQ mount design used by quite a few manufacturers in particularly Circle T and K, a very typical mount of its day, very elegant. Good optics in the scope as well

[glennbech]

DHL Tracking indicates that a very unlikely event of good Astro-weather and arrival of this scope is about to happen. I'll post pictures and first light! I have a Polarex Model 133 (60/700), see http://www.unitronhistory.com/models/polarex/polarex-model-133-n/  incoming soon as well (stuck in customs), it will be fun to see how these scopes compare to my Willian Optics and Zeiss for moon/double stars :-)   

[philj]

Heres an example of a 1960s  circle T (Towa 339) view just to whet your appetite, its just as good on doubles and planetary as well

[nightfisher]

Phil thats a cracking image, it would be nice if you wanted to post that image in the Luna challenge  thread in lunar imaging  i guess the swift is the 831

[Frank the Troll]

On 11/03/2016 at 20:17, glennbech said:

Thanks for the heads up. I won it for $15 :-)

Well done. You've grabbed yourself a bargin

Happy double splitting

Shame they dont come up on fleebay UK more, have only seen the one

 

 

[glennbech]

I and my Weltblick have had quite a journey since I got it. After first light I noticed a couple of problems with the optics. Star images were okay, and the moon looked good with little or no CA.

The view of Jupiter brought out the problem. The planet showed a couple of yellow halos, the size of the planet . It was also difficult to get a good clear image because of glare and internal reflections. 

Looking more closely at the lens it had traces of vaporized fluids and dust between the air spaced elements. 

I got some help over "at another forum, with a lot of classic telescope  enthusiasts" and did my first split/clean/reassemble of an air spaced doublet. 

The result was still not good, the image improved but the halos were still there. Looking down the tube shows this ;

Looks like the telescope maker had a bad day. There is a gap between the focuser-end baffle and the tube. The baffles themselves are also not properly painted, something that should be done? This is what I am working on at the moment. 

I also experienced some slack in the RA axis and have fixed that by taking the entire EQ mount apart for re-lube and tightening. This was the part causing problems. It is now cleaned and ready for a re-grease and assembly:

I am glad I did not give up on the telescope. I have put down some effort in it now, and as soon as I fix the baffles issues I am sure it will perform very well on planets and bright stars as well!

 

[Frank the Troll]

All worth it

Hows the little Jason doing?

 

[glennbech]

Yes, I think it's worth it. The telescope and mount are in very good overall shape for its age, and the kit is nearly complete.  It feels good to restore, and improve its function to something useable that fills a hole in my current setup (slow refractor). I have the Zeiss, but the wooden tripod and cast and solid EQ mount has it's charm. I can also very easily set it up as a solar scope, with a new filter, if I want. The gear is included in the kit.

The Jason is in transit