Telescope Identity

[Pluto1948]

Hi Guys

This is question in the hope that all the knowledge that is on the site maybe able to help, I have just acquired 90mm F8 refractor which needs a new focuser but there are no makers identification markings on it the only way I think it can be done is via the finder scope attachment, I have taken a couple of pics  to help with my problem,

 

[Putaendo Patrick]

I'm wondering about a derivative of Meade. The finderscope looks similar to one shown here:

http://www.jeffpolston.com/finder.htm

The way the mount attaches to the rings, apparently without a dovetail, is a little similar to this:

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=810076

What's the approx aperture and focal length?

[ronin]

Where does 90mm f/8 come from ?

I assume the lens housing ? Any chance of a shot of that and if not the lens housing whatever bit says 90mm f/8. I would have expected f/10 or f/9 - have seen recently a 90mm 810mm FL somewhere, and yours looks like it is longer the 720mm that a 90 F/8 would be - proportions appear wrong, but it could be the result from the camera and subsequent uploading to here.

[happy-kat]

To focus in your photo under the finder scope you can see a black wheel on the botton side of the tube that goes into the telescope.

By turning the wheel in either direction it moves the focus point in and out, somewhere along that path will the focus for the distant object you are looking at.

You appear to have a diagonal with an eye peice attached to the focuser, so should be good to go.

 

[ronin]

Present best guess is a Meade 90mm f/11, although the black bit attaching the dew shield appears thinner in yours then the one I can see. Will say there seems to be a few Meade 90mm refractors, from f/11 to f/8.8.

Minor "concern" is that Meade put their brand all over the examples I can see, usually twice in the OTA and as a patch on the ocuser which gives the specification of the scope. It would take a lot of work to remove all of them.

[Pluto1948]

Hi Guys 

Thanks for the input, I think I was wrong and Putaendo Patrick was right and it is a Meade Model 390 with an EQ mount, although there is know markings on pictures on the net what confirms it is the mounting of the finder scope which is exactly the same, so I now know it is a 90mm F/11, the optics on it are great and it was very cheap, or I could say it was a steal.

Thanks for the input you have made my day, my other scope is LX200.

 

 

[Demon Barber]

Just to put a fly in the ointment it is very similar to the early 70`s Vixen`s,which have of course been copied the world over.

Try searching the Vixen Japan website for info.

Hth

Mike

[Putaendo Patrick]

If it was an early 70s Vixen I would have expected the black parts on the focuser etc to be a sort of green-grey textured "enamel" - but this may just be my ignorance.

Another feature which seems rather Meade is the mounting of the finderscope with four screws rather than a horse-shoe, and also the angle of the finderscope support, oblique rather than vertical (if you know what I mean..)

The finderscope also recalls some made by GSO of Taiwan, and at least some of the Meade 386D telescopes were made in Taiwan to Meade's specifications, see for example:

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=551210

I'm also trying to work out how the telescope fixes to the mount, but it doesn't look like the typical Vixen dovetail.

Vixen were (perhaps still are) one of the major telescope manufacturers in the Far East - Meade started life by importing telescope accessories from Japan, then began commissioning lesser known Japanese manufacturers to make telescopes which Meade sold under its brand name in the US. So to a large extent many telescopes owe a lot to Vixen, perhaps with minor modifications to overcome any patents?

The lack of any identification may simple mean it got worn and was removed - although there is perhaps a possibility that a manufacturer like GSO also sold the same scopes to other retailers. When did Meade, for example, enter the European market? Could this be a "Meade" telescope which got "sidetracked" to a European importer? It's a nightmare!

All said, however, it looks like a great 'frac and may well have very nice optics indeed! A good find!

[Putaendo Patrick]

And, I forgot, there's a video on Youtube of a Meade 90mm frac. With all respect, it's possibly the most boring video on all of Youtube - except, that is, unless you have one you're trying to identify. Give it a look - it might go viral!