Infinity / Astroscan

[SilverAstro]

Not sure if I should put this in Equipment, Getting Started or quite where ? !
 So mods please move etc&

Browsing suppliers I came across the Skywatcher Infinity and being of a certain branch of dinosaurs I had a flashback to Astroscan, the vendor pics of the Infinity look similar but digging down the Infinity is a 3" paraboloid whereas (if mem serves) the Astroscan was 4"+ spherical  with corrector? ( or was it just an optical window ? or just a window !)

Thoughts please, - anyone else gone this route, I know toys etc&etc but Thomas the Tank can lead to greater model railways things in the young !

Edit PS g-children for the autonomous use of except ,, when the sun is shining

Edit + : Wiki, for the astroscan, tells me " 4⅛" clear-inch (105mm) diameter f/4.2 aluminized and overcoated borosilicate glass parabolic primary mirror with a focal length of 17½ inches (445mm).^[1] The telescope's secondary mirror was mounted on a flat optical window "

It sounds like a much better job all those years ago.

Anyone experienced the Infinity ?

 

 

[furrysocks2]

I haven't used one, but I was reminded of this post I read last week.

 

[SilverAstro]

4 hours ago, furrysocks2 said:

I haven't used one, but I was reminded of this post I read last week.

Thanks for remembering the Penguin, very interesting.

[Nyctimene]

Here' s the Penguin tamer....

Really good optical quality; at any case you will have to add the 20 mmf eyepiece giving 15x mag and a field of about 3.25 degrees (not easy to get by; I bought mine from astro -shop).

An eager, stubborn and curious grandchild will master this scope despite its drawbacks and will have a great start on his/her way to the skies.

Last night I had a quick look at the Auriga clusters from indoors, using it literally as a desktop scope through double glazed windows (I know it' s forbidden by pain of...), and again was amazed, what this little scope shows. Much fun for half an hour until the street lights were switched on.

Stephan

 

[SilverAstro]

4 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

20 mmf eyepiece  ..  (not easy to get by; I bought mine from astro -shop).

Thanks for these two reviews, very useful.

Was that a special 20mm available for the Infinity ? You say in the other review "The eyepieces are threaded helically as a substitute for a real focuser",  so I guess regular Skywatcher eyepieces will not fit / will not have the helical thread on them ?

With a bit of luck I will be able to go to see one next week, to see what is involved. No rush, the grandchild is not quite ready for it yet but meanwhile her mother and grandad could have a play !

[Nyctimene]

8 hours ago, SilverAstro said:

Thanks for these two reviews, very useful.

Was that a special 20mm available for the Infinity ? You say in the other review "The eyepieces are threaded helically as a substitute for a real focuser",  so I guess regular Skywatcher eyepieces will not fit / will not have the helical thread on them ?

With a bit of luck I will be able to go to see one next week, to see what is involved. No rush, the grandchild is not quite ready for it yet but meanwhile her mother and grandad could have a play !

You are  quite right; the Infinity eyepieces are both threaded helically (with a steep angle), so you twist the eyepiece for focusing. Other 1.25" eyepieces won't work with it. I tried even some ancient German eyepieces with 31 mm diameter- no chance.

I've just looked up the website of Astroshop.de; they have still some 20mmf eyepieces in stock - at the ridiculous price of € 9.90 (-50%), so you could order two of them, in case one gets lost or damaged. The apparent field of view is surprisingly large, I guess it to reach about 55°, way better than the 10mmf erecting eyepiece and surprisingly sharp almost to the edges, without chromatic aberration and only little coma. Very good for cruising star fields and the Milky Way in summer.

Have fun with your granddaughter and her mother, when you show them the moon, M 31, M45, and some bright globulars. For less than €60 it hardly can be beaten as an entry scope. Not much loss, if your granddaughter will not like it.

Next step could be a Heritage 130P, or an 8" Dob, when aperture fever sets in..

Stephan

 

[SilverAstro]

10 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

the website of Astroshop.de; they have still some 20mmf eyepieces in stock -

Not much loss, if your granddaughter will not like it.

when aperture fever sets in..

Thanks, great info., yes found the 20mm now, gosh they were well buried - you did well to chase them down !

Already set in I was looking at 8" and bigger Dobs and also at 6" portables to replace our 6" Newt (heavy diy job back in 1965 that has a badly deteriorated mirror now) when I came across the astroscan look-alike, as you rightly say - economic for a child to use without worry of " dont do that" "do it this  way" ",, he wont be pleased if you break his ,, "  and all the other helpful things that adults can frighten children off with 

 

[SilverAstro]

The good news is that I picked up a p-p-penguin on ebay and gave it first light last night ( a surprisingly good sky given the doom&gloom panic 4casts ! )

And I am impressed ! I'd like to thank @Nyctimene for his various encouraging posts & reviews, without which I might have passed it by

In the literature that came with it ( I dont know the age of this one) there is ref. to 3 more eyepieces 15x 30x and 50x all non-erecting which would be good but it seems that only the 15x is now available ex-Germany.

It will take some practice to aim it well as there is no cylindrical tube to sight along ! I chanced on the Pleiades which was of course a fine sight BUT after moving away to view M42 - washed out by the full moon but easily found as it was sitting on top of one of my trees ! - and then the moon itself just then rising above another tree, I  tried to RE-LOCATE the Pleiades !! ha, took me ages as it was in a featurless sky and hardly vis.ne even    So we may have a frustrated young child and gdad in a few years time

It is quite stable on its tray which will facilitate standing aside and letting another person view what has been found, very comfortable sitting on a garden seat with it on a tall stool but the 'ears' on the side get in the way, dont see the use of them, the Astroscan was a neater design.

Also in the old Astroscan there was ( I think) an optical window which was child friendly, not on the Infinity which will thus lead to much conversation about care of the instrument which is a shame. But not at this price point !!! I wonder if clear film ( like solar film without its coat ) is available, would cling-film be suitable - - I feel an experiment is imminent !

thanks for reading. /end waffle

 

[Nyctimene]

Silver Astro,

I'm pleased, that your penguin obviously was a "fast offshore passage maker" to your home, and the weather conditions allowed you at least some short "second light". Did you get the 10 mm/30x erecting eyepiece along with it? In my telescope manual/leaflet of the Infinity the three eyepieces also are named with the same focal lengths.

As far as I recall, the Astroscan had an optical window  (never saw one). The  Infinity's optics seem to me rather well guarded within the tube; and you, as a careful grandfather, will show your granddaughter, how to use the scope correctly.

Baader makes an optical film which induces aberrations smaller than1/10 Lambda; but with the optical density of 0,1 of no real use (moon?).

A Solar film could be a nice addition...

Please keep us in touch with your penguin excursions!

Thanks for your reply!

Stephan

 

 

 

[SilverAstro]

1 hour ago, Nyctimene said:

 Did you get the 10 mm/30x erecting eyepiece along with it?

Yes it did and it will be quite adequate for the girls but of course big boys and toys  I would have liked to experiment with the 50x, but seems that was only available with the long-gone delux version  

( I think the errecting bit could be removed but not yet, later maybe !! )

I have ordered the 15x as per your  find.

this is an interesting earlier topic in which Stu (mod. of this parish ) has used a Nagler on it, a little OTT perhaps but a good experiment   here  :-

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/185996-infinity-76-quick-question/?do=findComment&comment=1934725

[Nyctimene]

SilverAstro,

thank you for your reply. Within the link you posted, there is another link on the Infinity 76, which is very interesting as well. The author snipped off the two plastic pegs that slip in the eyepiece's threads, so he was able to use ordinary 1,25" eyepieces, that got to focus.

I have just measured the threaded eyepiece's outer diameter: 31,55 mm, a little less to 1.25" (0,2mm). The cutout for the eyepiece in the Penguin's neck is exactly 32mm, so the use of ordinary eyepieces should be doable with some shimming.

Now I'm mulling over this penguin surgery.....

Stephan

 

[SilverAstro]

1 hour ago, Nyctimene said:

 another link on the Infinity 76, which is very interesting as well. The author snipped off the two plastic pegs that slip in the eyepiece's threads

mulling over this penguin surgery.....

Yes I saw that, I only have one peg   

and only one & a half felt strips ! So it has given someone   a lot of use  much pleasure previously ! But it still works ok with a smooth motion and the optical surfaces are still fine.

some experiments may well follow

 

[SilverAstro]

,,, experiments along the lines of the -  Visionki 3 '' 76 mm -  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Visionki-3-76-mm-Reflector-Newtonian-Space-Astronomical-Telescope-Beginner-/252408293570?hash=item3ac4b4e8c2:g:4dAAAOSwd4tT2KVJ

- from China, might have saved Rudi on the other forum some work !

 

[Nyctimene]

18 hours ago, SilverAstro said:

,,, experiments along the lines of the -  Visionki 3 '' 76 mm -  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Visionki-3-76-mm-Reflector-Newtonian-Space-Astronomical-Telescope-Beginner-/252408293570?hash=item3ac4b4e8c2:g:4dAAAOSwd4tT2KVJ

- from China, might have saved Rudi on the other forum some work !

 

I don't think so. The primary of that toy is presumably a spherical one, as used in the Firstscope and its clones; and the mechanical parts look really flimsy. I'd guess that Rudi, German craftsman, just would despise this plastic stuff!

Stephan

[SilverAstro]

20 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

Rudi, German craftsman,

My humble apologies to Rudi,  I didnt mean to impugn his skills or jugement,  but I did forget to put a sprinkling of assorted smiles after my statement !

[Nyctimene]

1 minute ago, SilverAstro said:

My humble apologies to Rudi,  I didnt mean to impune his skills or jugement,  but I did forget to put a sprinkling of assorted smiles after my statement !

Silver Astro,

don't take it too serious; I should as well have added some smiley to the "German craftsman". I don't know Rudi by person, and can just guess, looking at his work, that he's got some crafting skills I'd like to have. I assume, he would be quite amused following our discussion here.....

 

[SilverAstro]

2 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

 I assume, he would be quite amused following our discussion here.....
 

No problem  and I have corrected my speelin of impugn (which I mention just in case my horrid english has confused your dictionary LOL ! )

 

[SilverAstro]

On 13/01/2017 at 17:13, SilverAstro said:

I have ordered the 15x as per your  find.

And today they (1 + a spare for later) arrived, very quick

Just spent a happy 1/2hr (too cold for longer! ) quick test round Orion M42 of course, M45, Gemini M35 was especially good and the red star nearby (forgot its name !) argh but forgot to look at the Beehive M44, & M67 ! cold must have got my brain cell !

All very much easier to find than with the 30x