Hilkin telescope t-705

[ballisticbrian]

Hello, first post. I just bought a Hilkin telescope t-705 at a boot sale this morning. It's my first telescope!

 

I found this web site because I googles the model number but the old thread from 10 years ago didn't shed much light on it.

 

It's  a f1000mm / 77mm on a rather substantial and heavy tripod. There a couple of eye pieces and a huge box it all goes in.

 

I have had a keen interest in Astronomy for many years but I have a slight night blindness problem which means smaller stars disappear when I look at them

and I assume this is because I spent too much time laying in the school field staring at the sun as a child (yes - really).

 

I'm hoping that because I can see bigger stars and planets I will be able to see them through the telescope but I won't know until later. Although may be too cloudy anyway.

 

Does anyone around now-days know anything about Hilkin? Aparently what I found out was they imported Japanese optics in the 70's / 80's and are now a company concerned mainly with binoculars. 

 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Welcome to the Lounge, I don't know the scope, but I'm sure some of the old timers will be along shortly, to help you out....

[F15Rules]

Some pictures would really help☺.

One of the "Old Timers"?

Dave

[dweller25]

Hello and welcome to SGL

You have a nice classic scope - also branded as Carton.

This is not quite your scope but close......

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/312273-a-classic-hilkin-arrives/

 

Edited February 17, 2019 by dweller25

[F15Rules]

27 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Hello and welcome to SGL

You have a nice classic scope - also branded as Carton.

This is not quite your scope but close......

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/312273-a-classic-hilkin-arrives/

 

That makes a bit more sense now, thanks David. Take a look at this thread on this forum..

New vintage 1960s SYW Yamamoto 60mm F13 refractor

It looks very like the Eikow/Swift design but was made by Yamamoto, who I believe were bought up by one Mr Takahashi at one point.

This one had wonderful optics and went north eventually to be used as a solar scope..I believe the buyer still has it..

Your Hilkin should perform very well..Would be good to see photos☺

Dave

 

[ballisticbrian]

Thank you for all the info, I love finding out about old equipment. Here are the pics. Wrapped up in paper is he "sun" filter (I understand don't risk old sun filters), there is no glass in the Bartholemew 2x eye piece, another complete eye piece to the one installed and can anyone tell me what the black round "off set" eye piece is please?

Edited February 17, 2019 by ballisticbrian
Had to upload pics from a phone. doh

[John]

The offset device is an erecting prism for terrestrial viewing. It turns the image that the scope produces into the orientation that our eyes see.

I would do everybody a favour and destroy the sun filter. One more of these dangerous devices less is a good thing.

Does it come with a diagonal prism / mirror (goes in between the end of the scope and the eyepiece) ?

This will make viewing through the scope at the sky somewhat more comfortable.

 

 

 

[ballisticbrian]

It's very thick low cloud tonight and you can only see the moon from an awkward part of the garden so I will probably not be able to try it tonight.

No - I don't think there is a mirror or prism going spare. I haven't as yet removed the installed eye piece from the sight or the telescope but it wont be in there will it?

Also, I looked at the thread about a similar model that White Dwarf mentioned and that model does come with at least 2 more eye pieces so I could be missing some bits (plus I mentioned no glass in the 2x Bartholomew). Could be missing some bits then, but hopefully nothing that will stop a newbie getting going?

 

[John]

The diagonal would look a bit like the one pictured below. The 2x Barlow lens should have a glass element in the bottom end of it. If you have 2 eyepieces with different focal lengths (eg: 20mm and 12mm or similar) then you can get started. The diagonal would make viewing through the scope at the sky easier though (less back / neck breaking !).

 

 

[ballisticbrian]

No, that piece is definitely missing and there is a spare place in the box where one would possibly go. I must be missing the user guide as well. But to put a positive spin on this, let's say I got it for a good price and possibly saved it from oblivion. If these eye pieces and the diagonal come up, maybe I can restore it as a set. 

Contrary to the other member who found one of these in an attic some years ago, mine isn't covered in mould and missing bolts and fixings. Apart from a small dent in the telescope and scratches it looks ok. Yes the Bartholemew is just a "tube" LOL. A special kind of lens!

[dweller25]

I think the “Bartholemew” is actually a barlow lens which will multiply the magnification power of your eyepieces.

The mount looks like an equatorial so will naturally match the path of stars and planets if you set it’s angle to your latitude. At the moment the mount looks to be set in alt-az mode ie simple left right up down movements.

The tripod tray looks to be broken - ideally this needs fixing as it will give MUCH better stability when using higher powers on the Moon and Planets

it’s a nice scope and will give you great views ?

[Peter Drew]

45 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

I think the “Bartholemew” is actually a barlow lens which will multiply the magnification power of your eyepieces.

The mount looks like an equatorial so will naturally match the path of stars and planets if you set it’s angle to your latitude. At the moment the mount looks to be set in alt-az mode ie simple left right up down movements.

The tripod tray looks to be broken - ideally this needs fixing as it will give MUCH better stability when using higher powers on the Moon and Planets

it’s a nice scope and will give you great views ?

I think the tripod tray is just missing its attachment screws.   ?

[F15Rules]

It's an "Eikow" made scope I think, pretty much the same as a Swift 831, a well regarded old scope. There is a lot of info on the Swift 831 on the net, so do have a delve and digest as much as you can. Here's a link to start you off..

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/578091-swift-831-restoration-advice/

If you scroll down you will see a few photos, the similarity to yours is striking☺.

Dave

Edited February 18, 2019 by F15Rules

[ballisticbrian]

OK, so my first foray into telescopes was short and a little uneventful. I found a star in the scope but couldn't find it in the telescope.

I was in an illuminated house / room with various fish tank lights going. I don't know if that makes a difference? The light out there from the city doesn't help.

The eyepiece in there is 25mm. I'm now not sure if the other one I have is complete or not, I think I should post pictures of the eye pieces I have for you guys to look at?

 

Yes sorry, it's a Barlow not Bartholemew and it's just a plastic or metal tube with nothing in it. 

I don't even know at this stage if the scope is pointing exactly where the telescope is pointing. Is adjusting the screws and making the alignemrnt good something that has to be done when you set up a scope? Than you for the extra info on swift and eikow, I will have to look into that. Especially if I need eye pieces lol.

[John]

You are quite right - you do need to make sure that the finder scope (the little one) is pointing in exactly the same place as the main scope is. This can be done in daylight using a distant target such as a chimney pot or telegraph pole - something a few miles away preferrably. Nowhere near the Sun of course - never look at that with any sort of optical aid.

Viewing from inside the house is not ideal because of the stray light around and also the heat from the house and window glass distoring the view. Outside is where the best views are to be had but you do need to wrap up warm at this time of year.

Posting some photos of what you have will help to identify any thing that is missing.

 

[ballisticbrian]

This is all I have and the bad news is, I'm not getting an image through that .25mm lense (in day light looking for a chimney or tree) which was installed when I got it. The lense to the far right has nothing written on it and could be missing the end possibly. Disregard the incomplete Barlow below.

Edited February 19, 2019 by ballisticbrian
Needed to uload from phone.

[John]

I think the part marked 2x barlow lens screws onto the threads top of the chrome part of the tube to the upper right of the picture to create a complete barlow lens which the looks a bit like this:

 

[ballisticbrian]

Yes, you are right! I then screwed the .25mm on the end of that but still can't get an image into focus. There's pretty much nothing in the field of view just light and dark. Can't even get the edge of light and dark into focus.

Edited February 19, 2019 by ballisticbrian
Forgot to put Heeeeyyyy

[ballisticbrian]

Can anyone help me to double check everything? If you look at picture 5 above (the close up of the installed eye piece), can you tell me if it looks like that 25mm eye piece is installed correctly? There's not something missing that would change the focal length? Also, having just obtained the telescope, is there anything else that should be double checked that could be missing or broken? Any other newbie error that could be stopping me getting an image of trees a few gardens away?

[John]

The scope may need a diagonal prism / mirror in place to reach focus. This picture below is of the scope in the link that Dweller25 posted earlier in this thread and you can see the diagonal in place and the amount of chrome drawtube that is showing. Without a diagonal in place the focuser would need to be racked out quite a bit further to get an eyepiece on it's own to reach focus.

 

 

[ballisticbrian]

OK, I see, thanks for your reply. Is there any way I could double check this without shelling out cash as it will probably cost more than the telescope?

I guess an "experiment"? Failing that a download of the original user guide but I really can't imagine that would be available. I do really appreciate all your help so far.

Also, are there various types of diagonal pieces and sizes / compatibility issues?

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by ballisticbrian

[John]

Eyepieces, diagonals etc come in 3 sizes generally. We are talking about the diameter of the chrome barrels with these sizes:

.965 inch - the older type scopes. Not used these days and new accessories in this fitting are not available.

1.25 inch - very common fitting these days and the vast majoority of scopes take this size.

2.0 inch - another common size these days for wide angles of view at low to medium magnifications.

Your scope will be either .965 inch or 1.25 inch fitting.

To try and get the scope to focus without a diagonal, put the 25mm eyepiece in the focuser tube and extend the focuser tube as far out as it will come by turning the focuser wheels. You might also be able to create an extension tube from the part with the 2x Barlow printed on it combined with the chrome part of the tube with the lens in it - the black part with the lens in would need to be removed and should unscrew from the chrome section. Try the extension tube you have now created between the eyepiece and the focuser tube and then move the focuser inwards and outwards to see if you can get focus. All this could be done with a distant target (a km away or more) in daylight rather than waiting for a clear night.

[ballisticbrian]

God, I'm such a dimlow. This post is sponsored by Merrydown Cider. After drinking one of those, I walked past the telescope and thought "what is that thumb screw?" (in pic above with model number) and pop, out come another 8 inches of chromed tube!!!  Too cloudy to try it out though. I feel like the guy that phoned Tesco customer services to say there was no topping on his pizza when he had it upside down!

Edited February 21, 2019 by ballisticbrian

[ballisticbrian]

So I managed to get stars into focus tonight but it was clouding over (more like mist). I managed to confirm that my peculiar form of night blindness doesn't hinder telescope work. I could see the stars brightly through the telescope and other stars came into view that I couldn't see at all in the sky.

I had read that the brightness of stars diminishes proportional to magnification, but it appears that more of my eye surface catches the star and I can see it.

I worked out how to use an online planetarium and was going to look for Mars and Uranus which are on a line with Orions Belt but , no that mist came in.

All I really want to achieve was getting good enough with this to point out some thing to my son when he's older, he us currently 6 months old.

I was also hoping to see galaxies through this, but I really don't know if that's possible! 

 

[John]

Good news on the views !

Some of the brightest galaxies will be visible with the scope. In particular you should seek out Messier 81 and 82 in Ursa Major and Messier 31 in Andromeda. They will just look like faint smudges of light but they are galaxies. Low magnification is what is needed for these and a dark night with no moonlight in the sky and, if possible, away from other forms of lighting as well.