Solarmax II 60, rusted ITF

[Starflyer]

Hi all,

I'm after confirmation that I have a rusted ITF and what to do about it. The scope's a good few years old, the views and images used to be great, but I came to use it visually a while back and it was very disappointing. A couple of days ago I had it out again with a camera in it, surface detail was there but poor and the lovely proms showing on GONG were only just visible. When increasing the exposure to make the proms visible I had a very fuzzy halo around the sun that was drowning out the proms.

The etalon appears to be functioning just as it had in the past and tuning seemed to be working fine. I've been doing some reading and found mention of the rust problem on the ITF, this is what mine looks like.  It's fairly obvious to me but wanted expert advice.

 

I've found the Beloptik replacements, they're fairly expensive, are there any other alternatives?  Has anyone had any joy getting Meade to replace it on an old scope?

I think if I replace the ITF then I'd swap out the focuser for a MoonLite as well and get it back to being decent solar scope again for the summer.  For the UK members who've done this, where did you source the focuser (what model is used) and the correct flange?

 

Cheers

Ian

[Craney]

Hello Ian,

I've just replaced the ITF in my PST.    My research led me to two companies that  offer a replacement.   

One was Beloptik, the other was Maier Optics in the States     https://maierphotonics.com/

From the correspondents on CloudyNights, it seems that sending units back to Meade took a long time and  was overpriced for the work that was done ( that was for PST units though).

This is what my 'rusted'  one looked like, and was given the last rites by an experienced solar observer on here.  

Regards,

 

Sean.

 

[Peter Drew]

@Starflyer.    Yes, a classic example of a "rusted" ITF.  I too, would recommend the M Photonics replacement, they apparently give a brighter image and better lifetime.       😀

[Starflyer]

Thanks Sean, thanks Peter, I'll get one on order. They're much cheaper than Beloptik filter, even when you consider VAT, duty and the rip off Parcelforce import charge.

Now just to source the focuser and flange.

[Merlin66]

+1 for the Maier Photonics ITF. I've used them for repairs for over ten years. I'm aware of only one failure in all that time, which was put down to a bad batch.

They seem to last much longer than the Meade/ Coronado original.