Disaster Advice Needed

[Bigwings]

I have dropped my Skymax 150 complete with focuser and Starsense camera. 

Hard landing on the 2" dielectric  corner

Glass 

[Bigwings]

Advice needed. 

1. Is the Starsense camera likely to be OK. 

No direct bang and no sign of damage. 

2. Can the OTA be economically repaired and if so by who. 

3

Is the diagonal likely to be scrap. 

3 Will the focuser be ok

 No sign of damage but its slack. 

Im gutted

 

 

[Space Hopper]

So sorry to read of your mishap. Ouch !

Do you have insurance ? 

The scope looks a write off tbh. I think the cost of a repair would not make it viable.

If the diagonal took the impact, its perhaps knocked the mirror out of alignment, so a test with another scope would reveal any issues....?

I would imagine the camera would be ok, and the focuser too, after checking and adjusting it if required.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Space Hopper

[misterp]

Just a thought on the ota.

Maybe try some black tape over the chip, will reduce the aperture but might be ok.

Good luck

Ian

[dweller25]

As space hopper said, also I would speak to FLO to see if a new corrector can be sourced, if not It should be covered on your house insurance. 

Edited January 21, 2021 by dweller25

[JeremyS]

Sorry to hear that. Second disaster I heard this week: another was a dropped SCT and smashed corrector plate 😥

[Cosmic Geoff]

I'd assume that the OTA is a write-off.  The Starsense should be OK if it has no visible damage.

You can try the diagonal in another scope.

[Carl Au]

I swore out loud when I saw that. I am really sorry that happened to your lovely scope, I would be gutted too. Space Hopper could be right sadly, I think it might be a right off. 

[Carl Au]

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Sorry to hear that. Second disaster I heard this week: another was a dropped SCT and smashed corrector plate 😥

A guy in our club dropped a brand new OO 10 inch Newton off his mount. A very expensive rebuild.

[Davey-T]

Always a good idea to have a safety bolt in the front of the dovetail to stop the scope sliding out backwards, it's saved me a couple of times.

Dave

 

[SamAndrew]

I feel for you! although I bet if you looked through it it wouldn't be as bad as you'd think, I'd personally test the scope before throwing it in the bin. You can try it out terrestrially on something in the distance

Edited January 21, 2021 by SamAndrew

[tomato]

So sorry to see these pics,  it’s a  reminder of the risks we take when moving scopes off and on the mount.

If the  corrector  cannot be replaced economically I think the idea of stopping down the aperture is worth a try, but it depends if the optical alignment has been irreversibly  altered by the  impact.

[Alkaid]

It's not what you want to hear, but the scope is most likely written off.  As above, worth a check with home insurance, you may be able to cover it and buy a replacement.  Might be a while in this climate though.

Feel for you...nightmare...

If a repair IS feasible, then it might be better to have FLO send the scope back to Skywatcher for repair.  I'm not certain, but do SW try to match correctors with mirrors to give a 'good' optical fit??  

[GazOC]

1 hour ago, Alkaid said:

It's not what you want to hear, but the scope is most likely written off.  As above, worth a check with home insurance, you may be able to cover it and buy a replacement.  Might be a while in this climate though.

Feel for you...nightmare...

If a repair IS feasible, then it might be better to have FLO send the scope back to Skywatcher for repair.  I'm not certain, but do SW try to match correctors with mirrors to give a 'good' optical fit??  

I don't *think* that's needed with Maks, the curves are simpler than a SCT,  the correctors should all be identical (I'm sceptical how much matching actually happens with SCTs TBH). 

It might be worth trying a classified ad for a corrector. It a long shot but somebody might have damaged a Mak mirror and have a spare. I have a spare 180mm Mak/Cass corrector due to a mirror damaged in transit so it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

Edited January 21, 2021 by GazOC

[johninderby]

No help to the OP but came  across this for Celesron SCT corrector plate replacement which gives an idea of cost. Not sure if the service is still available thpugh. 🤔

https://www.grovers.biz/repairs/3066-uk-repair-of-replacement-8-corrector-plate-lens-celestron.html

Edited January 21, 2021 by johninderby

[Nigella Bryant]

Sorry to hear this, heart breaking. As far as I'm aware you can't just replace a corrector plate these are matched to the mirror. Has to be sent back to manufacture for repairs and usually not cost affective. Hope it's insured.

[Carl Au]

3 minutes ago, johninderby said:

No help to the OP but came  across this for Celesron SCT corrector plate replacement which gives an idea of cost.

https://www.grovers.biz/repairs/3066-uk-repair-of-replacement-8-corrector-plate-lens-celestron.html

Not cheap. I think that scope is a goner sadly.

[Peter Drew]

As has been said, give it a try, you may be surprised how little affect it will have on the performance once the damaged area is blacked out, it will certainly be usable.  A piece of card cut to the shape of the damage and glued to the corrector should do the trick.  It may be possible to obtain a replacement corrector, the ones for Maksutovs of that class are spherical as far as figure is concerned so matching shouldn't be an issue.  The overall value will be impacted in its current state of course.  Most unfortunate.     ☹️

[JamesF]

23 minutes ago, GazOC said:

I'm sceptical how much matching actually happens with SCTs TBH

Me too.  It may have happened at one time, but I'm unconvinced it would be viewed as worthwhile for ones made using modern production methods.

I think it's highly unlikely that the OP's OTA is viable to repair.  If it isn't covered by insurance (or isn't worth claiming for) then I'd be tempted to mask off the damaged area (preferably with a curved edge to prevent diffraction spikes) and check collimation etc.  Assuming there's no other uncorrected damage it should be usable like that.

I see no reason why the camera wouldn't work still.  Perhaps it could be connected up off the OTA to see if it's ok?

My concern with the diagonal is that the mirror might have come loose.  If it isn't obviously damaged and doesn't rattle then I'd guess it's probably ok.

Not sure about the focuser.  Is it a Crayford, or rack and pinion?  With a Crayford it's perhaps possible that any slack can be adjusted out as long as the spindle and mating face are not damaged.  I'd be concerned about possible damage to the teeth of an R&P focuser, but again if there's no obvious damage then a bit of adjustment might sort it out.

Other than that it would be worth checking that the baffle tube is still correctly aligned with the secondary and hasn't bent.

James

[Louis D]

8 hours ago, Bigwings said:

I have dropped my Skymax 150 complete with focuser and Starsense camera. 

Hard landing on the 2" dielectric  corner

I stand corrected from another thread on SCT vs Mak corrector toughness.  I had said I could not find a single image of a damaged Mak corrector, and now we have proof they can be damaged.  Key word is damaged rather than completely shattered as would have probably happened to a C6 corrector plate in this situation.

Definitely give masking off the area with a curved piece of blackened card stock a try.  What's the worst?

Edited January 21, 2021 by Louis D

[Nigella Bryant]

Can you inject as car windscreens just to keep the integrity of the whole glass. Just a thought. Still have to mask off the damaged area though. 

[Bigwings]

Thanks for the input guys. 

Tried the Starsense on the Newt and it's survived. 

The focuser needed a few tweeks with the aln key and screwdriverand appears full functional.. 

Not sure about the diagonal. 

The Mak 😭😭

FLO have priced a corrector plate at £213   3-4 months delivery time. That's about the same cost as the excess would be on an insurance claim plus the premium would go up. 

Is changing the corrector a DIY job. There doesn't seem any other visible damage.... 

 

 

[GazOC]

Yep, it's a doddle. Just goes straight on 

[Nigella Bryant]

That's brilliant news, easy to put the new one back on. 

[JamesF]

It would be worth checking exactly what you get when you order it, if you haven't already done so.  For example, if it's just the glass, or the glass and cell, or everything including the "hood" on the secondary.  Having everything together would make the repair much more straightforward than if you just had the lens on its own.

James