Help Identifying the details of a Telescope

[bigben83]

Hello,

I have inherited a telescope and Id like some help in identifying the spectifications of it. The mirror has the following written on it.
The Base is a Fullerscope MKIII as far as I can tell. there is no motors on in any more the but gears are still attached. so I am hoping to mount some stepper motors to it again.

"4583A"
"FL 1295mm 51.0"
"Made in England"

I am relatively new to this field so any comments would be appreciated.

[CraigT82]

That's a Fullerscope indeed, maybe an 8.5" f/6, or a 6.5" f/8.... hard to tell from the pic.

Grade A mirror too (very good mirror). Have a look at my astrobin (link in sig) for planetary and lunar images made with a 8.5" f7.5 fullerscope with a grade B mirror. 

Edited May 6, 2021 by CraigT82

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @bigben83 and welcome to SGL. 

I don't know whether Steve Collingwood http://sctelescopes.com/ can help/assist/advise, etc.

BTW - Nice 'scope.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Philip R

[John]

Yep - a Fullerscope "Export Edition" (ie: more deluxe) from around the early 1980's I would think. The mount is the Fullerscopes Mk III equatorial.

Steve Collingwood is compiling a history of the company here:

https://www.bcftelescopes.co.uk/

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by John

[bigben83]

How interesting, little did I realise I had such a high quality primary mirror and a bit of history as well.

I'd be interested if Steve can shed some more light on it. I have emailed him.

[Louis D]

11 hours ago, bigben83 said:

FL 1295mm 51.0

Focal length of 1295mm for the primary mirror.  I'm not sure what the 51.0 refers to.  If you measure the physical width of the mirror in millimeters, you could get the f-ratio by dividing it into the focal length.

[CraigT82]

15 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I'm not sure what the 51.0 refers to

51 inches

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, CraigT82 said:

51 inches

Indeed.  Not even Americans use inches for focal length.  Aperture, yes, focal length, no.

[CraigT82]

12 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Indeed.  Not even Americans use inches for focal length.  Aperture, yes, focal length, no.

Really? Better let these US scope makers know...

Teeter

Obsession

[John]

I'm going back to using the barleycorn as a unit of measure. 3 barleycorns = 1 inch.

My largest aperture scope is a 36 barleycorn newtonian with a focal length of 191 barleycorns.

Apparently the barleycorn still forms the basis of shoe sizes in English speaking countries.

I do hope this catches on

 

 

[Stu]

18 minutes ago, John said:

My largest aperture scope is a 36 barleycorn newtonian with a focal length of 191 barleycorns.

Or apparently an aperture of 144 poppyseeds, with a focal length of 764 poppyseeds? 🤪🤪

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barleycorn_(unit)

[Pixies]

21 minutes ago, John said:

I'm going back to using the barleycorn as a unit of measure. 3 barleycorns = 1 inch.

My largest aperture scope is a 36 barleycorn newtonian with a focal length of 191 barleycorns.

Apparently the barleycorn still forms the basis of shoe sizes in English speaking countries.

I do hope this catches on

 

 

Bit too modern for me.

My dob's focal length is 2 cubits and 2 spans

[John]

By way of apology to the original poster for diverting onto ancient units of measurement, I came across these extracts from the 1980's Fullerscopes catalogue which are relevant:

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by John

[CraigT82]

Yes definitely looks like the 8.5" f6 export model, looks like it's in great condition too, very nice acquisition! 

[bigben83]

33 minutes ago, John said:

By way of apology to the original poster for diverting onto ancient units of measurement, I came across these extracts from the 1980's Fullerscopes catalogue which are relevant:

No need to apologise, was quite amusing.

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Really? Better let these US scope makers know...

Teeter

Obsession

There's always one in the crowd who has to prove me wrong.  Hope you're proud of yourself. 👏 😒 😄

[Alan64]

You could, I say you could transform it into a "Dobsonian", for ease of use; that is if you wouldn't miss the mount's tracking ability.

I say that as I need to do the same with this 8" f/5 Parks Optical...

They, too, came with a bullet-proof equatorial, in kit-form, back in the day, although up to 2005 or so before Parks went under...

However, I had ordered the OTA only, at a custom-f/5.  Its mirror is exemplary as well, and the tube of fibre-glass.

[Louis D]

Those Parks and Fullerscopes scopes/mounts look like they could be cousins.