Lunt LS60 Tilt tuner movement

[ajohnson]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I didn't find any thing close on a search.

I've just taken ownership of my first Ha scope, a Lunt LS60Tha with a tilt tuner with B1200 blocking filter. I'm probably the 3rd owner and so far I'm reasonably impressed.

I'm still learning it's little quirks and don't seem to have the hang of visual observing with it yet but with an ASI 178MM camera attached I'm seeing some nice details. But I have a question about the tilt tuner, in terms of travel it seems that will make about 2 full turns with zero resistance and TBH no real change to the view that I can see so far. Looking down the tube the elaton does not seem to move visibly. The final 1/2 turn of the tuning wheel gets some resistance, equivalent to maybe the fine focus knob on most scopes and I can see the elaton move visibly looking down the tube. I'm not entirely convinced this is right so to either set my mind at rest or confirm a possible issue what should 'normal' feel and look like when turning the tuning knob.

 

Images seem fine, although the Sun looks like something else is illuminating it, (as attached) I'm currently assuming this is due to the dodgy focuser as it definitely deflects downward with the camera attached, some tweaking or fine adjustment needed there or maybe a Moonlight replacement.

 

 

[Davey-T]

Only have pressure tuned version not sure what a tilt tuner should do.

Have you checked the blue filter in the front of the B1200 these can degrade over time and go misty compromising the view a bit, replacements are available from Bresser Europe.

Dave

[ajohnson]

The front element is nice and clear, not misty, overall the scope seems to have been well looked after (not dropped or abused) I'm trying to work if it's operator error (most likely cause) or if it will benefit from a service.

 

[Davey-T]

1 hour ago, ajohnson said:

The front element is nice and clear, not misty,

In the blocking filter not the scope ?

Dave

[AdeKing]

3 hours ago, ajohnson said:

The front element is nice and clear, not misty, overall the scope seems to have been well looked after (not dropped or abused) I'm trying to work if it's operator error (most likely cause) or if it will benefit from a service.

 

As Dave says, check the blue filter which is on the scope side of the diagonal containing the blocking filter rather than the objective.

These have a tendency to go milky and can affect the view.

With regards to the tilt tuning knob, I have a pressure tuned scope but the dial on the external double stack filter seems to dial quite a long way on mine before I see much change in the view.

Same for my pressure tuner, it comes on-band near the end of travel.

Hopefully someone with a tilt tuned Lunt will be along shortly and can give a bit more of an insight.

Edited June 14, 2021 by AdeKing

[ajohnson]

3 hours ago, AdeKing said:

As Dave says, check the blue filter which is on the scope side of the diagonal containing the blocking filter rather than the objective.

These have a tendency to go milky and can affect the view.

With regards to the tilt tuning knob, I have a pressure tuned scope but the dial on the external double stack filter seems to dial quite a long way on mine before I see much change in the view.

Same for my pressure tuner, it comes on-band near the end of travel.

Hopefully someone with a tilt tuned Lunt will be along shortly and can give a bit more of an insight.

OK the blocking filter does seem a tad milky, seems OK with the camera though. I had put this down to being a difference between the B1200 (mine) and the B600, I understand the B1200 is not so hot visually anyway. It sounds like your DS unit works the same way as my tilt tuner, lots of movement before it seems to do anything. I assume there have to be some tolerances to allow for heat expansion.

Reading the replacement guide for the blue filter, it looks like a relatively easy job. It also explains why mine may have degraded, from the state of the case I think my scope has been stored somewhere damp.

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by ajohnson
Additional comment

[AdeKing]

19 minutes ago, ajohnson said:

Reading the replacement guide for the blue filter, it looks like a relatively easy job. It also explains why mine may have degraded, from the state of the case I think my scope has been stored somewhere damp.

I'd recommend sending an email to Bresser Europe together with a photo of the cloudy filter and your Lunt serial number for a replacement.

I'm not sure whether it's still the case but mine was sent free of charge 2 years ago.  Actually this post has made me check mine and it I've noticed that it needs swapping out again.

You can actually clear the milkiness by soaking the filter in Viakal or another Calcium Lime Remover (CLR), it worked on mine but I'd recommend that you get a replacement first as at that point you've got nothing to lose if anything does go wrong.

29 minutes ago, ajohnson said:

I had put this down to being a difference between the B1200 (mine) and the B600, I understand the B1200 is not so hot visually anyway.

I have a B1200 filter and only use it visually but consider the views excellent though the only other H-alpha scope that I've used is a PST so don't really have anything much else to compare the view to.

When I get the LS60 out again I'll take a note of how many turns of the DS tuning dial it takes for the view to change.

[ajohnson]

I dropped my filter out and gave it a polish with some lens cleaner, it's cleaner but there is some obvious degradation in the coating.  Just checked Bresser's site in stock €15.00 ready to ship anywhere that scored more than nil points in Eurovision..... Now contacting Lunt in the US to see if they can ship here or have a UK dealer.

Plan B will be to ship it to myself in Jarvenpaa or Helsinki when I can travel to Finland again.

[ajohnson]

Problem solved, hopefully Telescope House have these, hopefully they're in stock.

[inFINNity Deck]

19 hours ago, ajohnson said:

Images seem fine, although the Sun looks like something else is illuminating it, (as attached) I'm currently assuming this is due to the dodgy focuser as it definitely deflects downward with the camera attached, some tweaking or fine adjustment needed there or maybe a Moonlight replacement.

Hi ajohnson,

I recognise these kind of uneven illuminated images from my LS80THA with pressure tuner. Although I am not sure what exactly causes it, the way the illumination appears can be influenced by shifting the imaged Sun to a different location on the imaging chip. I check this by slightly overexposing the sun, which nicely reveals how concentric the illumination is. Then I move it around until it looks pretty concentric, adjust the exposure to 90% and take the image.

Nicolàs

 

[ajohnson]

6 hours ago, inFINNity Deck said:

Hi ajohnson,

I recognise these kind of uneven illuminated images from my LS80THA with pressure tuner. Although I am not sure what exactly causes it, the way the illumination appears can be influenced by shifting the imaged Sun to a different location on the imaging chip. I check this by slightly overexposing the sun, which nicely reveals how concentric the illumination is. Then I move it around until it looks pretty concentric, adjust the exposure to 90% and take the image.

Nicolàs

 

Thanks I will give this a try. I have seen some YouTube videos on making flats which may make a difference, still experimenting with the scope's capabilities here.

 

After reading the various threads on the milky blue glass I did try giving it a soak in lens cleaner and have ordered a new one. The clean up seems to have helped, I can now make out some details and some nice proms

[inFINNity Deck]

9 hours ago, ajohnson said:

After reading the various threads on the milky blue glass I did try giving it a soak in lens cleaner and have ordered a new one. The clean up seems to have helped, I can now make out some details and some nice proms

Last year I received a replacement blue filter from Bresser GmbH  free of charge (which I believe is outstanding service!). While waiting for the new one I gave the old one a try with Acetic Acid (schoonmaakazijn in Dutch, it can be bought at the supermarket) to see if it can be cleaned with that as well. I soaked the filter in it for increasing longer periods of time (started with 5 minutes, then another 10, etc) and after four hours it is as new again, apart from a small spot on the edge, which most likely will not have a significant negative effect on the observations. Under magnification that small spot seems to have been etched by fungus. It now is my spare one in case the new one deteriorates as well (which I understood should not).

Nicolàs