Prinz Astral 500 Finderscope...

[Ian McCallum]

Has anyone a close up image of the focussing mechanism of a Prinz Astral 500 finderscope, at all please?  Mine is missing it's eyepiece, but I'm wondering if it's missing anything else?

[F15Rules]

Hi Ian,

The scope in question didn't have a focussing mechanism as such..it had a simple push fit eyepiece of c 20-25mm fitted with crosshairs for sighting purposes. I think the fit was 0.965" (you can check that by measuring the tube diameter). If so, you could look out on ebay etc for any similar focal length eyepiece in that fit size.. all you would then be missing is the crosshairs, but you could maybe make some yourself..

Alternatively, just buy a modern 6x30 finder for the scope?

Hope that helps.

Dave

Edited November 20, 2022 by F15Rules

[Ian McCallum]

5 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Hi Ian,

The scope in question didn't have a focussing mechanism as such..it had a simple push fit eyepiece of c 20-25mm fitted with crosshairs for sighting purposes. I think the fit was 0.965" (you can check that by measuring the tube diameter). If so, you could look out on ebay etc for any similar focal length eyepiece in that fit size.. all you would then be missing is the crosshairs, but you could maybe make some yourself..

Alternatively, just buy a modern 6x30 finder for the scope?

Hope that helps.

Dave

I've ordered some cheap and nasty eyepieces from eBay, but I've also waiting on a 0.965"  to 1.25" adapter. 

I've got a red dot finder that fits on the OTA. 

[Ian McCallum]

@DaveL59kindly sent me a 60mm Alt-Az mount head and OTA clamp. 👍

I was able to use the existing wooden tripod legs with it and affix the OTA into it. The space between the top of the tripod legs and the mount was slightly too big, so I added some M6 washer to pad out the gap and make it a bit more snug. 

The clamp to hold on the OTA was a bit too big for the tube, but a few layers of Velcro tape (non hooked side), certainly helped. 😉  I'm going to add a red dot finder to the OTA, as the existing finderscope is missing a crosshair eyepiece. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Ian McCallum

[DaveL59]

Looks to have worked for you Ian, glad it was useful to someone rather than languishing in the spares bin 🙂 

[Ian McCallum]

The telescope is now down in Morecambe, with my friend. It'll be mostly used to terrestrial views across Morecambe Bay now.