Fixed Friend's Telescope...

[Ian McCallum]

I bought this for a friend, a number of months ago. It came second hand from eBay. The primary mirror was manky and the secondary mirror was out of alignment.

I visited my friend yesterday and saw it for the first time. I removed the primary mirror and cleaned it properly, then realigned and collimated the scope with a Cheshire eyepiece I'd brought with me.

The supplied eyepieces were those awful H and SR types, so I replaced them with a new set of surplus Sky-Watcher 25mm and 10mm modified achromat eyepieces.

I also added a red dot finder to the scope too.

Upgrade and refurbishment complete. 👍

[Pixies]

A friend has just bought a similar scope. Hopefully the mirror will be clean, as it's new, but I'm ready with a few spare old EPs!

[Ian McCallum]

43 minutes ago, Pixies said:

A friend has just bought a similar scope. Hopefully the mirror will be clean, as it's new, but I'm ready with a few spare old EPs!

It was quite dirty and I wasn't able to get it totally clean, as you have to be so careful, etc. 

[allworlds]

Hopefully he gets on well with it. The mount's great, I got a lot out of my Heritage 76, but I think the Huygens eyepieces on most of the Celestron versions are an economy too far.

A decent 5 or 6 mm EP is a worthy addition to get about the most magnification the spherical primary is good for.

[JimB1]

I am always amazed at the difference a good collimation can make. 
Nice work

-Jim

[Ian McCallum]

3 hours ago, JimB1 said:

I am always amazed at the difference a good collimation can make. 
Nice work

-Jim

I had prior experience with my SW 200P Dobsonian and a Meade 114-900 EQ1B Newtonian reflector.

[Ian McCallum]

4 hours ago, JimB1 said:

I am always amazed at the difference a good collimation can make. 
Nice work

-Jim

The mount was tightened too much, so it barely turned.  A little slackening off of the bolt made a world of difference.