Intes Micro M715 dove tail

[vince 66]

I have just taken delivery of a Intes micro m715. I have two questions. Is the factory fitted dove tail up to the job? Seeing as it is riveted to the OTA. Secondly if so is there a dove tail mount plate on the market which will fit it as it is narrower than a standard fitting. I used to over come this on my m615 by using shims. The m715 is a lot heavier OTA so I would like to be sure.

[Captain Scarlet]

I have an M603 and have had it completely apart to rejuvenate some of its fittings. On that, the dovetail on it is bolted through the tube to internal baffle-rings or nuts inside, so mine certainly is up to the job (it's also too narrow and I've glued flat shims to each side to increase its width).

Cheers, Magnus

 

[dweller25]

My Intes Micro 715 came with rivets attaching the dovetail to the OTA which eventually started to work loose 😱

I took the scope apart and replaced them all with stainless steel nuts, washers and bolts - painted black on the inside.

They were still solid six years later when I sold it 👍

[vince 66]

Ok thanks both so nuts and bolts are the way to go. I won’t be in any hurry to take the OTA apart. I will wait till things start to loosen. Arm and a leg if you catch my drift. Are there any shims under the corrector lens or does it just need to go back on the same way it came off?. I have googled the dove tail but not found any horror stories.

[dweller25]

The Intes 715 is fairly easy to work on.

The rear is held on with 3 big bolts - do not touch the smaller screws either side of them as they will affect collimation. Take great care not to catch the edge of the primary against the OTA as you remove it.

The front ventilation plate screws off to reveal three securing clamps, unscrew these and remove any shims and you can then lift off the corrector.

Best to mark front corrector and back plate orientation and take photos as you go.

Then you can replace all the rivets, I worried that one would fail causing the rest to fail and the OTA would drop off the mount 😱

They are very fine scopes 👍

[vince 66]

This is clearly something that will need to be done some day. As I say I will wait till things start to loosen. In preparation for the event what size screws will I need I may get them in readiness. The dove tale looks like stainless steel so I will be needing stainless screws?.

[dweller25]

1 hour ago, vince 66 said:

This is clearly something that will need to be done some day. As I say I will wait till things start to loosen. In preparation for the event what size screws will I need I may get them in readiness. The dove tale looks like stainless steel so I will be needing stainless screws?.

Cannot remember the size, sorry.

But - Just big enough to fill the gaps the rivets made and just long enough to allow a washer and nut to fit - the tube baffles hide them nicely.