Free telescope help

[notaclue]

My brother bagged a free telescope. A Sky watcher with mount, tripod and tray and one eyepiece. It was in the local tip and was going to get crushed. My brother got it as he has a few starter scopes that he likes so bagging a free one is him being lucky.

 

Looking at it the optic barrel moves and the tripod is sturdy. A bit rusted on the screws which can be replaced. The problem is the mirror(s). They are manky. So with it being out in the open for suck a long time it has developed spots on the primary mirror. Not really looked at the secondary yet but the main mirror need a cleaning or a re-polish. So how can my brother get this clean? After all, it is a free telescope with standard EQ mount, setting circles and a fine adjustment cable. Hopefully the mirror is fine but I think the mirrors need a clean.

 

So anyone got anywhere to send it to for a clean up?

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Your not that far from RVO near Rotherham I would take it there and get their opinion on what is needed.

Steve

Edited January 3, 2023 by teoria_del_big_bang

[notaclue]

2 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Your not that far from RVO near Rotherham I would take it there and get their opinion on what is needed.

Steve

Haven;t changed my online profile as not been on here for over a year. Moved to Scotland. So best get that sorted.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Darker skies now I bet 

Steve

[notaclue]

1 minute ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Darker skies now I bet 

Steve

Better than Wakefield where I was. Also near the Galloway observatory so it is dark enough. Can see the light haze from Kilmarnock on some nights as well. But yeah, a bit darker.

[PeterStudz]

Not sure which Skywatcher he has. Any idea on the primary mirror size? Or how bad the mirror is. But if it was me I’d take it apart, give it a clean including the mirrors, put it back together and try and use it. You might be surprised at the views.

Nearly 2 yrs ago I got hold of a neglected Skywatcher 200p for free which I took apart, cleaned and put back together. The primary mirror was in a bit of a state with spots which were letting light through. See pictures. Eventually I got hold of a nice primary second hand but even with the old mirror in that state I could see a surprising amount including the Cassini Division on Saturn. Practically all a “new” clean mirror did was improve contrast a little.

Edited January 3, 2023 by PeterStudz

[fozzybear]

you've nothing to loose cleaning the Primary plenty of vid's online. But if you want piece of mind post an image of the Primary and any other items you care  on here and you will get advice. Also what Size scope etc might help

[notaclue]

1 hour ago, fozzybear said:

you've nothing to loose cleaning the Primary plenty of vid's online. But if you want piece of mind post an image of the Primary and any other items you care  on here and you will get advice. Also what Size scope etc might help

It is a 130D with a 900 focal. 

 

The mount is far bigger than the ones he has already. It is solid metal construction with the housing and the EQ mount. All that is missing is the weight bar and weights.

[fozzybear]

Pictures will help a lot on whats needed/missing so maybe a photo of the mount and if confident a photo of the Mirror either in situ or if confident removing the 4 Pozi screws supporting the primary cell at the rear and also marking the orientation somehow tape or a black marker then a photo of the Mirror. 

[doublevodka]

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/how-to-clean-a-reflector/ also worth a look if it was free, fairly simple to do as long as you are careful, I bought an old reflector a couple of years back and the mirror was covered in dust and spots, came up pretty well with this method, big fan of free and cheap stuff though, good to hear one has been saved from the tip 👍

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

I purchased a 12" Dob and the mirror had badly degraded ... but as in an earlier answer by Peter , take the mirror out and clean it .. whatever state the mirror is in now , you will at least help the contast by cleaning ... i was shocked at the positive difference cleaning made . in the end i had the mirror recoated , which wasnt that expensive . 

[notaclue]

15 hours ago, fozzybear said:

Pictures will help a lot on whats needed/missing so maybe a photo of the mount and if confident a photo of the Mirror either in situ or if confident removing the 4 Pozi screws supporting the primary cell at the rear and also marking the orientation somehow tape or a black marker then a photo of the Mirror. 

Here are pictures of the mirror. It seems that grass and other bits are on the mirror so it looks like it could do with a good clean.

 

It is next to a more newer Sky Watcher telescope. Same mirror size but focal point is 900 instead of 650mm so it is a longer telescope than the standard ones now. Now to get a counterweight bar and sight for it.

[notaclue]

2 hours ago, doublevodka said:

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/how-to-clean-a-reflector/ also worth a look if it was free, fairly simple to do as long as you are careful, I bought an old reflector a couple of years back and the mirror was covered in dust and spots, came up pretty well with this method, big fan of free and cheap stuff though, good to hear one has been saved from the tip 👍

 

Glad it is saved as well. It was going to be crushed and that would have been the last of it. So it is getting a new life again.