The Elliott Refractor: First Solar Light

[John]

First solar white light for this 75mm F/16 traditional brass refractor. This instrument was one of a batch of 20 units made by Ernie Elliott at Telescope House just prior to his retirement in 1992. Almost certainly Gerry Morris, who worked with Ernie for a few years, was also involved in creating these telescopes. The objective is by Carton, Japan. I have been gently fettling the instrument since I acquired it a few weeks ago from Richard Day of Skylight Telescopes. Although "only" 30 or so years old this telescope uses a design and manufacture approach that has been used since the 18th century.

Nighttime use has been limited to some star testing but the results have been very encouraging as you might expect from a Carton objective lens. The view of Izar a few nights ago was simply lovely at 150x and held up well even at 200x. Today, despite plenty of scudding clouds, the solar disk and various sunspot activity regions were contrasty and sharply defined up to 171x. Solar filtration was provided by a 1.25 inch Lunt Herschel Wedge. 

Although I intend to use a dovetail bar and the Giro Ercole mount for more serious observing, the traditional pillar arrangement I used today proved surpisingly stable and it certainly looks the part !

I feel privileged to be the first observer to look through this telescope since it's manufacture 🙂

 

 

Edited April 5 by John

[JeremyS]

Looks amazing John. And the wooden tripod is just the part. Was that supplied with it?
First light after 30 years, though? Where’s it been in the meantime?

[Mark at Beaufort]

What a lovely telescope including the mount.

[John]

22 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Looks amazing John. And the wooden tripod is just the part. Was that supplied with it?
First light after 30 years, though? Where’s it been in the meantime?

Thanks Jeremy.

The scope has been stored in it's original wrapping by Richard Day since he acquired it apparently. It certainly does not show any signs of having been used. It may well have been displayed at some point though. I have added the 1.25 inch eyepiece holder to the bare focuser tube and the objective cell was tightened down onto the counter cell for transit so I have needed to sort the collimation out, which is achieved through 3 sets of tiny "push-pull" screws. 

The tripod is one that I've had for sometime but not used much lately. I may change the spreader arrangement to a brass chain which would be more in keeping with the scope I think. There are a few further small works such as that to do but that's part of the fun of such a project 🙂

Edited April 5 by John

[Naughty Neal]

Beautiful crafted achromat , plenty of polishing ahead. 

[JeremyS]

I hope you get much enjoyment from it John. 
It’s as nice to look as as through, I suspect 

[Zermelo]

Quite a beauty, John.

Is the body lacquered, or are you going to be polishing it now and again?

[John]

Just now, Zermelo said:

Quite a beauty, John.

Is the body lacquered, or are you going to be polishing it now and again?

I believe it is lacquered. I'm going to take a "light touch" with regards to polishing. I'm happy for the finish to age gracefully, within reason 😁

[Naughty Neal]

Not very envious sitting here.

[John]

For anyone interested in Ernest (Ernie) Elliott and Gerry Morris at BC&F / Telescope House, there is some more information here:

Ernest J Elliot - Broadhurst Clarkson and Fuller Ltd (bcftelescopes.co.uk)

[JeremyS]

8 minutes ago, John said:

For anyone interested in Ernest (Ernie) Elliott and Gerry Morris at BC&F / Telescope House, there is some more information here:

Ernest J Elliot - Broadhurst Clarkson and Fuller Ltd (bcftelescopes.co.uk)

Interesting read. 
You don’t see sink areas in that state these days 🤣

[mikeDnight]

That's gorgeous John! And it's a great aperture for serious observing too. December before last I had a fabulous view of Mars through my own Carton refractor, and that's only 60mm. At 75mm you may find it's all you need, and just may be you'll sell off all that dead weight in the form of LZOS, Takahashi & Vixen. 🤣  Seriously though, the 75mm Carton will play very nicely with those bigger siblings I'm sure. Patrick used to tell us that a 3" refractor was able to do serious work, so I look forward to seeing what adventures you get upto. 🙂

Edited April 5 by mikeDnight

[John]

Incidentally, the eyepiece in some of the pics is the Svbony 7-21mm zoom which arrived today. It's nicely put together and zooms smoothly. The focal length range suits this scope very well giving 57x - 171x and the eyepiece weighs less than half as much as the Baader 8-24 zoom, a factor which also suits such a long tube quite well 🙂

With the 30mm Vixen NPL to give a 40x / 1.25 degree true field, this eyepiece pair will be all I need for this scope I think.

 

[Roy Challen]

What a fabulous instrument! I agree with a plossl and zoom being the only necessary eyepieces, that's all I bother with in my very similar, but not quite as beautiful, achro.

I imagine once you've collimated it, Izar will be stunning. My scope shows it extremely well at x208.

Edited April 5 by Roy Challen

[John]

10 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

What a fabulous instrument! I agree with a plossl and zoom being the only necessary eyepieces, that's all I bother with in my very similar, but not quite as beautiful, achro.

I imagine once you've collimated it, Izar will be stunning. My scope shows it extremely well at x208.

Thanks !

I've got the collimation spot on now. With the objective cell tight to the counter cell (travel / deliver mode I think) the cheshire eyepiece showed two reflections side by side. Using the push pull screws to separate the cells by a couple of mm then to apply the necessary tilt I have fully overlapping and centred cheshire reflections and very good collimation. Star tests show textbook concentric diffraction rings either side of focus. At F/16 I doubt that's going to need much future attention !

Double stars are going to be the forte of this scope but I'm also looking forward to solar, lunar and planetary observation with it as well 🙂

 

Edited April 5 by John

[John]

Managed to sort this natty "Tam o' shanter" type objective cap from a wooden lid and an old brass drawer knob. Needs a bit of wood stain but it's a nice snug fit into the dew shield. Should keep the dust out and somehow suits the style of the scope🙂

 

 

Edited April 5 by John

[dweller25]

What a classy looking scope John 👍

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, John said:

Managed to sort this natty "Tam o' shanter" type objective cap from a wooden lid and an old brass drawer knob. Needs a bit of wood stain but it's a nice snug fit into the dew shield. Should keep the dust out and somehow suits the style of the scope🙂

 

 

I’m just waiting for the cuckoo to pop out for a look 👍🏻

[DaveL59]

That truly is a thing of beauty John, what a gem to have in your collection!

Just waiting for Jeremy to recommend a suitable handle now 😉 

Edited April 5 by DaveL59

[John]

32 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I’m just waiting for the cuckoo to pop out for a look 👍🏻

Very unreliable cuckoo, that one 🙄

We found the clock in bits in a shoe box. Put it together and it runs and keeps the time reasonably well but I can't get the cuckoo to synchronise with the half hours and hours when he's supposed to pop out. He is always late, sometimes not at all and occasionally we get an appearance and a volley of "cuckoos" for no apparent reason !

The grandchildren think he's fun though 😁

Edited April 5 by John

[DaveL59]

yeah I have my old childhood clock from Germany in a box somewhere in need of some repairs, one day...

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, John said:

Very unreliable cuckoo, that one 🙄

We found the clock in bits in a shoe box. Put it together and it runs and keeps the time reasonably well but I can't get the cuckoo to synchronise with the half hours and hours when he's supposed to pop out. He is always late, sometimes not at all and occasionally we get an appearance and a volley of "cuckoos" for no apparent reason !

The grandchildren think he's fun though 😁

Patrick Moore had a cuckoo Cuckoo clock where the cuckoo had a mind of its own. I think it adds to the charm, and as the saying goes Cuckoo Clocks Take After Their Owners, or is that dog's.