This came yesterday...

[Milamber]

A very good friend, one Andrew Robertson, dropped by yesterday with a pressie for me. He'd been having a cleanout (as you do) and came upon this at the back of a shed. A quick call was all it took for me to bite his hand off and now here it is...

A Fullerscopes Mk III with RA drive (which may or may not run) in need of (surprisingly littl) TLC to get it back to former glory. I intend to pretty much blueprint the little beastie and generally tidy it up so it looks and acts the way it's designer intended (rather than the way the people that made them intended). This will involve a fair amount of grinding and polishing and so on but since I have not been working really for the last two months because of my... illness... I do have a bit of time spare! There is a dirty great three-legged pier as well, I think I will get the mount sorted first and then worry about that though!

Arthur

[philj]

Eeee by gum I used to dream of owning a Mk111 when I were a lad.

Basic but built like brick khazzis the MK111s were. Could be left out in all weathers with no problems, try doing that with a Losmandy or AP mount.

A mate had an 8" F7 newt with 75mm guidescope plus a Zenit B(35mm brick) for imaging and the Mk111 held the lot with ease. The RA drive was functional by 70s standards as well.

Shall look forward to seeing what you do with it Arthur.

Philj

[barkis]

Are the RA and DEC bearings Bushes, or ball or roller bearings Arthur?.

That will make a good project, and a good result will ensue I'm sure.

I have a pair of Fullerscope circles that could well have come from a mount like that.

Ron.

[Milamber]

They're looking like bushes Ron - makes things a wee bit easier if they need replacing though - on first quick look - it appears all's well in that area. Did I mention the rings? Got a hooooge pair of rings as well, also solidly cast iron! They have "Fullerscopes" cast into them and the just letters alone are thicker than modern rings - I reckon they were originally made to keep elephants from wandering away...

I am liking the black and gold scheme I think, can't beat it for brass and castings togetherI reckon

I have plenty of time and although the "other" project must take precedence it's not going to be that hard a rebuild. Quite looking forward to it now!

Arthur

[John]

That brings back some memories for me Arthur - my 1st eq mount was a MKIII with setting circles but I could not afford the worm drives back then so I was the drive system !.

I can recall a number of long chats with Dud Fuller as it was being made - and the delivery date kept moving !. Dud had a good sense of humour so it was more fun than frustration.

When it arrived it provided a really solid mount for the Astro Systems (of Bedford - then run by Peter Drew) 6" newtonian that was my 1st proper scope.

I'd love to see some pics when it's restored to it's full glory.

John

[Milamber]

Odd... I also have the PM-1 made by AS... and I think Peter made Andrew a wooden tripod last year. Small world, eh?

Arthur

[John]

Odd... I also have the PM-1 made by AS... and I think Peter made Andrew a wooden tripod last year. Small world, eh?

Arthur

Nice that they are still around and in use - they were well made OTA's - mine had a David Hinds mirror set.

My MKIII had the tripod base (the one above has what Dud Fuller called the "pot base") and I made my own wooden tripod for it.

I used to dream of an AS 10" F/4.3 on a Super Polaris mount - but it was waaay over my astro budget at the time.

John

[Arctic Architect]

My mums partner is looking at giving me an old Fullerscope Mk III base with an 8.5" f/6 reflector as my first proper scope. I don't know anything about telescopes really but have been getting in to photographing the moon and stars recently, I live by the coast and its not too bad for light pollution levels.

Might need a spot of advise on restoring it when I get it up here.

[Ad Astra]

This looks very much like the mounts sold by Cave Optical in the 1950's & 60's, and then later by Parks Optical of Simi Valley, California through to the present day.

Very large, rugged castings, works fine as a point-n-go mount and as an anti-tank obstacle in your driveway!

Love to see photos after you get it the way you want it...

You, uh... going to keep that fantastic fluorescent green color, mate?

Just wondering!!

Dan

[Ibbo!]

I used to have the Mk 111 with the drives with a 10" f5 newt with DH mirrors

I could not get hold of a motor until a central heating programer turned up (thanks dad)

no internet then!!

Steve

[great_bear]

Are the setting circles original, or a home-made addition?

[langrola]

I ve just bought an old MkIII with 8.5 newton

I desperate to find spare parts and documentation about this set up

joined a pic

I ve desettled mount for mecanic expertise unpainting and cleaning

I want to use it with my old french réfractors and do planetary astrophotography,

so I must upgrade it and I will modify ra axis with a better guiding process like perhaps ball bearings

do you know somebody having made modifications like that?

I presume it is built with inches dimensions ,can you confirm that?

I dont know exactly how to connect the different motor and électronic boxes

thank you

best regards