Rubbish Mount Solution?

[Llamanaut]

Hi

Some of you may remember i was recently given (for free) a Prinz Astral 400 (60mm - fl 700mm) whilst its not the best telescope around it was free so i decided to put it to good use whilst im saving for a decent scope. The locking screws were badly worn and couldnt be tightened very far so they needed to be replaced. Had to give the optics a good clean as its been in my father in laws attic for the best part of a decade. The mechanism was a bit gummed up too so that needed freeing. Got it up and running but found one of the eyepieces had a large piece of debris between the glass which was obscuring the view. Couldnt get it out so i invested in a .965 to 1.25" star diagonal and some super plossls. Have had some some ok sessions with it, the view is fairly dim (it is a 60mm ) but you soon get used to it...what let it down the most was the awful fork mount which wobbles in the slightest breeze! After reading someones advice on SGL i thought i'd have a go at modding the fork and mount. I used a 5kg weight placed on the accessory tray to give the wooden mount some weight then using a thick rubber bungy strap i attached another 5kg weight to the end of the scope through the middle of the tray. This stabilises the mount further whilst exerting positive pressure against the fork. The results are astounding, its pretty much vibration free even when focussing and moving the alt/az. I made the locking nuts myself out of replacement mallet heads from B&Q (£3.98) I drilled out the centre then a squirt of supa-glue into the hole before tapping a hex bolt into the recess. Works a treat and looks more professional. Tested it out last night even though conditions were rubbish and was astounded at the view... managed to find and track saturn for about 30 mins, and the moon looked amazing! Just thought id post this thread in case anyone else was wondering how to mod a rubbish fork and tripod.

This shot shows the locking nuts i manufactured out of replacement mallet heads and hex bolts... looks good!

[part timer]

Excellent job!

I too have played with a 'junk' 60mm refractor and got quite good results. I threw the whole mount in the bin though and made my own. Don't have a picture now but it doesn't look as nice as yours. I am a bit 'rough around the edges' with DIY.

[Bizibilder]

Get three planks and firmly strap them to the tripod legs - works a treat to steady the mount even more!!