That's a remarkable story and a great recovery for the instrument. Shout out to the very kind person who supplied the replacement corrector assembly. That instrument deserves some TLC and some nice photons, so I think you're right to keep it.
I worked in the matching room for a few years at Celestron in the early 90's and I can vouch that with a Schmidt Cassegrain you cannot just drop in a replacement part and expect it to perform as well as the old one. The primary and corrector are matched to compliment each others' imperfections. and then the matcher refigures the secondary mirror to cancel out what is left. Additionally, the 3 parts are all rotated to cancel out astigmatism.
The secondary mirror or the corrector plate is reconfigured? Could Ed get a better result by swapping out the old secondary on to this "new" corrector plate? Also is there any chance that if the ring on the secondary is too tight that it distorts the corrector plate ?
I'm not sure if the company that made that Schmidt Newtonian does any hand figuring on the secondary. I can only speak of how Celestron did it with Schmidt Cassegrains in the 90's. I'm trying to picture how I'd hand figure an elongated flat, like a Newt secondary, and it sounds more difficult than doing the round shaped spherical secondary of a SC, which is fairly easy to touch up by hand. The piece with the most variability was usually the corrector. The primary and secondary in a SC are just spherical, which are relatively easy to make, as is the flat of a Newt. But "touching up" a corrector is probably never done anywhere considering the crazy techniques used to make them. It's not feasible to do it. And touching up a spherical primary is probably not too hard if you just need to make a little over or under corrected, though it's a big piece to have to handle like that. Yeah, I'm having a hard time picturing the manufacturing process for a Schmidt Newtonian because the secondary mirror isn't round, and so would be difficult to touch up like with the round secondary of a Schmidt Cassegrain. Of course it might be worth a try to swap in the other one. And heck, since you have an extra you could try doing a little touch up figuring on the extra secondary. I'm just not sure how you would get a uniform effect on it since you're working on it flat and then looking through it at 45 degrees. Trying to do anything other than push the sphere (a flat is thought of as a sphere in optical shops) a little one way or the other might be impossible. I'd be interested to find out how Schmidt Newtonians are finalized if anyone knows. My guess is that there's just a lot of part swapping until they find 3 parts that like each other. With a Schmidt Cassegrain the 3 parts are placed inside a test jig (Collimator) and aimed at a reference flat. A laser is shined in through a special beam splitter eyepiece holder (Pellicle), goes through the system backwards, hits the flat and comes back through the system. An operator uses a knife edge, a Ronchi and a high powered in/out of focus to determine what, if anything, needs done. When I worked there the majority of systems were going to need 1-2 runs on the secondary to fine tune it to the other components. Occasionally you find a perfect "no run" which are always nice to get, where the airy disk looks like a golf ball with an onion ring around it. If you had the dough you put those parts under your desk and have assembly build you a scope out of them. :)
This video made me laugh. Not because it's funny in isolation, but because this could have happened to any of us. The funniest part of the video was the first three seconds when you struggled to talk. I know the scope isn't what it was, but at least it's back up and running. It's good to see that there are really nice people out there.
Greg from Florida gets the nice guy award! I would keep both the scope and the broken corrector set up somewhere as a reminder and because it's got a story... 👍👍
Ed, it was painful to watch the first video about the damage. I'm glad to see that things have worked out to a happy conclusion. Always look forward to you new content and rewatching your older videos.
I knew it! I was so sure someone would answer the call to help and they did. That is the best thing about those involved in amateur astronomy to reach out and help. Also, I took note of the ZWO ASI120mm-S camera for as you say to show others while using a laptop. That is exactly what I would like to do with the local kids. Besides, it is another option to let them view on a laptop screen rather than having issues of possibly grabbing and unintentionally damaging equipment. So congratulations and mission accomplished.
What a great ending to this story. It's a tribute to the amateur astronomy community and to kindness of those who participate in it. A shout out to Greg for getting involved and donating the replacement part. Ed, thanks for the up date. Looking forward to the next post.
That's Really Awesome that someone was able and willing to provide you with a replacement. I'm really glad you were able to salvage it and get some enjoyment and use with it. 👍
I also damaged one of my telescopes (TAL 100RS) in a stupid accident. The lens is broken but I do not have a heart to dispose of the the rest of the scope. Maybe in many years I will be able to find a new heart for it! Too many memories!
I am impressed ! Sometimes , things just work out , no matter how hopeless or futile they appear to be . Thanks to the internet and the person in Florida for helping put Humpty back together again .
Ah...I believe you answered my question. I do a lot of photography, and lenses being lenses, I assumed the edge correction was for coma. Something most photography lenses exhibit. Thanks Nick and happy viewing!
Hi Ed. So happy to see the outcome, and it being back in use. I love the astro community, everyone willing to help and share their knowledge and experiences. Now if I get them all to focus on clear skies for Rochester tomorrow, for we are in totality, but clouds expected lol. Clear skies friends for all to witness this amazing event.
So true about what you said about the eyepieces! Back in the early 90's I purchased a Meade Ultra-wide field 27mm for my 13.1 inch dob. What a difference it made. The eyepiece cost more than the original price of the telescope!
I never heard of that eyepiece. They had a 24.5mm SWA but that wasn't huge, and the 4.7, 6.7, 8.8, and huge 14mm UWAs. The 32 and 40mm SWAs might have been huge to some people. I wasn't around in the early 90s, but I have done tons of research since 2004 and was in the industry from 2006-2011 and never heard of a meade 27mm ultra wide. Was it yellow lettering? Blue and white? Research grade? 2" I assume because anything 27mm can't be any wider than 60deg in a 1.25" and only the 13mm nagler and 14 UWA would be considered huge and 1.25". I am very interested in knowing what this is, something in the back of my head is telling me I did know of such an eyepiece at one point, but it is driving me nuts. I know there is a 28mm superwide that could be considered huge by some, but it came out around 2003/2004. Man I want to know about this eyepiece!
Nice to see you on TV CBS News Sunday Morning. I admit that I jumped up when I viewed it. Question: Is there a general web page or pages for telescope repair parts?
I had a problem like that with Advanced VX mount - it would run one way without stopping. The solution turned out to be simple - replace a faulty cable that connects Dec motor to the controller
Ah was hoping to find out where you would be for the Total Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8. As for me, I am heading up to Barton VT From CT. I also for free picked up a practically new 8" Celestron Starhopper Dobsonian. It needs cleaning, but I was able to test it last evening with a quick look at Jupiter and its four moons. The scope performed like a champ.
I'm sure a lot of telescope bargains will appear after tomorrow's display . Finding a good job for free at this moment is almost as unlikely as Ed locating a replacement corrector plate . Good find and I hope it serves you well .
I was managing a retail astronomy store in MN (The Telescope Shoppe) when Meade started shipping these scopes. We never sold a 10” as we felt they were undermounted, but we had an 8” on the floor. One shipment arrived where the 8” OTA had the primary come out of its cell. It fell onto the secondary and broke the corrector. I see your scope wears a vastly better focuser. Had you not found a new corrector you could have created a spider to hold the secondary and ended up with a standard Newtonian
That's brilliant Ed good to see the Meade back in action, I were offered one a while back for free & turned it down in the end wish I hadn't as the focuser had been upgraded, as for the CGE mount I have its predecessor the CGE pro & the electrics on that were just as bad.
I had a similar story with my Meade 7”…originals were matched and the replacement miniscus was a bit off. Rotating and adjusting distance helped only a bit.
Wow, luck has smiled upon you! I too think keeping it is a good idea as well as rotating the corrector to better match it up. You won't know just how good it can be unless you try it. It may end up being "great" but it will take some effort for sure. Best of luck and pls do a follow-up should you decide to play with rotation......
So glad you was able to salvage it. I have the 10. I turned it into a dob. Until i get a proper mount. Personally I say if your willing to chase the blue Ghost collimation. " I did for a month or so😅" it's a very nice scope. It show differences that my completely rebuilt deep space explore 5.6 does. Very well corrected almost to the edge. They are both my forever scopes. After going through a few. Love your reviews. Cleat skys happy hunting
Congratulations. I cracked my C9.25 corrector over a year ago after a screw went in too tight. I've had the replacemet plate sitting here but can't find anyone to help. Now, considering the new plate won't be optimal with the mirrors I feel likke giving up.
Im glad you got it repaired, even though i had a carnivorous eye focussed in on the moonlight focuser. I do wonder if the secondary being on so tight is distorting your corrector plate somewhat. If you like to experiment try putting the old secondary into a 3d printed spider vane and using a coma corrector with it. I think its time you did another " state of the collection" video.
Hey Ed I'm a 13 that loves astronomy and I want to get a star tracker. I've been looking at star trackers to buy, but I'm stuck with the decision between the skywatcher star adventurer mini pro kit and the skywatcher star adventurer 2i pro kit I don't need a very light portable tracker and I'm fine with a bigger one. I want to take photos with my canon camera and lens that I already have and use a focal length from 50mm to around 300mm. I've got a very tight budget for the star tracker my budget 600 aud (400 usd) what should I do
You could find a creative way to display the cracked corrector plate and then pour a 1/4 inch or so of clear epoxy resin on the other side to stabilize it.
Ed, you said that Meade often matched the corrector plate with the primary. Did they match the corrector plate, or the secondary mirror? Might it be possible to swap out the secondaries between the two corrector plates and see if you get a better result using the original secondary mirror?
i have a CGI mount , but i found its not working great beyond 10 pound or so , so i use it with my RedCat 51 , with all the additional gear it gets to the limits of the mount , at least in my version , maybe there is something wrong with it but im not good in mechanics , but i did not have those problems of mount acting up , at least i dont remember .
Where is this scope wizard you speak of? I recently purchased a used C14 with this same mount because my meade 10 had a runaway dec that i could not correct. tried all kinds of things and eventually just sold it when i saw a C14 on the market for a decent price. Horrified to hear that this mount has a similar problem. I will get a set of new cables before it all goes bad. I've done some googling but if you could direct me to this wizard it would be helpful. Thanks, keep up the great work.
I'll bet the cover for the scope was heavily clad with conifer pollen each time you went to use the scope. Our trees on Vancouver Island are letting scads of pollen free and the yellow covers and stains everything. I won't even use my Dob until the pollen index falls in a week or so.
Congrats! Looks great! Question: What would be the desired specifications for a possible replacement of the stock focuser? I can not find a Moonlite. I recently procured a SN-10 and look to upgrade it.
Hi Ed, any chance you could give a review for some SVBony products? You tend to review higher end equipment, but I know you also review budget equipment occasionally. I bought the Orion Observer 134mm Newtonian largely because of your review and I love it :) For SVBony, I’d love to see your thoughts on their eyepieces from the perspective of someone who is a regular user of high end eyepieces to be able to give a comparison. Specifically their “red line” 68 degree FOV line. I think your audience would really find it useful, they’re quite popular.
Don't give up on tweaking! I know from an optical master (makes Schiefspieglers that win awards at Stellafane) that the business of rotational alignment matching in consumer SCTs and SNTs is a myth. But there is a lot of slop in the centering of BOTH the corrector in the cell, and the secondary mount in the corrector, and BOTH of those have to be centered as accurately as possible - certainly to 1/2mm or less.
It is worth trying to spin match it. Since the secondary is flat, matching the corrector to the secondary is not as necessary as with an SCT. But it is worth trying to match the primary, but then again, knowing Meade, it could just be a lemon corrector, many sent to Florida because, Florida man
A paracorr on standard newtonian will beat even a matched Schmidt newtonian. I'm on my 3rd paracorr. It is amazing that yours has all the green still on it, both of my used paracorrs had lots of missing green. My 1st was the original photo/visual, my 2nd was the visual model which had more clear aperture because the 31 nagler had a little vignetting on the photo one due to the t threads on the lens group. My 2nd was the visual model, new from televue on my yearly dealer employee discount. I sold my first one with my 8"f4, and the 2nd I traded in the field for an offer i couldn't refuse, a pentax 40xw and 20xw, I already had the 40, but knew I had a friend who would take it for $300. It wasn't an official star party, but it was at a campground with very dark skies that would load up on new moon nights with astronomers. The third one I have now is another visual model, with even less green than my first, in fact it has some white paint to mark the missing position marks. But I think I got it for around $150. My only fast dob is in rough shape and needs a recoat, though it does still work. I lost my van loaded with gear such as my xt8, 127mak, omni102 ota and a cg5 as well as a vixen 60mm f15 with its az mount, and my nexstar GT mount. Along with a slew of music instruments amps and gear. And a small bag of eyepieces a barlow and some filters, and other stuff i cant remember because I was not in the greatest state when i loaded up the van for an event i thought i could put on. So now with the car i got stuck with, I cant even fit the dob or certainly not my 10" meade lx6. And even my powerstar c8 would probably barely fit if it even does. So I really need either a truss dob, and the only one I might be able to afford, if I sell some extra un needed guitars, is the explore scientific hybrid truss, which I have read about many issues I would need help to fix because power tools would be needed, as well as something to raise it up since it is so low to the ground. Or getting a mount and case for the 10" OTA, and hopefully getting a couple or few hundred for the forks, wedge, tripod and giant trunk case. At this point I wouldnt be able to make use of the paracorr. It is a bit of a connundrum, as used eq6 class goto mounts could have elecronics that could fail at any time and fixing then could get costly, and it is kinda cool to be the guy at a star party or outreach with the classic wedge mounted 10" sct that was the flagship meade scope just a year before the lx200 came out. And the 56mm smoothside super plossl to maximize its brightness and field of view, not to mention the whole Japanese super plossl set, mixed with some smoothies, some rubber cup 5 elements, and some 4 element japan, that i eventually hope to replace with 5 element versions if possible. But i am not as obsessed with them as I was in the past where I had the whole set of smoothsides except the 56mm, and my 40 was a 4 element japan. As well as smoothie 8.8 and 14mm UWAs. Someone gave me $400 and a 4k 40mm SWA for the old set. And as anyone who reads my long comments knows, I had all my stuff stolen from storage in 2018. And a nice japanese 40mm 2" max field super wide is the hole in my set, with 42 superview and 40mm astrola wide field as my placeholder. I replaced my 50 axiom with the 56 smoothie, and my 30mm widescan III with a widescan II. My 31 nagler was replaced by a 28mm orion megaview/uwan/pwa, which is the best 30mm range ultrawide, closest in performance to the nagler. I am happy with the rubber cup version 6.7, 8.8 and 14mm UWAs I was able to acquire this time around, as well as the 20mm WO xwa to replace my 20mm es100, but I have to just use the 14uwa as the replacement for the 14mm ES100. I also got a 7mm smoothie nagler to replace my 7t6, and a 5k 4.7uwa to replace my t6 performing 5k 5.5mm uwa. Some other goodies to round out the set are 24mm es68, 17 and 22 LVWs, 35mm ultima, 32 smoothie televue plossl, 26mm silvertop that came with my c8, 15mm parks gs-5, 9mm tmb planetary (I used to have whole set), and a bunch of cheaper eyepieces I have fetishes for, or that i got when first restarting before the better stuff started coming in. Stuff like the whole set of svbony swa/wa, the whole set of widescan II clone UW80s, the sleeper plastic celestron 3 element superwides that nobody knows are really good in slow scopes, or how wide they really are, especially the 15mm. Also some obscure other cheap eyepieces like an RK20, as well as a handful of japanese orthos and the .965 vixen eyepieces that I got with the 60, that are surprisingly good, the 6 ortho and 20 kellner, and the 28mm wide angle kellner, but i cant use that as the .965 nose piece needed to use it was on my the scope in my van when it got impounded. And that was a hard to find part and it was a desired eyepiece, that I will probably sell. The HM 12mm put up a decent view for a huygens, and more like an ortho field, but the er is super tight. The only one I eventually plan on keeping is the 6mm ortho since I have a 1.25 adapter for it and it is a better ortho than my edscorp and unbranded 6mm volcano tops. I also got a japanese 40mm MA .965 i got from telescope warehouse for shits and giggles, talk about a soda straw, but a soda straw showing the maximum .965 field :) and a bunch of mostly synta plossls, but I lost several in the van as well as some orion flat fields i hadnt even tried yet, and the super high power little eyepieces were in that set as well as a decent barlow and several of my filters. Also the fact that there was a cooler of meat sitting in the sun for a month in the van, and the flies and stench made the 5(10) minutes i had to put whatever i could into a shopping cart at the impound yard 5 minutes before closing on a friday made it hard to think straight, so i grabbed the smaller stuff like my etx90 and photo tripod, and prioritized things like my phones and some of the musical instruments that were higher value, and I thought I would be back but I was prevented from doing so and lost it all, and still got a bill from the impound. F them. The way the whole situation was handled by the powers that be was criminal, but you cant fight city hall if you dont have tactical nukes. So yeah, paracorrs are cool. And apparently so is highly tangental thinking
I recently had an accident with my Orion Skyview Pro mount (similar to CG-4 mount). It tipped over & cracked the dovetail locking knob. I've been searching all over & can't find a replacement. Would anyone know where I can find a replacement? Any help is greatly appreciated.
A 10 inch scope is about 50% more light gathering than an 8 inch and often the increase in weight and price isn't worth the difference at least in catadioptrics. I guess that's why 10" Newtonians sell more than SCTs. A 9.25 SCT is $600 more than an 8" let alone a 10" Meade SCT.
So, Ed puts the repaired scope on a schizoid tracking mount? I was waiting for the RA axis and the ota to start rotating down eventually the scope falling off and crashing to the ground. That would have been comedy gold.
all ive been able to pay attention to is those beautiful eye pieces on that stool , not sure if Ed uses this as something to stay in the same place while recording, his right leg barely moves but its giving me an anxiety attack, p.s. glad to hear of the happy outcome
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
That's a remarkable story and a great recovery for the instrument. Shout out to the very kind person who supplied the replacement corrector assembly. That instrument deserves some TLC and some nice photons, so I think you're right to keep it.
I worked in the matching room for a few years at Celestron in the early 90's and I can vouch that with a Schmidt Cassegrain you cannot just drop in a replacement part and expect it to perform as well as the old one. The primary and corrector are matched to compliment each others' imperfections. and then the matcher refigures the secondary mirror to cancel out what is left. Additionally, the 3 parts are all rotated to cancel out astigmatism.
The secondary mirror or the corrector plate is reconfigured? Could Ed get a better result by swapping out the old secondary on to this "new" corrector plate? Also is there any chance that if the ring on the secondary is too tight that it distorts the corrector plate ?
I'm not sure if the company that made that Schmidt Newtonian does any hand figuring on the secondary. I can only speak of how Celestron did it with Schmidt Cassegrains in the 90's.
I'm trying to picture how I'd hand figure an elongated flat, like a Newt secondary, and it sounds more difficult than doing the round shaped spherical secondary of a SC, which is fairly easy to touch up by hand.
The piece with the most variability was usually the corrector. The primary and secondary in a SC are just spherical, which are relatively easy to make, as is the flat of a Newt. But "touching up" a corrector is probably never done anywhere considering the crazy techniques used to make them. It's not feasible to do it. And touching up a spherical primary is probably not too hard if you just need to make a little over or under corrected, though it's a big piece to have to handle like that. Yeah, I'm having a hard time picturing the manufacturing process for a Schmidt Newtonian because the secondary mirror isn't round, and so would be difficult to touch up like with the round secondary of a Schmidt Cassegrain.
Of course it might be worth a try to swap in the other one. And heck, since you have an extra you could try doing a little touch up figuring on the extra secondary. I'm just not sure how you would get a uniform effect on it since you're working on it flat and then looking through it at 45 degrees. Trying to do anything other than push the sphere (a flat is thought of as a sphere in optical shops) a little one way or the other might be impossible.
I'd be interested to find out how Schmidt Newtonians are finalized if anyone knows. My guess is that there's just a lot of part swapping until they find 3 parts that like each other. With a Schmidt Cassegrain the 3 parts are placed inside a test jig (Collimator) and aimed at a reference flat. A laser is shined in through a special beam splitter eyepiece holder (Pellicle), goes through the system backwards, hits the flat and comes back through the system. An operator uses a knife edge, a Ronchi and a high powered in/out of focus to determine what, if anything, needs done. When I worked there the majority of systems were going to need 1-2 runs on the secondary to fine tune it to the other components. Occasionally you find a perfect "no run" which are always nice to get, where the airy disk looks like a golf ball with an onion ring around it. If you had the dough you put those parts under your desk and have assembly build you a scope out of them. :)
Take the old corrector plate, mount it, and hang it on the wall as a piece of art.
This video made me laugh. Not because it's funny in isolation, but because this could have happened to any of us. The funniest part of the video was the first three seconds when you struggled to talk. I know the scope isn't what it was, but at least it's back up and running. It's good to see that there are really nice people out there.
I am a retired auto tech, in each mechanic's life a wall of shame exists. I'm sorry that happened to you but what a great save!
Florida man just deliver ! . Thank you for his generosity , This is a great outcome.
Greg from Florida gets the nice guy award! I would keep both the scope and the broken corrector set up somewhere as a reminder and because it's got a story... 👍👍
Old plate looks like a small bicycle wheel in the thumbnail. Really glad the internet came to the rescue and you saved it.
Glad everyone pitched in to help. Says a lot about your audience.
Ed, it was painful to watch the first video about the damage. I'm glad to see that things have worked out to a happy conclusion. Always look forward to you new content and rewatching your older videos.
I knew it! I was so sure someone would answer the call to help and they did. That is the best thing about those involved in amateur astronomy to reach out and help. Also, I took note of the ZWO ASI120mm-S camera for as you say to show others while using a laptop. That is exactly what I would like to do with the local kids. Besides, it is another option to let them view on a laptop screen rather than having issues of possibly grabbing and unintentionally damaging equipment. So congratulations and mission accomplished.
What a great ending to this story. It's a tribute to the amateur astronomy community and to kindness of those who participate in it. A shout out to Greg for getting involved and donating the replacement part. Ed, thanks for the up date. Looking forward to the next post.
That's Really Awesome that someone was able and willing to provide you with a replacement. I'm really glad you were able to salvage it and get some enjoyment and use with it. 👍
Loved seeing this outcome of a misfortune. Thanks to the person who sent the glass!!
I also damaged one of my telescopes (TAL 100RS) in a stupid accident. The lens is broken but I do not have a heart to dispose of the the rest of the scope. Maybe in many years I will be able to find a new heart for it! Too many memories!
Spring miracle glad to see your happy smile.
put the broken part on a shelf for display, it make good conversation and its a reminder of what could happen
Glad that unique piece of a equipment got fixed. I remember those from the early-00s when they came out.
What a great resurrection! You should keep it around! 😉
Maine is the place to be and a Ed video drop is a good day in book.
I am impressed !
Sometimes , things just work out , no matter how hopeless or futile they appear to be .
Thanks to the internet and the person in Florida for helping put Humpty back together again .
Glad you got it fixed. I'm keeping my 8 inch version of it. I replaced the focuser and it's working great with a coma corrector.
Ah...I believe you answered my question. I do a lot of photography, and lenses being lenses, I assumed the edge correction was for coma. Something most photography lenses exhibit. Thanks Nick and happy viewing!
Wow, that's an awesome ending!
That's great to see Ed. Thanks a lot to the gentleman from Florida.
For all of its faults, the Internet can also be a wonderful place! Great update on the Schmitt-Newt. All's well that ends well? 🤔
Oh that's good news! Thanks, Florida Man!
Hey Ed glad to see this came back from near death. Great to see it get a second lease of life.
Hi Ed. So happy to see the outcome, and it being back in use. I love the astro community, everyone willing to help and share their knowledge and experiences. Now if I get them all to focus on clear skies for Rochester tomorrow, for we are in totality, but clouds expected lol. Clear skies friends for all to witness this amazing event.
So true about what you said about the eyepieces! Back in the early 90's I purchased a Meade Ultra-wide field 27mm for my 13.1 inch dob. What a difference it made. The eyepiece cost more than the original price of the telescope!
I never heard of that eyepiece. They had a 24.5mm SWA but that wasn't huge, and the 4.7, 6.7, 8.8, and huge 14mm UWAs. The 32 and 40mm SWAs might have been huge to some people. I wasn't around in the early 90s, but I have done tons of research since 2004 and was in the industry from 2006-2011 and never heard of a meade 27mm ultra wide. Was it yellow lettering? Blue and white? Research grade?
2" I assume because anything 27mm can't be any wider than 60deg in a 1.25" and only the 13mm nagler and 14 UWA would be considered huge and 1.25".
I am very interested in knowing what this is, something in the back of my head is telling me I did know of such an eyepiece at one point, but it is driving me nuts.
I know there is a 28mm superwide that could be considered huge by some, but it came out around 2003/2004.
Man I want to know about this eyepiece!
Nice to see you on TV CBS News Sunday Morning. I admit that I jumped up when I viewed it. Question: Is there a general web page or pages for telescope repair parts?
I had the same ota. I absolutely loved it!. Good to see she’s is repaired and back and running again
I had a problem like that with Advanced VX mount - it would run one way without stopping. The solution turned out to be simple - replace a faulty cable that connects Dec motor to the controller
That smile 👍😊
Ah was hoping to find out where you would be for the Total Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8. As for me, I am heading up to Barton VT From CT. I also for free picked up a practically new 8" Celestron Starhopper Dobsonian. It needs cleaning, but I was able to test it last evening with a quick look at Jupiter and its four moons. The scope performed like a champ.
I'm sure a lot of telescope bargains will appear after tomorrow's display .
Finding a good job for free at this moment is almost as unlikely as Ed locating a replacement corrector plate .
Good find and I hope it serves you well .
Thats Awesome Ed,I Was Almost In Tears For You,Im Sooo Happy To See This..Ive Been In Erie With The Eclipse….Clear Skies🔭❤️🔭❤️
Happy to see you were able to get it fixed!
i knew it could be done, congrats on getting it fixed
Amazing result, always a good day when you release a telescope video, Ed!
I was managing a retail astronomy store in MN (The Telescope Shoppe) when Meade started shipping these scopes. We never sold a 10” as we felt they were undermounted, but we had an 8” on the floor. One shipment arrived where the 8” OTA had the primary come out of its cell. It fell onto the secondary and broke the corrector.
I see your scope wears a vastly better focuser. Had you not found a new corrector you could have created a spider to hold the secondary and ended up with a standard Newtonian
Great video Ed.... I'm glad you got it all sorted out. If I was you I would keep it.
Amazing story! Well done!
Even with some spherical aberrations visually that will be a great scope. 🎉
Just lovely @edting the astronomy community is just full of nice people
Glad things worked out for you.
That's brilliant Ed good to see the Meade back in action, I were offered one a while back for free & turned it down in the end wish I hadn't as the focuser had been upgraded, as for the CGE mount I have its predecessor the CGE pro & the electrics on that were just as bad.
So glad that you got it fixed. 👍
I had a similar story with my Meade 7”…originals were matched and the replacement miniscus was a bit off. Rotating and adjusting distance helped only a bit.
I think the corrector cell, and 2ndary are still good for anyone that would need one for that size ota for a replacement.
Have the 8". Bought it new and use it still sometimes. Never had a problem. LIke it. It's never been on a Celestron mount.
Definitely have to keep it since it has a story to go with it now.
Glad you got it up and running again! Now if only you could work on my new large Dob and fix it as well!
Beautiful community!
Wow, luck has smiled upon you! I too think keeping it is a good idea as well as rotating the corrector to better match it up. You won't know just how good it can be unless you try it. It may end up being "great" but it will take some effort for sure. Best of luck and pls do a follow-up should you decide to play with rotation......
Well done!
So glad you was able to salvage it. I have the 10. I turned it into a dob. Until i get a proper mount. Personally I say if your willing to chase the blue Ghost collimation. " I did for a month or so😅" it's a very nice scope. It show differences that my completely rebuilt deep space explore 5.6 does. Very well corrected almost to the edge. They are both my forever scopes. After going through a few. Love your reviews. Cleat skys happy hunting
Great video and follow up Ed. Thanks for all information you share on your videos. Where in California do you live?
Fantastic for you...
I saw you on Sunday Morning!
Mejores las fotos del Schmidt
Congratulations. I cracked my C9.25 corrector over a year ago after a screw went in too tight. I've had the replacemet plate sitting here but can't find anyone to help. Now, considering the new plate won't be optimal with the mirrors I feel likke giving up.
3:38 no strain relief?
Im glad you got it repaired, even though i had a carnivorous eye focussed in on the moonlight focuser. I do wonder if the secondary being on so tight is distorting your corrector plate somewhat. If you like to experiment try putting the old secondary into a 3d printed spider vane and using a coma corrector with it.
I think its time you did another " state of the collection" video.
Awesome
Muy buen teléscopio
I found global optics sells RC mirror sets so I might just build one of those, no correction plate needed.
Hell yeah Ed, no surprise everyone went to the worlds end to help you and the owner
Could mount it on the wall as a remembrance
Awesome!
Hey Ed I'm a 13 that loves astronomy and I want to get a star tracker. I've been looking at star trackers to buy, but I'm stuck with the decision between the skywatcher star adventurer mini pro kit and the skywatcher star adventurer 2i pro kit I don't need a very light portable tracker and I'm fine with a bigger one. I want to take photos with my canon camera and lens that I already have and use a focal length from 50mm to around 300mm. I've got a very tight budget for the star tracker my budget 600 aud (400 usd) what should I do
You could find a creative way to display the cracked corrector plate and then pour a 1/4 inch or so of clear epoxy resin on the other side to stabilize it.
I'll bet that damaged corrector plate would look like a cool work of art if you put some led lights around and inside it.
Saw you on Sunday Morning today about the total solar eclipse happening tomorrow. 👌👏🔭
I wasn’t the only one nodding along at the beginning of the video, was I 😀
Ed, you said that Meade often matched the corrector plate with the primary. Did they match the corrector plate, or the secondary mirror? Might it be possible to swap out the secondaries between the two corrector plates and see if you get a better result using the original secondary mirror?
i have a CGI mount , but i found its not working great beyond 10 pound or so , so i use it with my RedCat 51 , with all the additional gear it gets to the limits of the mount , at least in my version , maybe there is something wrong with it but im not good in mechanics , but i did not have those problems of mount acting up , at least i dont remember .
Where is this scope wizard you speak of?
I recently purchased a used C14 with this same mount because my meade 10 had a runaway dec that i could not correct. tried all kinds of things and eventually just sold it when i saw a C14 on the market for a decent price. Horrified to hear that this mount has a similar problem. I will get a set of new cables before it all goes bad.
I've done some googling but if you could direct me to this wizard it would be helpful.
Thanks, keep up the great work.
Cool.
I'll bet the cover for the scope was heavily clad with conifer pollen each time you went to use the scope. Our trees on Vancouver Island are letting scads of pollen free and the yellow covers and stains everything. I won't even use my Dob until the pollen index falls in a week or so.
Hooray!!!!!
Congrats! Looks great!
Question: What would be the desired specifications for a possible replacement of the stock focuser? I can not find a Moonlite.
I recently procured a SN-10 and look to upgrade it.
It looks like Moonlite only makes motorized focusers now. You'll have to check forums for compatible focusers.
Exactly Ed, I've actually witnessed people say they are sensitive to chromatic aberration. How is anyone that bothered by a purple halo?😂
Hi Ed, any chance you could give a review for some SVBony products? You tend to review higher end equipment, but I know you also review budget equipment occasionally. I bought the Orion Observer 134mm Newtonian largely because of your review and I love it :)
For SVBony, I’d love to see your thoughts on their eyepieces from the perspective of someone who is a regular user of high end eyepieces to be able to give a comparison. Specifically their “red line” 68 degree FOV line. I think your audience would really find it useful, they’re quite popular.
I would secure the lens pieces with CA glue then hang it on the wall, or make it into a clock.
Yes, a couple of people have suggested that. I might hang it up as wall art.
Ed, what filter/exposure do you use with f4 on the moon?
Don't give up on tweaking! I know from an optical master (makes Schiefspieglers that win awards at Stellafane) that the business of rotational alignment matching in consumer SCTs and SNTs is a myth. But there is a lot of slop in the centering of BOTH the corrector in the cell, and the secondary mount in the corrector, and BOTH of those have to be centered as accurately as possible - certainly to 1/2mm or less.
It is worth trying to spin match it. Since the secondary is flat, matching the corrector to the secondary is not as necessary as with an SCT. But it is worth trying to match the primary, but then again, knowing Meade, it could just be a lemon corrector, many sent to Florida because, Florida man
A paracorr on standard newtonian will beat even a matched Schmidt newtonian.
I'm on my 3rd paracorr. It is amazing that yours has all the green still on it, both of my used paracorrs had lots of missing green. My 1st was the original photo/visual, my 2nd was the visual model which had more clear aperture because the 31 nagler had a little vignetting on the photo one due to the t threads on the lens group. My 2nd was the visual model, new from televue on my yearly dealer employee discount.
I sold my first one with my 8"f4, and the 2nd I traded in the field for an offer i couldn't refuse, a pentax 40xw and 20xw, I already had the 40, but knew I had a friend who would take it for $300. It wasn't an official star party, but it was at a campground with very dark skies that would load up on new moon nights with astronomers.
The third one I have now is another visual model, with even less green than my first, in fact it has some white paint to mark the missing position marks. But I think I got it for around $150.
My only fast dob is in rough shape and needs a recoat, though it does still work. I lost my van loaded with gear such as my xt8, 127mak, omni102 ota and a cg5 as well as a vixen 60mm f15 with its az mount, and my nexstar GT mount.
Along with a slew of music instruments amps and gear. And a small bag of eyepieces a barlow and some filters, and other stuff i cant remember because I was not in the greatest state when i loaded up the van for an event i thought i could put on.
So now with the car i got stuck with, I cant even fit the dob or certainly not my 10" meade lx6. And even my powerstar c8 would probably barely fit if it even does.
So I really need either a truss dob, and the only one I might be able to afford, if I sell some extra un needed guitars, is the explore scientific hybrid truss, which I have read about many issues I would need help to fix because power tools would be needed, as well as something to raise it up since it is so low to the ground.
Or getting a mount and case for the 10" OTA, and hopefully getting a couple or few hundred for the forks, wedge, tripod and giant trunk case. At this point I wouldnt be able to make use of the paracorr.
It is a bit of a connundrum, as used eq6 class goto mounts could have elecronics that could fail at any time and fixing then could get costly, and it is kinda cool to be the guy at a star party or outreach with the classic wedge mounted 10" sct that was the flagship meade scope just a year before the lx200 came out. And the 56mm smoothside super plossl to maximize its brightness and field of view, not to mention the whole Japanese super plossl set, mixed with some smoothies, some rubber cup 5 elements, and some 4 element japan, that i eventually hope to replace with 5 element versions if possible. But i am not as obsessed with them as I was in the past where I had the whole set of smoothsides except the 56mm, and my 40 was a 4 element japan. As well as smoothie 8.8 and 14mm UWAs. Someone gave me $400 and a 4k 40mm SWA for the old set. And as anyone who reads my long comments knows, I had all my stuff stolen from storage in 2018. And a nice japanese 40mm 2" max field super wide is the hole in my set, with 42 superview and 40mm astrola wide field as my placeholder.
I replaced my 50 axiom with the 56 smoothie, and my 30mm widescan III with a widescan II. My 31 nagler was replaced by a 28mm orion megaview/uwan/pwa, which is the best 30mm range ultrawide, closest in performance to the nagler.
I am happy with the rubber cup version 6.7, 8.8 and 14mm UWAs I was able to acquire this time around, as well as the 20mm WO xwa to replace my 20mm es100, but I have to just use the 14uwa as the replacement for the 14mm ES100. I also got a 7mm smoothie nagler to replace my 7t6, and a 5k 4.7uwa to replace my t6 performing 5k 5.5mm uwa.
Some other goodies to round out the set are 24mm es68, 17 and 22 LVWs, 35mm ultima, 32 smoothie televue plossl, 26mm silvertop that came with my c8, 15mm parks gs-5, 9mm tmb planetary (I used to have whole set), and a bunch of cheaper eyepieces I have fetishes for, or that i got when first restarting before the better stuff started coming in. Stuff like the whole set of svbony swa/wa, the whole set of widescan II clone UW80s, the sleeper plastic celestron 3 element superwides that nobody knows are really good in slow scopes, or how wide they really are, especially the 15mm.
Also some obscure other cheap eyepieces like an RK20, as well as a handful of japanese orthos and the .965 vixen eyepieces that I got with the 60, that are surprisingly good, the 6 ortho and 20 kellner, and the 28mm wide angle kellner, but i cant use that as the .965 nose piece needed to use it was on my the scope in my van when it got impounded. And that was a hard to find part and it was a desired eyepiece, that I will probably sell. The HM 12mm put up a decent view for a huygens, and more like an ortho field, but the er is super tight. The only one I eventually plan on keeping is the 6mm ortho since I have a 1.25 adapter for it and it is a better ortho than my edscorp and unbranded 6mm volcano tops. I also got a japanese 40mm MA .965 i got from telescope warehouse for shits and giggles, talk about a soda straw, but a soda straw showing the maximum .965 field :) and a bunch of mostly synta plossls, but I lost several in the van as well as some orion flat fields i hadnt even tried yet, and the super high power little eyepieces were in that set as well as a decent barlow and several of my filters.
Also the fact that there was a cooler of meat sitting in the sun for a month in the van, and the flies and stench made the 5(10) minutes i had to put whatever i could into a shopping cart at the impound yard 5 minutes before closing on a friday made it hard to think straight, so i grabbed the smaller stuff like my etx90 and photo tripod, and prioritized things like my phones and some of the musical instruments that were higher value, and I thought I would be back but I was prevented from doing so and lost it all, and still got a bill from the impound. F them. The way the whole situation was handled by the powers that be was criminal, but you cant fight city hall if you dont have tactical nukes.
So yeah, paracorrs are cool. And apparently so is highly tangental thinking
Yay!
I can't wait for the eclipse tomorrow!
I recently had an accident with my Orion Skyview Pro mount (similar to CG-4 mount). It tipped over & cracked the dovetail locking knob. I've been searching all over & can't find a replacement. Would anyone know where I can find a replacement? Any help is greatly appreciated.
A 10 inch scope is about 50% more light gathering than an 8 inch and often the increase in weight and price isn't worth the difference at least in catadioptrics. I guess that's why 10" Newtonians sell more than SCTs. A 9.25 SCT is $600 more than an 8" let alone a 10" Meade SCT.
So, Ed puts the repaired scope on a schizoid tracking mount? I was waiting for the RA axis and the ota to start rotating down eventually the scope falling off and crashing to the ground. That would have been comedy gold.
Florida Man saves the day!
mix up a batch of epoxy and flood fill the cracked corrector and keep it on the wall as an art piece
Several people have suggested this. I might do it.
all ive been able to pay attention to is those beautiful eye pieces on that stool , not sure if Ed uses this as something to stay in the same place while recording, his right leg barely moves but its giving me an anxiety attack, p.s. glad to hear of the happy outcome
Glad it worked out. You going to see the eclipse, Ed?
I could really use a secondary for my Meade 10".... If it's still available.
Edit: Found one. I LOVE this scope.
It's unbelieveable what people have lying around their house
I like happy endings to a short story. I reckon so.
I like not having diffraction spikes