Should You Get an Old Telescope? Watch My Recent Experience!
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- Опубликовано: 9 апр 2022
- (Note: Prices for scopes have gone up a lot in the past 2 years. Scope/eyepiece list is updated, below)
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Nice trick shining a light through the back of the mirror
My first scope is a 4 inch inexpensive Galileo that I have learned and had fun with!
Now I am building an 8 inch from parts gathered over time, the mirror is decent, but I will try the light test!
You need a bigger scope to lug across in front of the camera for these videos! ;)
I was laughing at that too! I have a big tube like that! Probably why it's not used very much!! lol
that intro is so funny, I love that kind of humor😄👍
Woo one of the 1st q&a's great stuff
Another great video by Ed and the opening and ending is a blast!!!
Excellent video! I knew about the issue with reflective coatings, but didn't know about the test you showed. Thanks, Ed.
hi ed, nice Video ! keep the great work up
Good video, it helps when deciding to buy something used that you have beforehand knowledge. Thanks Ed.
Great video - informative and entertaining as usual.
My Meade 826 8"f6 tracks beautifully and the optics are superb. One of my favourite scopes. Thanks for the interesting and informative information.
Ed, I thank you for your video and sharing your thoughts on the Meade 6-inch Newtonian telescope. I wanted one of those in 1984, but was convinced that the newest Celestron 8-inch might be better. I can’t say it was, because it had tracking issues too. Overall, your thoughts on mirrors needing re-silvered is spot on. Of course today’s costs make it worth considering buying a newer and lighter mirror for the costs of shipping and insurance. Thank you once again for the video sharing!
Sorry, I'm catching up on your recent videos. Be aware that original Windex has ammonia, and ammonia destroys metal surfaces, such as an aluminized mirror. When I was taught to make mirrors, I was told to use a 91 or 95% IPA, and rinse with ultra pure distilled water as needed. Be sure to blow off the water or IPA with clean air or nitrogen so you don't get mineral spots or other types of grime left on the surface.
Thanks for sharing.
ty ed.
Hello, Mr. Ting;
Thank you for all you do.
I really appreciate you showing the mirror check.
I checked my StarBlast 6 mirror, I could see spots of light.
I don't know how old my scope is, I bought it used.
On buying used 'scopes, generally speaking;
There are possible issues w/ buying used.
IMO, it is true w/ most anything in the used market.
I bought a used Orion StarBlast 6/6i w/ the "IntelliScope" option.
The guy I bought from had mounted it on a nice tripod.
The 'scope needed a bit of work, it had been 'misassembled' slightly.
Maybe when he took it off the tripod some parts were misplaced?
The IntelliScope has never worked properly.
I've read they work well as a "push-to" finder.
Mine seems to be 'off' markedly, when I tried it.
I may try it again but I don't know much about it.
Orion doesn't sell any parts to the 2nd-hand owner either.
So if you can't find/make your own you'll have more problems.
I made a bushing for the table-top base pivot from an old socket.
It fit the hole snugly yet it still has some 'play' vertically.
That may be by design.
Overall I'm pretty pleased w/ my StarBlast 6, I've some very nice views.
Have a GREAT day & clear skies, Neighbor!
PS
Do you know of a resilvering service that you would recommend?
Thank you in advance for your kind assistance.
I recently bought a Meade 645 on Craigslist. It is just a joy too look through, but the mount is tricky.
My LX10 must be well over 20 years old and I've had to pull the mounting apart over the years and replace stripped threads, regrease, etc. I've just stripped and stove enameled the wedge and tripod head which were blistering and the fork and drive box are next. I will try your torch test on the primary. I wonder if recoating would be economical for an older telescope? Great vid. as always Ed. Many thanks for posting.
Well the light test on my Meade was fine, no sign of light coming through the coating at all. Not bad for a 20 odd year old 'scope!
I own a dreaded Meade Starfinder. It's an 8' Dobsonian. It's somewhere around 28 years old. I would love to test the mirror as shown in this video however it's glued in place to the fiberboard backing. I would have to somehow pry it off. The optics were great on it back when I bought it, but it has not seen much use the last few years.
I owned a Starfinder eight inch dob back in the day. I absolutely loved that scope; it was the most productive telescope I have ever owned.
Absolutely wonderful review. But I do believe you should do a review of the meade lx5. I have a 10 inch 88 lx5 quartz pulse drive witch is so swet it's perfect. When you buy a telescope and the seller opens the case I was scared. I kind of wondered exactly what I was doing lol. This telescope is huge beautiful optics I cried when I saw first light. Never before have I seen the sky so crisp and clear with no aberrations to care about at all.
The 10" Meade SCTs have a very good reputation. I have an OTA and it's an unsung hero in my collection. The only issue with the early LX3/LX5/etc models were the mounts. They used thinner, less robust fork arms than they do now, tilting that much weight on the wedge could get unstable, and the older electronics are starting to have issues. But if yours works well, continue to enjoy it.
@@edting Thankyou for the reply and the reinforcing explanation about the fork mount. I was highly leaning towards that answer. My next question is witch type of mount would be the better an equatorial mount un forked, or a wedge type equtorial fork mount. Also I am wondering if there is a push to computerized go to mount for this type of telescope. For example the skywatcher post to/ go to dobsonian mount. Thankyou again for the reply and you have an awesome you tube channel full of wonderful information without all the turkey gobble fill in 30 minute videos.
Thanks for talking about mirror coating degradation. I've got scopes from 2000, 2002, and 2005. The mirrors look fine to me, but I haven't shined a flashlight through them. I had better check that out. They're all Ostahowski Discovery mirrors with enhanced coatings.
Keep the flashlight away from you scopes, aslong you dont see anything abnormal while looking through the scope. You will notice every imperfection and it will starting to drive you nuts, just dont do it
I say, go for it! It is a very inexpensive way to test degradation on coatings. How else should you have a clear justification for a recoating service? How would one justify having a reflector with 50% reflectivity left on it when it could be as high in the 90's?
Mr. Ting perhaps a review of the water heater type telescope you are carrying in the introduction.
Oh oh... You just gave me a reason to replace or refigure and recoat my 30 year old 78 mm primary coated in CIO in León, Guanajuato.
CIO is a state funded research institution... How can you recoat a privately owned mirror with them?
I enjoy the " What to buy and what not to buy " videos. Can you do some more indepth videos of older truss dobs? I recently bought a Discovery 17.5 without testing. Couldn't resist.
I bought the discovery 17.5" truss dob new over 20 years ago. I got the f5 so I don't need to use my paracorr. It has great optics and a sturdy build. The views at a super dark site in west Virginia are amazing. I put an 80mm finder on it for separate wide field views plus a Telrad and laser pointer. The laser pointer and low power eyepiece are usually enough to find the objects. It uses 2 steps on a ladder for high views. How are you enjoying yours?
Unfortunately I haven't used it yet. A couple of weeks ago I finally finished building the rocker box. Just need to find a good focuser for it. I'm assuming the original focuser is fine unless it needed an upgrade. What are your thoughts on the focuser? Soon though I'll roll it out and I'm sure the amazement will be there. At this size mirror did you stop there or move up a in aperture?
Oh and how was it on planets? Being an F5 the focal length is up there.
@@marcusjancewicz8927 After 50 plus years in astronomy, it is my biggest aperture. At the dark WV site, dim objects, like galaxies, jump out like in photos. M13 looks like a Christmas light. I have a 16" f4.5 in another country that I turned into an Obsession clone. Both large scopes are excellent on planets. The Discovery mirrors very good probably made by that Tony O. guy that became famous in mirror making circles. The stock focuser works fine and securely holds even my very heavy 20mm type 2 Nagler.
@@marcusjancewicz8927 I really like the f5 and don't mind using an extra step to get increadible views with less aberrations. I don't ever need a bigger scope just more trips to extremely dark ,clear skies. We just go camping for several days there and take along a couple scopes. The other scope that I enjoy using there the most is a Bresser AR102s comet catcher that gives wide, low power views. It's a little too heavy to use as a finder on the dob unless placed on the rocker box.
A friend asked me how to tell if they needed to have their mirror recoated and I told them to take it out of the scope and hold it up to a bright light. I said if they can see the light thru it then yes they need it recoated. I was having 2 of mine done so they brought me theirs and when they gave it to me I just held it up and could see thru it! LOL I could only assume they were using a scrubbie to clean it now and then!
I’ld like to hear what the 6” f5 is like with a new Al coating. Thinking of sending my trusty 1970 Tasco/Vixen in for second Al job. Beatutiful 114mm mirror on that.
My back hurts just watching you carry that telescope. What size is it?
That's an old Orion 16" DSE Dob OTA. I could barely pick it up!
Word of warning on that flashlight test that it can make even very decent mirrors look like they have problems, and it's the fastest way to make you feel bad about your telescope. It's not that rare to have a small number of pinholes in even a new coating, and that's not indicative of problems. If you're seeing large parts of the mirror surface that are showing nearly the entire flashlight beam coming through as Ed showed on his first example here then the mirror is probably due for a recoating or getting close to it, but don't freak out just because you can see a few spots of light.
In other words, it's a good, extremely sensitive test, but interpret results with caution! Unless you're seeing a ton of light come through, you'll probably waste your money on a recoat and will be disappointed with the marginal or possibly imperceptible improvement.
Also note that the secondary mirror's coating is as important for the telescope's efficiency as the primary mirror. It's worth checking both, and if you're going to the trouble of getting one recoated, you might as well get them both done as most recoaters will do a package deal for a primary and secondary. There's a number of companies that will do this for a reasonable price in the US, but if you're in another country you might have a tough time finding somebody local to do recoating, and the shipping costs and overhead of sending it elsewhere can often turn a mirror recoat into an expensive proposition, especially on smaller mirrors (6 inch and less) that can often be outright replaced for a similar price.
Agreed. I've had to talk a couple of people down off the ledge in the past few days. For the record I have no plans to recoat the mirror in the Meade 645.
In my Astronomy club I have looked at several newer 8"SCT's from various makers and I cannot visually see any difference in the views as compaired to my 23 year old LX90. I keep that one as a spare scope, and its a lot easioer to set up and move as to the other scopes I have...
I've had a lot more wins than fails even with buying some rather neglected telescopes. So long as you don't overspend up front and know what you're getting into, it's usually worth a try.
Thanks for the comment. I view this one as a "win" myself. Always wanted one of these!
but how long last the codings in apo and sct? will they have huge impact on photos over time?
I had a Meade 6" Newtonian from the early 80's but it was blue and had a German equatorial mount. I seem to remember it being an f5. It was a nice scope with great optics. I wonder if they're related or I had a lesser scope.
That was a slightly later model. I liked those. They had the disco-inspired "Meade" logo on the side of the tube.
@@edting I think it was the model 6600 if I remember correctly. I loved that scope and shouldn't have sold it. Oh well, you know that feeling. lol
0:02 😀 👍
What causes mirror coatings to deteriorate? Time alone, or time plus air, moisture, etc? In other words, is this a problem unique to open-tube newtonians, or do you see it in sealed catadioptrics and maksutov-newtonians too?
I'd like to know the answer to this, too. I suspect there's some sort of an oxidation factor somehow.
However, you should note that catadioptrics are not sealed; they're only "sealed". In other words, there is no hermetic seal keeping air out. On the other hand, if you always keep your diagonal in the tube, you're reducing the circulation of air. Therefore, if there is some kind of oxidation factor, perhaps catadioptrics might last a bit longer because they don't have anywhere near as much fresh air circulating over them.
If you keep the tube closed as much as possible the coatings ought to stay good. I have a 20 cm Meade LX10 SCT I bought in 1999, and the primary still looks spotless (apart from a few bits of dust) when I shine a bright light on the front of it. The back of the tube is solid so there's no way to try Ed's test on it, but I haven't noticed any loss of brightness. The outer surface of the corrector needs cleaning around once a year to get dust, oil, insect marks and the odd fingerprint off it, but I have always been careful and the coating is still in good condition.
If that light test is any indication, then my R130SF mirror is in for some serious recoating, and it is only about 11-12 years old!
I wouldn't worry about it. Just use the scope!
And I wanna be an astronaut
I bet there is nothing written on that piece of paper. You just wanna talk about telescopes😂
Thank you for the upload. Verry good video!
Ok I'm really stuck now I've got a C8 Celestron I looked up how to adjust it it works amazing but I wonder if I did it right looking into 2 inch lenses and wow there so expensive but I'm needing to learn how to up keep it and proper way to clean it it's got a big really big 3 leg stand the thing is very heavy it has buttons and light's and I think it's missing something like a motor and it has a phone jack plug I got it for 5 hundred dollars I got all the original boxing from when it was sold brand new I didn't need it so I threw it away I was told that was a big mistake have all the paperwork well anyways I have seen numerous videos on this thing but not my exact tripod the tripod I had is some kind of digital tracker device something like that well anyways I've been looking at videos and I still haven't learned nothing about the telescope I manually adjust everything to look at different positions in the sky but it would be nice to learn about this telescope the gentleman I bought it from gave me a book with a lot of data he has written down and I do not understand it and I never probably will but I enjoy using this telescope well I guess the reason I'm posting this is I'm just wondering and hoping I can learn how to clean this thing without damaging it I've heard things like never touch the lenses the oil from the hands destroys the lenses I don't know if that's true or not I got lenses the thing works just fine but from the videos from what I understand 2 in lenses focal reducer is the way to go I think I really got lucky I've been told this telescope and I've priced it and they go for it anywhere from 3 to 7,000 the gentleman I bought it from I'm assuming he's a law enforcement out of the Sacramento area supposedly he bought it for his son his son has his own family now and long gone I guess I just got lucky finding it on the internet for sale he clearly told me you know what 500 for this thing is really cheap I don't know what the gentleman was going through but I could really tell he did not want to sell it and I really do like this telescope I'm hoping to find a video out there in detail about the c8 at one point it looked like it was damaged and fixed some of the plastic rings that hold the front lens have been glued together they did an amazing job you can't tell if she really look sorry about the long comments but I'm scared to death now to clean the lenses I wish there was a place where I could take this thing in and have it serviced I was thinking about going to the Butte county college they do have a class maybe somebody there know something like maintenance what does what I found a lot of videos helpful but nothing really I need to know hope you're not busy reading all this
For refractors once I read that refractors don't age and you can use a centuries-old refractor telescope
Ed, can you explain to me what the appeal is of these old scopes? My thinking is that modern scopes with computerized manufacturing techniques and quality control are made to a better figure, with better coatings, and better testing of those figures and coatings.
Your adjectives describing this 40-year old scope only reinforce my thinking about them: "this could be okay"; "this wasn't too bad"; "this mirror was DIRTY" "not as bright as a modern mirror"; "that's not good". That's hardly high praise. In fact, it's quite the opposite. What's the advantage here, other than nostalgia for a scope you used to own when you were a kid? What am I missing?
For me, it's largely nostalgia. The stuff back then had more character, as opposed to what you see today - cookie cutter products made in China. But you make good points.
Can u buy replacement mirrors for these old scopes?
It used to be easy to get mirrors. Now it has gotten harder. People don't seem to want to sell parts anymore. You can do a search for the aperture and focal ratio you are looking for.
I have the same model I always thought it was an f4.7 not f5
Unfortunately the mount died I still have the tube there is a mark on the primary
I’m new to this. I don’t know anything. I’ve just started researching. I’m leaning towards buying an 8” Dobsonian for my first telescope.
Is there a brand I should be looking at?
I was leaning towards an Explore Scientific mode but the place is out of stock.
They have a Starfield 8 inch Dob in stock. Is that a good one to buy?
Or should I get a sky watcher?
Is there an other brand I should be looking at. Or is there a brand I should absolutely stay away from?
I’m a noob.
Take whatever you can find in stock. Most of these 8" Dobs are based on the same couple of Chinese-sourced platforms. I have the Orion XT8 but you can go with the Apertura, Zhumell, Sky-Watcher, Explore S, and others.
@@edting - should I spend 850 Canadian dollars on a Starfield 8” f/6? Is that a reasonable price for this?
Out of these three which one is the best?
Explore Scientific
Sky watcher
Starfield
Thanks you for the response. I really appreciate it. But I suppose most Dobsonians are made pretty much the same. But I would prefer to buy a model that is known to have a superior mirror to the other models.
I’m gonna assume that the eye pieces are really the make or break difference makers.
@@SimRacingVeteran please go with the Sky-Watcher one then. Their optics are pretty good and are worth the price.
I would personally go with the Taiwanese GSO telescopes. Not much more expensive than the Chinese scopes but a joy to use and observe with.
@@freeman10000 - I haven’t seen anyone in Canada selling GSO scopes. But I’ll definitely try to take a look at them online. Thank you.
If I'm buying second hand it is always a refractor.
👌🇺🇸
8 inch dobsonians are $800+ now ;(
Sadly, yes. If you want one, check all the sources - Orion (including their "Clearance" section) Sky-Watcher, Explore First Light, Apertura, Zhumell, etc. You might find a deal.
Hey i am Indian
Is this video for people with ten telescopes already and more hours tuning them than using them? Or for luring new users into the hobby? Just cut to the chase and say, "NO this is not a good used scope."
We don't need long winded details of the many issues, we need to completely avoid getting into something at all problematic. "Could be ok ... wasn't too bad" is completely unacceptable. Devotees will fight with a scope to get it right, the huge number of people who want to dabble need to do so without a bad experience, or the device is going to become a decoration in the living room. You have the expertise, please use it to advise people authoritatively with strong clear yes/no alternatives.
Those people should just buy new so they get pristine goods, a warranty, and support. Used buyers inherently have to be more informed and comfortable doing a bit of DIY, for any product.
My first good telescope was an 8” Celestron Star Hopper Dobsonian that I bought used and somewhat neglected. Was stored inside but no covers at all over it. Tons of dust.
Was $100, and I wasn’t afraid to mess with it. I think I won.
@@BlueTrane2028 - At $100, any 8" scope is a win.
I agree with the point that if your not the type that enjoys tinkering with old scopes and spending a bit of time (and possibly money) on them, just get a new one. I bought a Celestron 8 EdgeHD about 2 years ago and have used it for visual, planetary imaging and a bit of simple live-stacking of DSO’s. I think it was the perfect scope for me. Anything larger would have been a bit too cumbersome and heavy for me.
I spent hundreds of nights with my Meade 10” Starfinder. Fantastic scope, but iffy Star Drive.