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AstroTasmania
August 5th, 2007, 11:17 AM
Hi,

I have not been idle during the winter, here are some pics of just a few of the projects that I have been working on.

Meade SN-10. Dismantled completely, Installed a set of Antares Tube Rotators. While doing this I also lined the tube inside with 5 mm foam, sprayed with FLAT black. Cleaned mirror, corrector plate & diagonal, re-assembled and collimated. Checked alignment of Moonlite Focuser etc.

Tak Epsilon 180ED. Fitted a set of Antares Tube Rotators, which required taking apart & reveresing the flanges to fit the short tube. Easy task and worth the effort. Cleaned the mirror since I had to remove it.

Made a multi-function alloy plate 12 mm thick to take three scopes on the Alhena mount. Each scope can be used with a solid 16 mm dovetail bar as a separate unit on my EQ6 mount, if I need to. This solid bar replaces the lightweight cast bar. Still got to make the vertical plates and cross plate to mount the Tak Mewlon 210.

Clear skies...
Shevill
AstroTasmania
August 5th, 2007, 11:21 AM
Hi, continuing from first post, more pics of telescope mods/improvements. The foam was cut to size first, then laid flat and sprayed three coats each at 90 degrees to each other. The final result is a really black tube, and one that Infra Red cannot reflect off. The foam holds itself inside the tube and there was no need to glue it down. The join was glued with contact adhesive.

Clear skies...
Shevill
Radar
August 5th, 2007, 09:32 PM
That's is a pretty awesome project Shev. Don't think I've ever seen a rig like this before. Can't wait to see the results.

How long until you can start imaging with it?

Ray
phoenix
August 6th, 2007, 11:08 AM
Hey Shevill

Antares Tube Rotators what an awesome idea.
Whoever invented that, :thumbsupmate:




Cheers Jason :pipethinker:
orion
August 6th, 2007, 05:47 PM
You have been busy, top job Shevill.
beren
August 6th, 2007, 06:00 PM
The tube rotators look great, I think if I had a newtonian they would be on the shopping list, I would go crazy with the viewing positions unmodified. Would there be any chance of moisture being absorbed by the foam ?
AstroTasmania
August 6th, 2007, 07:40 PM
Hi,

Another SN-10 mod is on the way, the rear end has a foam seal to keep the crap out and it will also contain a silica gel drying chamber to keep the inside dry. The foam is not moisture absorbent and it is pretty well sealed with all the coats of spray paint.

Clear skies...

Shevill