CAUTION: CATHARTIC VENTING.
I bought one of those little Orion five inch Mak tubes last year. Got it as a 'factory second reconditioned' at a great price. Originally I mounted it on my homemade ROBO-MOUNT. an old Starfinder mount converted to alt az dual axis drive with Autostar.
I was very pleased with the scope, except for the effort required to drag it out and set it up. With the bulky mount, it seemed to require as much effort as setting up my 10" SCT. Definitely not optimal performance... The whole idea of getting the mak was to have something quick and portable.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I found a real GARAGE SALE BARGAIN, A chinese made eq2 mount with worm gears on both axes and a Meade RA drive. For $20, I jumpped on the deal!
It took me several hours of shop work to mount real shafts with real bearings and fix all the major deficiencies... I'm sure those of you who have experience with Chinese mounts know what I'm talking about... But ultimately I had what I really needed all along: A capable scope with a folding tripod that could stay basically set-up, living comfortably in my closet, to be called into use at a moment's notice. A real low cost low tech grab-and-go. A virtual luddite nirvana.
Well, tonight was the first night I took it out. I set it up in the front yard (best views from the front yard), and viewed Saturn for a while. I noticed the drive didn't track quite perfectly... Oh well, what can you expect from a simple little mount like that. I checked the polar alignment, tightened the clutch, and adjusted the counterweight, then I centered Jupiter in the eyepiece. It seemed to be tracking better, so I decided to give it a while to track while I went inside to microwave some coffee.
just a couple of minutes...
Quess What??
Yup, you guessed it. My wife and I heard a noise, and I went outside to hear a truck just driving away. THE SCOPE WAS GONE. I jumpped in my Jeep and gave chase, but wasn't able to catch them.
Now the fruit of my good fortune and hard labor is doubtless being traded for drugs, and will probably end up in a pawn shop being sold to some undeserving little Harry Potter wannabe who will clean the optics with a dish sponge!
Well, it could have been much worse... I'm glad I didn't loose my SCT, or my 10" eq Newt. Then again, they probably couldn't have carried those to their truck!
GRAB-AND-GO... A Wonderful Concept, but inherently a dangerous one as well. Please be more careful than I was!
----------------Steve.
I bought one of those little Orion five inch Mak tubes last year. Got it as a 'factory second reconditioned' at a great price. Originally I mounted it on my homemade ROBO-MOUNT. an old Starfinder mount converted to alt az dual axis drive with Autostar.
I was very pleased with the scope, except for the effort required to drag it out and set it up. With the bulky mount, it seemed to require as much effort as setting up my 10" SCT. Definitely not optimal performance... The whole idea of getting the mak was to have something quick and portable.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I found a real GARAGE SALE BARGAIN, A chinese made eq2 mount with worm gears on both axes and a Meade RA drive. For $20, I jumpped on the deal!
It took me several hours of shop work to mount real shafts with real bearings and fix all the major deficiencies... I'm sure those of you who have experience with Chinese mounts know what I'm talking about... But ultimately I had what I really needed all along: A capable scope with a folding tripod that could stay basically set-up, living comfortably in my closet, to be called into use at a moment's notice. A real low cost low tech grab-and-go. A virtual luddite nirvana.
Well, tonight was the first night I took it out. I set it up in the front yard (best views from the front yard), and viewed Saturn for a while. I noticed the drive didn't track quite perfectly... Oh well, what can you expect from a simple little mount like that. I checked the polar alignment, tightened the clutch, and adjusted the counterweight, then I centered Jupiter in the eyepiece. It seemed to be tracking better, so I decided to give it a while to track while I went inside to microwave some coffee.
just a couple of minutes...
Quess What??
Yup, you guessed it. My wife and I heard a noise, and I went outside to hear a truck just driving away. THE SCOPE WAS GONE. I jumpped in my Jeep and gave chase, but wasn't able to catch them.
Now the fruit of my good fortune and hard labor is doubtless being traded for drugs, and will probably end up in a pawn shop being sold to some undeserving little Harry Potter wannabe who will clean the optics with a dish sponge!
Well, it could have been much worse... I'm glad I didn't loose my SCT, or my 10" eq Newt. Then again, they probably couldn't have carried those to their truck!
GRAB-AND-GO... A Wonderful Concept, but inherently a dangerous one as well. Please be more careful than I was!
----------------Steve.
