NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!!

Hello all, I noticed the primary mirror in my LXD55 SN is some mm to one side than the other, please see drawing bellow, it seems it moved when I took it to a star party this weekend, is this normal even if there is rough handling?, it also has very small chips besides the every clip that keeps the mirror in place, only seen when I light it with a lantern. My question is should I open the OTA to fix this? Or just by collimating the scope can I solve it?. My telescope is very well collimated, I Can see pin point stars but when I look at Jupiter or brighter stars there appears to be a comma at 30x magnification (I only have the 26mm eyepiece). Also the back of the mirror that has like a protective cell is loose, what glue do you recommend me?, is there a black very resistant type of glue???, If I have to fix it, what precautions should I take for taking the mirror out?

thank you and clear skies

Ricardo R. Amador

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Ricardo -

Maybe you should try joining the LXD55 Yahoo! group, and post your problems there.

It is a very large group, dedicated to fixing the various problems with the LXD55 scopes. You might find more help there.

-Jake

Hi Ricardo, the group Jake is talking about will defenitely help. I think you'll have to carefully unmount the mirrorcell from the OTA and reposition the mirror; loosen the clips, maybe even get the mirror out. Check for damage on the cell itself (probably not). If the chips are small you're lucky. As for precautions, just make a clean environment for the process. I do doubt your collimation is good with the mirror in this position, it could but...30x for checking this is way too low. I have an f4 myself and frequently check collimation at about 80-120x. When viewing with the 26 mm stars are pinpoints in my scope too but your observation of Jupiter speaks for itself I think..
I don't want to scare you but you might have to be more careful in handling and transporting your OTA.
Take care
Nico

Hi Ricardo,

Is the 26mm the only eyepiece you have to use with the scope? I have an Edscorp 12mm ortho I am not using and will send it to you if you can use it.

Larry

I have the same problem. I think it's just the nature of schmidt-newt's. Check ur collimation, then shine a flashlight down your tube. Check to make sure that the three groups of two screws are all there. If u noticed from the manual, these collimate REALLY weirdly, in which the secondary is off center but the focus is on center. Hope that helps.

I have a question, yeap, i took the mirror out just to find out it didn't move and it was my crazy idea. I cleaned some spots and made some very fine but long scratches. But they arent visible if I point a light directly to it, only when I look at it up close and from an angle, will this affect my views?, also I was very tired yesterday and don't remember if i put the mirror back to the same place, everything seems fine, can anyone send me a pic of the inside of the telescope showing the focuser and the 3 clips so I can see if they have the same orientation?

Thanks a lot

Ricardo R. Amador