Hey folks,
I'm a poor college student who just came across a bit of a neat find. To make a long story short, I am now the proud owner of an 8" Dobsonian telescope, home (custom) made(I paid $20 for it too!). I couldn't be more thrilled, but this one seems to be a fixer-upper, and I was wondering if I could get your input on what you would do first in my situation. Here's the rundown::
Optics-- 8" primary, unknown F ratio (it looks like it's F/6 or F/7ish, on a good looking mirror mount (I can take pictures of it if you want)
The secondary is mounted on a single stalk, homemade looking wire-thing, with no way to collimate it. (and a quarter glued to the back of the secondary!)
The focuser is a threaded tube that you thread to bring to focus.. really basic. (1.25")
The mount(altitude bearing) is comprised of two deep-dish pizza pans attached to a wooden frame and resting on a wooden cradle
The azimuth bearing is another set of pizza pans with a layer of felt between it to make it move smoothly
And the sonotube is painted black on the inside (poorly painted, might I add?)
Anyway, now's where I need your help. I already plan on putting on a 2" rack & pinion from a meade LXD 75 onto it, and hopefully upgrading the spider, but if each of you got this scope, what would you do to fix it up and turn it into a decent little dob? Keep in mind my limited budget, but all suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks and clear skies,
Thomas
I'm a poor college student who just came across a bit of a neat find. To make a long story short, I am now the proud owner of an 8" Dobsonian telescope, home (custom) made(I paid $20 for it too!). I couldn't be more thrilled, but this one seems to be a fixer-upper, and I was wondering if I could get your input on what you would do first in my situation. Here's the rundown::
Optics-- 8" primary, unknown F ratio (it looks like it's F/6 or F/7ish, on a good looking mirror mount (I can take pictures of it if you want)
The secondary is mounted on a single stalk, homemade looking wire-thing, with no way to collimate it. (and a quarter glued to the back of the secondary!)
The focuser is a threaded tube that you thread to bring to focus.. really basic. (1.25")
The mount(altitude bearing) is comprised of two deep-dish pizza pans attached to a wooden frame and resting on a wooden cradle
The azimuth bearing is another set of pizza pans with a layer of felt between it to make it move smoothly
And the sonotube is painted black on the inside (poorly painted, might I add?)
Anyway, now's where I need your help. I already plan on putting on a 2" rack & pinion from a meade LXD 75 onto it, and hopefully upgrading the spider, but if each of you got this scope, what would you do to fix it up and turn it into a decent little dob? Keep in mind my limited budget, but all suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks and clear skies,
Thomas
