Restoration/upgrade from MEADE MTS-SC8

Howdy all -

Picked up a pretty beat up MTS-SC8 with a tripod for $20 (I was feeling generous - she was going to throw it out); it was bought used and stored, uncovered, in a garage for at least 10 years. No drive, can't be used with the mount owing to some damage on the fork, and the optics appear to have gotten some moisture inside the OTA.

The OTA structure itself looks reasonable, all things considered, and I'm wondering if it's even worth saving.

I'm thinking of maybe cleaning the optics, trying to get a 2" visual back on it and upgrading the mount to a more recent one, ideally with a GoTo option and/or some level of "future proofing" so I can put it on a different mount, if need be, in days yet to come.

Is altering the mount even possible with this scope, in the reasonable sense?

How about the 2" visual back?

Finally, is it even worthwhile to clean the optics in a case like this?

Totally comfortable throwing it out myself if it's more trouble than it's worth, but looking for an easier to move/use 2nd scope to complement my 12" Skywatcher Dobsonian and 2" ES 82s/100s.

Input much appreciated.

I'd start by looking at the coatings on the primary and secondary mirror as best you can without taking it apart. If the coatings have black spots or are missing, then you are looking at a huge project, and not worth it. Dust, light haze, or thin water spots are OK, and would probably wash off.

After that, I'd take it outside at night and see if the optics are OK. Let it cool down for a couple hours outside, and then do a star test -- look at a bright star at high power. Maybe it will need to be collimated. If you can attain images that are very similar on both sides of focus, then the optics are probably OK. If the images are very different on either side of focus -- different halos, or elongated in different directions, then it is probably bad and not worth the effort to fix. Dust and water spots will not have much effect on this test; maybe test it before doing any optical cleaning.

Theres lots of advice available on the web for cleaning optics, so I won't go into that. If the outer surface of the corrector is very dirty, you might clean that first. Hopefully the inside surfaces aren't too bad, and you can try the scope for a while before working on the internal surfaces.

Maybe do some side-by-side test with the 12" you already have. How do they compare? Does the 12" leave the 8" in the dust? Do planets and the moon look better in the 8"? Do you really see yourself using the 8"? Would you time be better spent making the 12" more transportable / usable?

It could be a fun project to clean and restore if the optics are OK, and if you have a lot of spare time. The views would need to be very good to justify the effort. It might also be an educational experience in taking things apart, cleaning, restoration, etc., without much monetary loss if it goes badly.

I think upgrading the mount with GoTo will be a huge project, and probably not worth the effort. The parts alone will probably cost more than just buying a second-hand Chinese-sourced GoTo mount.

If its not good or you don't want it, I would not throw it away, but rather might offer it "for parts" on Astromart or something like that. Shipping the entire scope to a buyer will much more than the $20 you have in it; maybe a local sale would be better.

As long as the primary coatings are in good shape, the scope is likely a go (it's reasonably easy to have the secondary recoated if necessary). Unless the scope was stored in a damp area, I'm guessing not much may be needed beyond cleaning the corrector.

Nor is it a big job to get this on a goto mount. A Celestron VX, a Vixen style dovetail for the scope, and you are ready to go. Removing a few screws will allow you to remove the OTA from the fork.

A 2-inch SCT back or 2-inch diagonal is a common item and will work on this scope.

The primary difference between the MTS and current standard SCTs will be the coatings. Those on modern scopes are more reflective. But this scope will likely perform well with just a simple cleaning and maybe a few other tuneups.