Hi All,
For the past two years I've been the proud owner of a ten inch Maksutov. It's an Intes Micro M1010 Delux with a fused quartz mirror and LK7 meniscus. As far as I know LK7 glass is simply Russian BK7. Suffice to say expensive, over an inch thick, and as most correctors are; matched to the mirror.
I'm the third owner of this OTA, and bought it knowing there was a chip on the side of the meniscus. Hence the former owner gave me a hefty discount. The chip has never interfered with optical performance. I must say this scope has stood up and delivered arguably better planetary views next to competitors who know how. I've never had the chance to do a ten inch MAK shoot-out with an AP 10", but that would be a delight even to come in second.
Trouble in paradise... Just before the Grand Canyon Star Party, I noticed a second chip in the meniscus. Again no harm to optical performance. However there is some cause for concern. I removed the front ring to take a better look at this problem, and saw that both chips were stress related. They occur right under the hold-down screw; which acts as a small clamp. There are two chips now, none under the third hold-down screw. No more star parties for a while.
I'm no stranger to taking appart an instrument and experimenting. Next weekend I'll do some careful measurements and start building a carbon fiber cell, able to support the meniscus evenly around its circumfrence. At this point I can't see how to do that without increasing the distance between mirror and corrector. It already has very little back-focus. So a new tube is also in the works.
I'll keep you posted, but if anyone's been down this road before, don't hesitate to chime in.
Thanks,
Steve
8)
For the past two years I've been the proud owner of a ten inch Maksutov. It's an Intes Micro M1010 Delux with a fused quartz mirror and LK7 meniscus. As far as I know LK7 glass is simply Russian BK7. Suffice to say expensive, over an inch thick, and as most correctors are; matched to the mirror.
I'm the third owner of this OTA, and bought it knowing there was a chip on the side of the meniscus. Hence the former owner gave me a hefty discount. The chip has never interfered with optical performance. I must say this scope has stood up and delivered arguably better planetary views next to competitors who know how. I've never had the chance to do a ten inch MAK shoot-out with an AP 10", but that would be a delight even to come in second.
Trouble in paradise... Just before the Grand Canyon Star Party, I noticed a second chip in the meniscus. Again no harm to optical performance. However there is some cause for concern. I removed the front ring to take a better look at this problem, and saw that both chips were stress related. They occur right under the hold-down screw; which acts as a small clamp. There are two chips now, none under the third hold-down screw. No more star parties for a while.
I'm no stranger to taking appart an instrument and experimenting. Next weekend I'll do some careful measurements and start building a carbon fiber cell, able to support the meniscus evenly around its circumfrence. At this point I can't see how to do that without increasing the distance between mirror and corrector. It already has very little back-focus. So a new tube is also in the works.
I'll keep you posted, but if anyone's been down this road before, don't hesitate to chime in.
Thanks,
Steve
8)