Posts Made By: Steven Gaber

I was the one who started that thread a while back. I purchased an old SN6 on AM and wanted to replace its horrendous focuser. In order to remove the focuser and install the new one (a nice Crawford Machine Shop 2-speed) I had to remove the corrector.

Despite a week of trying and lots of advice from this forum, I had zero luck. Those machine screws refused to budge.

So, in a flash of inspiration, I took the scope to a gun shop. The gunsmith had the screws off in 10 minutes. He said the heads were a small star drive. I had been trying a small Phillips screwdriver.

I replaced those screws with black Phillips-head machine screws from Home Depot.

So my advice to you is either get yourself a set of small star drive bits. Or, even better, take the scope to a gunsmith, have him remove the screws and replace them with normal screws.

Be careful not to drop the nuts down inside the OTA They could scratch the primary mirror or could get lost or wedged somewhere in there.

That scope now works fine with its new focuser. My grandchildren will love looking at the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn with it. I'd like to give it to them next year. But first I need to find a suitable cheap go-to mount to go with it.
Steve Gaber
Oldsmar, FL

OK, I'm heading out for Chiefland tomorrow (Wednesday). I was hoping to leave earlier, but am waiting for the arrival of the heated dew shield I ordered from Scope Stuff. Should be here Wednesday morning and I will drive the 3 hours north to Chiefland. I will perform a weight lifter's exercise in 1) setting up the G-11, which is probably the equivalent of 15 minutes in a gym and 2) setting the SN10 onto the G-11. That routine should burn off all excess carbs and has me thinking seriously of a Scoperoller.

I will also see if the SN10 will work on my new Sirius EQ-G. Probably not, but it's worth a try.

I will take some photos and post them here. Plus, I will give you a report on how the scope performs for Ralph (or anybody else who is interested).

A diagonal with a prism instead of a mirror would solve that problem. Since you would be using it on terrestrial (or marine) targets, presumably in daylight, you should experience little noticeable difference in image quality.

But for astronomical use, a mirror diagonal or no diagonal would give you better image quality.

Contact SBIG?

Good advice, Jon.

Also good advice. I bought my f/7 Stellarvue SV105T with that scenario in mind. It's working so far and I am easing into imaging. My primary limitations are financial. Until I progress further, I will continue working with my Nikon D200. It's a good camera and capable of excellent AP results, but is not exactly optimized for that application. It is, however, what I have and I'm working around its limitations. The SV105T is truly wonderful.

Why not just call the phone number, talk to the guy and ask him what you wanna know?

I suggest you go to the Stellarvue Yahoo group and ask that question.

[email protected]

Or call Vic Maris at Stellarvue and ask him directly.

His number is: 530-823-7796

Steve Gaber
Oldsmar, FL

It's is absolutely worth the added expense, IMHO. I replaced the really crappy focuser on both my SN-10 and my MTS-SN6. The SN-10 got a Moonlite 3-speed focuser that is incredibly smoother and more solid than the original Meade one, which may have been made by Synta or one of its relatives.

For the MTS-SN6, which is also a Meade Schmidt-Newtonian, I got a custom-made focuser from Dan Crawford of Crawford Machine Shop in Vale, NC. It was less expensive than the Moonlite, not quite as well-appointed, but still a lot better than the original. In fact, it is better than any GSO focuser I have seen, for about the same money. I gave that scope to my son and grandchildren, who really love using it.

Both of these focusers were made in the USA by true craftsmen. I honor their handiwork and always try to support American craftspeople when I can. If something goes wrong with either of these, I can send the Moonlite back to Pennsylvania and the Crawford to North Carolina and be assured that any problems will be corrected quickly and without charge. Try getting that from Synta or GSO.

I had one of those with the same problem. My solution was to put a short piece of copper tubing on each (I think) of the axes to prevent the mount from going past the threads in its travel. This seemed to work.

Steve Gaber
Oldsmar, FL