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Subject: Meade 8" dob By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.142.105) In Reply to: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.135.116) (Original Vote) Date: 02/11/2002 04:39:00 pm PST The Meade 8" dob is a good starter scope, definitely a work in progress. For a reasonable price (ie. probably a good dollar to "wow" ratio) you get into the game, but need to do a number of things. I replaced the finder with a telrad - the finder is junk. The focusser is next to go. The mirror mount was replaced with a proper one to allow cooldown, and the alt-balance rings needed to be adjusted. The mirror has been recoated - it wasn't bad to begin with, but there are about 1/3 more stars in the field of view with the new coating. Dollar for dollar it's a good starter but be prepared to upgrade things. It looks like the idea here of painting the interior of the tube black is a good idea, as well as the ventilation vents. Can someone describe in detail how to do the venting? Subject: Re: Meade 8" dob By: rcwik In Reply to: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.142.105) (Original Message) Date: 04/16/2002 05:34:31 am PST >The Meade 8" dob is a good starter scope, definitely a work in progress. For a reasonable price (ie. probably a good dollar to "wow" ratio) you get into the game, but need to do a number of things. I replaced the finder with a telrad - the finder is junk. The focusser is next to go. The mirror mount was replaced with a proper one to allow cooldown, and the alt-balance rings needed to be adjusted. The mirror has been recoated - it wasn't bad to begin with, but there are about 1/3 more stars in the field of view with the new coating. > >Dollar for dollar it's a good starter but be prepared to upgrade things. > >It looks like the idea here of painting the interior of the tube black is a good idea, as well as the ventilation vents. Can someone describe in detail how to do the venting? I did the venting by cutting three 1" by about 12" vent slots on the part of the tube that would be highest if viewing near the horizon. The reason I put three in there was to leave some solid tube in between the slots to keep the tube mechanical integrety intact. I covered the slots with a piece of sheet metal shape like _/-\_ . It was available at a local Home Depot in the steel framing section. It was fastened down using two sided foam tape and a few sheet metal screws. You could probably find anything suitable to cover the vents. I did put a few baffles near the vent cover opening to keep out stray light. The cover was painted white to match the tube and doesn't look too bad. Since the vent cover is made of steel, I also use it as part of the balanceing system by sliding ceramic magents along its lenght to achieve proper balance. Page 1 of 1 | ||||||||
