Tube changes

Frankenscope Tube changes

OTA changes

Inside of OTA and all metal surfaces (spider vanes, secondary stalk, screw heads, focuser) coated w/flattest black paint (Rose super-saturated pigment theater set paint, in “Velour black” I could find. Designed to be diluted w/water. I used it full strength). Mixed fine sawdust in to further break light path up. Went ahead and used some of this on exterior of tube within LOS of “off-eye” at eyepiece; also air intakes for fan, and inside of my front/rear light shrouds

· Outside of OTA reinforced w/duct tape wherever tended to rub on base (had been some worn spots when I got it, after only 2 mo. moderate use). Tube coated w/varnish and heavy duty paint (five layers total)—it could stand up to being rained on now without warping or swelling, so forget about any risk of damage to the tube from heavy dew or setting it in damp grass while bring the base out from my garage!

· Put two large handles on OTA for ease of carrying. Handles reinforced by sheet metal on inside and outside of tube—no chance of screws pulling through no matter how much use/abuse this tube gets!.

· Added a third handle running at front end for easy of tracking/moving scope while observing. (Always found it disconcerting on other folks’ tube Dobs to have to reach out and grab the rim of the scope to move it!)

· Moved trunions 4.5” up base (6’ 2” me can observe flat-footed at zenith now; changed center of gravity—added weights, which are literally “at hand” when you are looking through eyepiece and hence easy to adjust/fine-tune). This was as much as the trunions could be moved w/o causing the mirror mounting bolts to scrape the floor of the telescope base. (Ask me how I know this… the hard way! <g>)

· Added two variable (1-5 lb) ankle/wrist weight belts to compensate for changing the center of gravity. One is affixed to the bottom front of the OTA at the start of each session; the other sits atop a long strip of Velcro (the astronomer’s friend!) and can be moved back and forth an the optical package is changed (From Paracorr+ Panoptic 35 to a short focus 1 ¼ ep). I added some extra sand to each belt when the fans and shunts were installed in the base, and subtracted it when the ST80 finder was added.
Update—ended up putting both weights on bottom side of tube, and towards the bottom. Required extra velcro. Also found needed more on the weight belts themselves to keep them affixed for an entire evening of altitude changes. Made “wings” that did the trick.

· Scrapped the stock finder scope immediately—couldn’t bring it to focus for my eye! Put a 5 X 24 on as a temp measure. Will upgrade to a 50-6mm finder w/diagonal and correct image prism soon. Update: since do most observing from streetlight-polluted sidewalk, opted for a larger finder to pull in all the Messiers and a reasonable number of galaxies despite glare. Apogee had a deal I couldn’t refuse- $99 close-out on ST80 w/eyepieces, tripod, and 45* erect image diagonal. Sold ep’s and tripod to defray costs. Only wrinkle was couldn’t manage to find reasonable priced rings and quick release mount—all options would have cost as much or more than the scope! Opted to make my own pair of three-point rings and quick release bracket out of PVC pipe and scrap lumber—matches the home-brewed “look and feel” of scope and cost me a whopping $3.50 out of pocket. Getting a professionally-built set of scope rings w/quick release dovetail would have cost as much or more than the ST80, and I had a philosophical problem w/this. Made own out of PVC pipe, thumbscrews (secured by Teenuts); base is made of 2 x 4’s, and secured by ‘quick release’ bolts to OTA. Cost ~$6, mostly for hardware and rubber fee

· Added a Telrad. When got a second that came with a flip-down dew screen, added this to Telrad. UPDATE: to fight what ultimately turned out to be sag within the mirror cell as the scope was lowered in altitude towards the horizontal, I put a 1" square steel tube along the bottom side of the OTA as a type of spine to prevent the OTA itself from sagging.