The Build of my Carbon Tubed 10" Newtonian

[Jkulin]

A couple of years ago I bought an Orion Optics UK VX10.

What really attracted me was the Mirror report which quoted it as a 1/10 wave with a Strehl of 0.992, so an exceptionally good mirror and a good base to work from, it was rated at F4.8, which would be fine, not quite as fast as I would have liked but good enough for the price.

The FL was 1200mm which should give me an image scale of 0.96, which was perfect for my needs.

I knew that I wanted to change the focuser so I bought one of these: - OctoPlus508N

These are the same focusers that are used on some of the Lacerta Scopes, so they have a very good reputation.

Unfortunately when it arrived I couldn't get focus and my star shapes were really questionable, there was also a rattling coming from near the primary mirror.

My mate @peter-shah offered to have a look at it and at the same time clean the mirror. Peter designs and services hi end telescopes and his knowledge and experience is exceptional. His conclusion was that it really needed a replacement stiff carbon tube and that without that the scope would keep going out of collimation.

So back in February I started to communicate with http://www.klaushelmi.de/en/ they appeared to be one of the only manufacturers who could produce a Carbon Tube to my specs that I could find readily.

Peter had advised me of all the measurements that I needed and where precisely the focuser need to be, he would also arrange for a proper set of Spider Vanes to be made once the replacement carbon tube had been made.

So finally in August I placed the order with Klaushelmi in Germany, this proved to be a very frustrating time as Klaus would typically not reply for weeks, claiming that he was too busy, I ended up sending emails after emails and in September I paid him 462.50€ for the carbon tube to be made.

Now I knew that I hadn't been scammed as he made the carbon tubes for Lacerta, but it really was a bad experience waiting and chasing as to when the tube would be sent as originally he quoted 3 weeks.

Finally I had to resort to a PayPal claim and its funny how the tube was despatched that very day.

After what seemed an eternity the tube arrived today and the measurements looked good.

So now I need to get it over to Peter, he already has the focuser and a very nice Coma Corrector that had some really excellent reviews: -

https://www.365astronomy.com/lacerta-coma-corrector-2-for-up-to-f-4-newtonian-telescopes-aplanatic-4-element-gpu-design.html

I think I will have to use a carrier to get it over to Peter due to Lockdown, he's only an hour away, but I won't take the chance of breaking the rules.

I'll keep you posted how things progress, it's not going to be quick, but hopefully will be in time for the next galaxy season where I can use it for a wider field than my RC.

[MarkAR]

Sounds like you're building a scope that the mirror deserves. That Strehl is really good.

[Jkulin]

Yep Mark, it might not be superfast but at F4.8 and at 0.96 imaging scale, I think it should produce some cracking images.

All wrapped up and ready for collection for delivery to Peter on Friday.

As he can't go to France, I hope he'll be able to get this sorted for Galaxy season, as it's about time I switch over OTA's and use a different FOV.

[Jkulin]

Well only a small update, Peter has now cleaned the primary, fitted the focuser and designed and ordered the one piece spider, which you really don't want to know how much that cost on its own.

I imagine it will take a little while for the spider to be made, so this is just a taster.

If anyone is looking for a custom build or repair then Peters website is http://656imaging.co.uk/

Or send him a message on here if you think he may be able to help @peter-shah

[Gina]

Looking good John ?