accessories

The scope is fitted with two focussers - a brass one which seems quite old and a more modern Meade 2” metal unit. Both have threaded inserts to accept traditional eyepieces but the Meade unit can also take 2” and 1.25” modern ones - opening up the possibility for digital imaging.

The Meade unit was very stiff and was beginning to show signs of corrosion from the salty air. Above, you can see the parts stripped down for cleaning. The rack and pinion was cleaned and re-greased and the bore had similar treatment. There is no adjustment for the fit between draw-tube and bore, but it is well made and there is virtually no lateral movement.

The completed assembly on a newly varnished wooden spacer is shown right. Some kind of locking screw is really required for imaging with heavy cameras and this is going to be a project in the near future.

Left - the brass focusser. This clearly needed some TLC! It was very stiff and would not move the full extent of its travel. The paint was flaking on the base and the inside and rust was beginning to appear in places.

Following a strip-down, the focusser now looks much better and functions very smoothly. All the brass parts were cleaned and polished. The original lacquer had flaked away causing considerable oxidisation. Because some parts were not able to be separated I decided not to re-lacquer, so this will require periodic polishing to retain the finish. You may notice the focus shaft is fitted the other way round. I found the draw-tube was not perfectly round and moved much better when rotated to a new position relative to the base. In order to allow right handed operation I decided to reverse the shaft. There is a ‘T’ headed screw that can be slackened to allow the whole unit to rotate to a convenient position for the observer which now functions properly. The whole unit is smooth and precise in action.