DIYbanter - View Single Post

e writes:

Ok, newer import. But Meade supports their products pretty well, and
it might be possible to just buy a new drawtube, with the rack already
installed.

I'll look into that.

I clean, relube, recollumate my three reflectors about three times a
year, and there isn't too much you can do that isn't field adjustable
to correct.

You also clean the inside of the telescope tube?

Is there a good book that discusses all the things you can do to maintain
a scope in good condition?

If it's a refractor, they're almost impossible to screw
up as long as you don't take the lens out of the cell.

It's a refractor. I noticed that, where the lens is, there are 6 screws
holding a metal piece that I figure probably clamps the lens in a certain
position. The 6 screws are arranged in three pairs, with the three pairs
placed 120 degrees from each other. I noticed that the screws are not all
screwed in all the way. Some seem to be and others stand quite far away.
I considered tightening them but changed my mind when it occurred to me
that it might be like that for a reason. I don't know what the reason
might be but one possibility might be that it has something to do with
correctly aligning the lens with the eyepiece and the axis of the
scope. In that case, I really shouldn't mess with it.

Optics is a very interesting subject but on every occasion that I have had
an opportunity to do any experiments with optical equipment, I wound up
spending all my time in thankless and usually fruitless effforts to
correctly align something by turning triples of thumbscrews. If I
messed with the lens, I might have a chance to go through that all
over again.

On the other hand, it's probably a good thing to know how to do right,
if I believed I could ever get it right...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.