Well, I've decided to give my old Tasco 114 Newtonian a restoration of sorts, and bring it back into use as a grab and go telescope. The scope and its equatorial mount are currently in several kinds of disrepair.
It would be nice to have a grab and go scope, so I'm going to fix this scope up! This is the scope that got me into astronomy, so I'd like to fix this one up instead of starting over with a new scope. Plus I can fix this one up for nearly free! Since I don't have room to store my 10" dob my dorm, this little 114mm (4.5") will fit the bill nicely, and still provide for some good views (after a little work).
I started today by getting the mirrors into a collimatable state. (Is that even a word?) Turns out the single vane spider (yuck I know) was bent, which was causing all the problems I was having getting the darn thing collimated. So I disassembled it and bent it back to the way it was supposed to be. Not surprisingly, the scope was easy to collimate after that!
Over the winter, I'm going to be doing work to this thing, improving it along the way every way that I can. Should turn out to be a great grab 'n go scope!
Clear skies!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Introducing Project Grab 'n Go
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5 comments:
Hey, im glad to see this old scope back in use! hehe, hope it goes good for you.
I have a friend thats interested in buying one of these Tasco 114s. Would you be able to give me a model number or the length of the OTA? We really would love to find it to buy :)
Thanks
Hi,
The model number on my telescope is 11TR. Not sure on the OTA length, but the focal length is 900mm.
Hope this helps,
Sean
March 15, 2009 2:49 PM
Oh thanks very much! Very helpfull :)
btw hows progress on your scope going?
Haha, It's been at a kind of stand-still for the last few months due to the radio telescope project. I plan on picking it up again soon and maybe adding a better secondary and spider.
Clear skies,
Sean
March 16, 2009 11:13 PM
ahh I see, the radio telescope project sounds interesting, I actually saw a video where they used the bigger TV Satellite dishes and modded them to be used as radio telescopes. Really interesting stuff, and made me want to try it out.
I have an older Satellite on my roof with no trasmitter box. It got blown once when the power was turned back on here. and havent used it since. Mabey I can get it to good use again xD
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