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October 8, 2014
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Jack,
Cleaning the mirrors is straightforward if they are removed from the scope and their supporting cells. Basically its a soak in a very mild detergent solution in your kitchen sink followed by a clean water rinse. While the mirror is soaking you can gently wipe away some of the grime using very light pressure on the underside of your forearm. The underside of your forearm is surprisingly soft and will not scratch the mirror provided you don't drag dirt and grit along the mirror's surface - that will scratch it. The idea is to help lift the dirt off Stand the mirrors on their sides to air dry so water doesn't pool and form spots.
As for the motor, it simply plugs into household 120v. You'll hear it hum to know its working since the motor itself moves at 1/2 the speed of the hour hand of a clock so you won't detect any perceptible motion. Sometimes there is a tension knob to adjust the friction on the clutch so you can manually move the scope without disengaging the motor.
Eyepieces. The club has surplus eyepieces you can have.
Other than a good cleaning and perhaps some lubrication on the mount's moving parts, I don't see you spending a dime to get it up and running. Please consider joining us at our next monthly meeting this Apr 25 where you can talk with me and others in more detail.
Scott
Hi there,
I am a 20yo living in Monument, CO and I have just inherited an old telescope that I would love to get working again, as I have always been interested in astronomy. I didn't even know such clubs existed around here. I would be very much interested in joining the club as well regardless if I get the telescope working or not. I don't know a lot about telescopes, so any help would be appreciated. After looking around the internet, I can tell that the telescope is an old Edmund Scientific 4-1/4'' f/10 with the optional tracking motor on it. I disassembled it and found that the large reflector mirror as well as the small mirror near the eyepiece are very dusty and need to be cleaned. I havent touched their surfaces at all in fear of scratching them. I also don't know how I should go about cleaning them, if there is a special/recommended way or not. Also I am pretty sure it is missing the actual eyepiece, so I will need to find one of those. Any recommendations? I looked around the web to get an idea of how to use the tracking motor but to no avail, so if anyone has experience using them, your input would be appreciated. The model of the motor is a General Time E15450 A2323A1 as far as I can tell. Also, because I am a college student and don't have much money, I would like to stick to a budget of $100 to get this thing working again if at all possible. Pictures of the scope are at the link HERE. Again, thanks for looking, and I look forward to joining the club soon.
Jack
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