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Just finished watching the video and found it very informative. I was interested in the segment where you added an adapter to the photo port on the ETX 90. I have been looking for one just like the one in the video and cannot find one. I have a 45 degree prism and I do not need to but the Meade 932 prism, I just need an adapter as shown in your video. If anyone knows the adapter he used and where to find one I would appreciate a reply on this site. Thanks!

I remember my two tal reflectors with fondness.I owned both the 110mm and the 150mm.The optics aren't just adequate they are superb,pinpoint star images,very nice clear views on planets.I wouldn't mind getting either ones of these back.I'm not fond of reflectors but these were superb.The mounts and pillars were unmovable,no shakes at all.I never managed to get hold of the 100mm refractor but i bet that was a stunner.

Would love to know the gears used in the drive. Would Boston Gear have equivalents? Would love to try to build something similar for my scopes, can't think of anything more elegant! Thank you!

Great video! I am working on a tripod for my 6" f/10 and it gave me a lot of good ideas! Thank you!

Excellent. I have an 8mm and 1.5" focal length eyepieces marked "J.W. Becker Inc.". They work well for what they are on my longer f ration scopes. Love the old scopes!

Wow, that C90 is so cute. Thanks for sharing.

hi Dave I was wondering what you favourite scope has been to look at Jupiter and mars in your opinion, and have any of your refractors shown you the shadings within the great red spot which I has experienced with a tak mt160 kind regards.

Very Nice scopes...I have a unitron 40mm Model 127 and its missing the focuser.....do you have one you can sell ?

these should be quite nice for planetary viewing.

Hey so Dave how many finger prints did you get on the optical glass sticking your hand in there to swivel it :) ha

Oh, thank you ! Interesting to See the telescopes that disappeared firm "Merz and Mаller" !

Hello, Mr. Dave Trott . From your diversity run eyes.))))) I'm shocked. Everything is fine but in the line of telescopes Maksutov no telescope TMSH (1946 release) it was one of the first telescopes of this system , produced for students. (of course in scanty quantities that the about 15 thousands of) www.astronomer.ru/publications.php?act=view&id=204

Its strange since I have had many of the coulter odyssey telescopes since 1985.....I never saw these advertised anywhere myself and only now hearing about them..

Thanks for making this video, Dave. I like the way your mind works.

yo tengo uno igual con la misma caja al final con 6 lentes....

I belong to a 60mm telescope group that I’m sharing this with! Thank you so much for your knowledge, time, and enthusiastic presentations!

best youtube unboxing I have see in awhile!

Amazing!

A little jewel. Very nice. Hugs to Dave

Hello Dave, Thank you for your videos! I very much enjoy these informative episodes; seeing instruments rarely seen these days. Please continue posting these fascinating stories. Roy Lewis Buffalo, NY

Russia is also looking!

I have same kind of small spotting scope made in Russia, you can see below video of mine th-cam.com/video/ZA7BP6U492k/w-d-xo.html

Thanks Dave, great job!

As usual, you did a great job on the replicas! Thanks for the video!

Curious and rare telescopes these Unitron RFT. Good question: roles have been exchanged short tube-long tube. At present, there is a great demand for short telescopes, especially for digital astrophotography. Among modern visual observers are also more fashionable. The massive introduction of ED glass and its massive publicity have favored this issue. Good work with the replicas!

cool stuff Dave:)

New Mead ETX is made so, the OTA can be removed very easy! Even other OTA can be mounted between the fork!

I just picked up a vintage one from Goodwill for $40. It says made in Barrington, N,J. I'll keep the bar code placard on it that says 'U.S. GOVERNMENT PROPERTY'... kinda cool xtra. Mint condition w/ strap and base. Only has the 28mm lens. I'm going to 3d print an adapter for my dslr camera(16MP/36x optical zoom). Might need to fashion up a hose to go in through lens opening to suck up some dust that has settled on the bottom mirror. ANY SUGGESTIONS are welcomed... thanks for the video. This thing is beautifully unique.

Wow!! nice find Dave and very rare:) I had a brand new 132-c with green lens from 1981. sorry I sold it. Bought it from untron direct:) My lens cell had a c-### on it. serial number? and unitron on it. It yielded razor sharp image's. I was told when I bought mine in 1981 from peter at unitron that 25 4" models made and 100 3" models made. Also I remember my trypod legs were heavier and had a wood tray spreader

Thanks! I have never had a chance to handle the early ETX non-ElectronicControl fork mount, and your explanation of the knobs and their function is very helpful.

Nice review and scopes! I have the original version: the Vixen made Tasco 9vr. Slightly shorter than the 999vr and with no tripod.

Nice stuff Dave!

Those old Edmunds had 0.917" eyepiece barrels. The Japanese used 0.965" barrels.

I had the Edmund 3" f/10 scope with a white cardboard tube. 3X paper finder. That was a good scope. Bought it in 1963 for $29.95. Had to save my money for a long time (sacrificed many candy bars!). Still have the tripod and mount after all these 55 years.

I read Paul's books when I was a kid. Very influential. His stuff was so readable.

my3tp-57 was supplied in a wooden case and a leather carry case they were made by several ussr co.base on zeiss jena design the company they took over after the war in east germany before zeiss fled from jena to oberkochen that is why you had such great binoculars from the ussr and east germany they were basically zeiss jena hence that why there was zeiss west and zeiss east gemany be fore the fall of the berlin wall and the fall of the ussr

They still use solar filters in Russia as they expect people to be reasonable intelligent about personal safety. I used them for decades with no harm (now, I use an Ha scope). They are not a litigious society like the US.

While watching this I bought a Lomo 30mm from a Lomo factory worker in Russia (Ebay). Lomo liquidated in 2000. I wonder if Intez is still around?

The Russians & Japanese got their inspirations from Zeiss and the German school of engineering.

The Unitron mount uses a synchronous motor like the Questar. Your pedestal mounted equatorial uses a driven system invented after the Civil War (1870s). Standard AC & synchronous motors were another generation away at this time. Another interesting fact is that the basic gearing system in that box was invented 2200 years ago by the Greeks in the Antikythera Mechanism. That's a fine piece of mechanics you have there. Thanks for sharing this.

Wow!! What a masterpiece! I saw a 4" Unitron full dresser with Garrish drive recently that went for 30K. Such instruments deserve a nice 6-8 foot dome in the classic style.

Your mount is fantastic. I so wish I had one like this for my 67mm, F/16.5 mahogany tubed Dollond refractor made in 1795. I want to use it at public outreach events.

The two scopes have focusers like my 225 year old Dollond. From 1650 to about 1825 this was a common way of doing it. The modern focusers are more stable and can handle heavier loads.

I have two of those scopes: The Questar and the Celestron C-90 Astro. Both are very high quality scopes and would recommend either for a small planetary instrument. They are not suitable for deep sky objects however.

The 100 in. F/5 Hooker telescope was built from 1915-1917. My grandfather witnessed the opening of this observatory in Nov. 1917. George Ritchey built the mirror & Edwin P. Hubble used it in the 1920s to make several discoveries leading to modern cosmology. The 60 in. F/5 Ritchey telescope was inaugurated in 1908 and was the largest fully functioning telescope in the world until 1917. Ritchey was the greatest American optician living at the time. The LAAS still uses this instrument about 6 times a year. Alvin Clark was Americas greatest optician and manufacturer in the 19th. C. He made brass tubed telescopes like this one up until 1929. Many of his instrument survive to this day and can fetch large sums.

old Telescopes are Quality ....

That is cool. About 37 years ago at RTMC someone brought up a 6 in. Goto full dresser refractor on a weight driven pier. This thing weighed a ton. And cost a ton: $65,000. What magnificent views we had with it that weekend (5-1981).

Wow !!! I need you to make me a period brass eq. mount for my 220 year old Dollond. I want to take it to our public star parties at Griffith Observatory. We garner 2 million visitors a year. Many look thru our scopes.

I have one of those Newton replicas as well. A fun scope to bring to star parties. It helps people to appreciate modern instruments. I use this as well with my 220 year old Dollond refractor. The sphere mount of the Astroscan was invented by one of our club members several decades ago (Norm James). His is driven and can track the stars. The largest I have seen was a 32 in. f/4 at a Mt. Pinos star party in 1978.

Interestingly the very early Tascos & Swifts had optics made by Takahashi. Later Takahashi branded scopes became famous for high quality. I had a 1960s Mayflower that possessed these superb optics. I regret I sold it.