PART 6 - GIANT Telescope Restoration! - Cleaning Huge Telescope Mirror!

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  • @malcolmsplace
    @malcolmsplace 22 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I"m an old fart and I've made and aluminised lot of mirrors over the years I spent in optics back in the 1960s. normally the mirror blank would be stuck on a thick steel disk using wax, in the canter on the back a boss is attached so the grinding a polishing can be done using a lap machine. I think the Mushroom shape lump on the back of your mirror is there to aid the griding and polishing process. Quite clever really, it probably cut out the complete need for the wax mounting as the Bos was built in........I enjoy your renovation videos, they make me want to get moving again. Best regards Mal

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  21 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Thank you for that information. I consider such corporate/legacy knowledge to be very helpful!

  • @craigsawyer6453
    @craigsawyer6453 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I felt like mission control during the first moon landing, I don' think I was breathing until the mirror was back in. Sure, I want a telescope that size - money, the wife and space not with standing - but secretly I am relived it was you and not me.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Hahaha, well I felt waves of anxiety as I was handling that irreplacable mirror. I'm glad I didn't drop it. I ultimately found a new owner for that after a year - I just wasn't using it despite the mobile cart. And it took up the room of three telescopes.

  • @cwulfe1
    @cwulfe1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    When he's holding the mirror for about a minute, did anyone else have the Jeopardy theme song go through their head? 😂😆

  • @grortyphx
    @grortyphx ปีที่แล้ว +1

    What a great series of videos! I've had one of the Orion XX14g's lying in my garage for about 10 years after I was having difficulty getting the scope to slew to targets correctly. Maybe these have given me the confidence to go and tinker a bit! Thank you for doing these!!

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you for watching. Get the XX14g out of storage and tinker with it - I bet you can get it back up and working perfectly. If you go slow, it's hard to break stuff (although I've proven it is still possible, lol). Let me know how it goes!

  • @vicamaral
    @vicamaral ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The great mushroom mirror clean good job i wouldn't be able to hold it look heavy, while you had the mirror out painting the edges cures stray light leaking true vent holes, and some flocking paper near the big mirror helps again with leakin stray light, love your video, and do m86 were you can see about 12 galaskies, ore mars and the ice caps, hope clear skies mate.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks! I admit, it was pretty heavy. My arms were shaking as I tried to re-assemble it. I didn't think about the flocking or painting - I might do that soon. I will add M86 to the list! Hopefully I can see it from here in the city (Bortle 8 light pollution). Clear skies!

  • @christaylor9112
    @christaylor9112 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Wow! I wasn't expecting that mirror design. When you said a mushroom shape I was trying to imagine some strange mirror cell support not the mirror itself. It goes to show they were really pushing the boundaries of the motorized Dobo design at the time using the materials and tech available. Their compromise on the mirror weight using this design probably enabled the ability to motor drive the scope effectively.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว

      As far as I can tell, Orion only used these mirror shapes on the xx14g and xx16g models. They briefly restarted the product line for the xx14g's again (and recently stopped again), but I don't know if they are still using this oddball mirror shapes.

  • @LostLightAstrophotography7
    @LostLightAstrophotography7 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    man thank you so much, my mirror on my xx14g is super super dirty with like 6 years of dust on it. this made me feel alot better about doing this. i done an 8 inch mirror before and seem to do a good job on it but a 14 inch mirror is so much bigger. soon i'll tear the whole scope apart and do as this video says. you made me feel alot better about doing this.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Admittedly, I was a bit nervous - these mirrors are simply not replaceable by any means. Take your time, go slow, set it aside and pause if you have to.

    • @LostLightAstrophotography7
      @LostLightAstrophotography7 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@AstronomyGarageI was nervous with a 8 inch one LOL, but just take your time and be prepared and be careful.

  • @dumpydalekobservatory
    @dumpydalekobservatory ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That certainly is an odd shaped mirror glad the operation went well, think I'd be nervous to even more so on camera, great job!!

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you for watching. I'm glad the mirror didn't break!

  • @JoeJaguar
    @JoeJaguar ปีที่แล้ว +1

    great video John so now once u put it togther we need first light.

  • @TheJohn48231
    @TheJohn48231 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Looks a similar mirror design to my 18" Skywatcher, I need to clean the mirror but I'm worried now 🤣

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The key is to go very slow and be prepared. Having a helper is also advisable, especially for the step where you hold it at an angle and pour distilled water over it.

    • @TheJohn48231
      @TheJohn48231 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@AstronomyGarage The mirror is now clean! It was a bit of a struggle, I didn't have a bowl big enough to fit the mirror into to soak and it would have been too heavy to hold on my own. I decided to take off the truss tube section and lift the mirror assembly onto some blocks of wood so it was at a 45 degree angle, I then rinsed it with water before cleaning it gently with soapy cotton wool and rinsing again with distilled water. Hopefully this helps someone with a Skywatcher 450P

  • @k.h.1587
    @k.h.1587 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The reason for the conical mirror in the 14 is because synta makes the C14, so they are tooled for conical mirrors.
    The original celestron starhoppers also used conical mirrors

  • @simoneferrari6568
    @simoneferrari6568 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Fantastic video, your channel helped me to approach astronomy!

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks! I'm glad the videos are helpful. I'm still learning something new every week. :)

  • @strat1960s
    @strat1960s ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you for this video. I think I will use this method to clean the primary mirror on my dob.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This "barely dip" technique is really only necessary for the stalk-mounted 14" mirrors. For most mirrors, the process is much simpler. You can submerge the entire mirror and clean it underwater. I have a video that demonstrates that: th-cam.com/video/wtc53Br_96g/w-d-xo.html

    • @strat1960s
      @strat1960s ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AstronomyGarage The 12 inch Zhumell is mounted a little differently. They strongly recommend against removing the mirror from the cell.

  • @deepskymike767
    @deepskymike767 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Glad you’ve got that big ol’ lump of glass super clean. Just one point. Im fairly sure these are not made by Orion but we’re used by Orion. I think they are made by a Chinese company called Synta? Anyway they are the EXACT same mirrors and cells used for the Skywatcher Dobsonians. I know this because my mirror was ‘damaged’ (long story) and I sourced a replacement mirror straight from the Skywatcher 14 inch and they are identical in every way (focal length etc). So all would not be lost if you had damaged it but it would’ve been costly 😂. Another terrific video and we are now inching closer to that first light. Can’t wait. 🇬🇧👍

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you for that very helpful information! As I've found out, I can't buy spare parts from Orion (since I'm not the original buyer), but I was able to buy a Crayford focuser part from Skywatcher that was identical. I didn't know that same convenience applied to mirrors too. Thanks again for the comment!

    • @deepskymike767
      @deepskymike767 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You’re welcome. Having used both Orion 14 inch scope and the Skywatcher I can say that even though optically they are identical the actual Orion truss scope is much better quality then the Skywatcher collapsible version.
      By the way, regarding the placement of the Cardboard box on the table to put the mirror in, didn’t fool me for a moment. Having avidly watched all your videos I knew exactly what was coming! It did make me laugh still 😂

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว

      @@deepskymike767 Haha, thanks. I was worried it required too much "setup" for the joke. Glad it still got a laugh.

    • @joshuaspencer576
      @joshuaspencer576 ปีที่แล้ว

      thanks ... I was going to make the same comment. That being said, glad to see this whole series as there seem to be a lot similar between the Orion XX14g and the Skywatcher 350P

  • @johngiromini5745
    @johngiromini5745 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    What? The milk jug washer technique? I thought that was a super secret method that only hermits and Robi the Robot knew about. You do good work, John. Bring on more door closures; it's what made Star Trek the phenomenon it was. Perhaps it was the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation that created that sound when inventing the Vertical People Horizontal Transportation Systems, something to do with the "Defocused Temporal Perception" model, later banned in 14**23 power galaxies. Next time...

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hi John..... Haha, well, I have a toolbox drawer with stacks of cleaned (oddly shaped) milkjug plastic sheets that I use all the time. Didn't mean to give the trade secret away! :)

  • @donaldfiesta8666
    @donaldfiesta8666 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I have an older celestron 8in star hopper that I believe has a similar mirror design.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว

      I wonder why they stopped using that design?

  • @johnwarner1929
    @johnwarner1929 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I have the same scope and just washed the mirror a few days ago (before I saw this video!). I was very stressed while doing the wash and I don't think I got it as clean as you did. But anyway, I think it's a lot cleaner than it was. Just waiting for some clear skies to have a look. Maybe you can do some videos on how to get this scope really accurately star aligned. I use Synscan pro and Sky Safari with Wifi, and it's always a bit off the target. Thanks for your videos!

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Congrats on also not destroying your mirror! I was very worried. Aside from dust, my mirror had a layer of *something* that repelled water, like it was in a kitchen/greasy environment for a while. It took a couple of washings to get rid of that. I'm almost done with the next video (testing). Mine is too old for WiFi (newer versions have it built in). My experience with GoTo's is that they are great for finding the "general" location of the target (with a 30mm eyepiece), but they always seem to be a bit off. However, they tend to track really well which is what I really need them for. Unfortunately, it's been really cloudy lately. However, I should be done in the next week or so.

  • @mycarolinaskies
    @mycarolinaskies ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Tip: Don't clean the tube in the same area as the mirror! Take the tube to an entirely different room where you can use compressed air and not worry about those bits landing on the newly cleaned mirror! Or clean the mirror AFTER cleaning the tube giving enough time for any dust to settle out of the air! Or do like painters and create a negative pressure room by putting a fan in the doorway with a seal around it so air-dust is pulled out of the room!
    The mirror support is quite interesting, shades of what some professional big mirrors shape their backsides with the support veins. On SCTs the mirror with the hole in the center uses a bell curve as well to support the primary.
    You've cleaned the primary... how about the secondary? :)
    I probably would have simply lowered the tube over the mirror so I can see the mirror surface vs inverting it where if my grip slipped the mirror surface wouldn't collide with the sharp tube edge... ;)
    I probably would have made a jig to slide around 3-sides of the mirror to hold it submerged in the water. Again, I'd be leery of losing control and dropping the mirror surface against the wather container!
    Good job overall. Looking forward to the final steps and testing!

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you for the comments. I love the idea of a jig to hold the mirror. That would've been very smart - more proof that I don't always approach these things in the smartest way, lol. Regarding your question about the secondary mirror, it was absolutely flawless and perfectly clean. Not a spec of dust or filth on it.

  • @alecasone
    @alecasone ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I bought one of these last week for 1.2k. I decided to clean the mirror but my mirror looked to be a normal setup with retainer clips and all. Same 14" model. I guess it was an older or newer variant before discontinuation.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That's pretty fascinating - I didn't know they changed styles. My guess is that yours is newer since the old mushroom one was so bizarre. Clear skies!

  • @misaelescobarruiz1193
    @misaelescobarruiz1193 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Muy buena idea amigo porque tengo un telescopio dobsoniano de 16 pulgadas y aplicare ese procedimiento

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Sólo ten cuidado y ve muy despacio, especialmente con el espejo de 16 pulgadas. Es tan precioso que sólo lo limpiaría si fuera absolutamente necesario. Buena suerte.

    • @misaelescobarruiz1193
      @misaelescobarruiz1193 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@AstronomyGarage si el espejo primario de mi telescopio es enorme y muy grueso es bien pesado yo lo fabrique el telescopio mandé a comprar el set de espejos saludos desde Honduras

  • @DavidMFChapman
    @DavidMFChapman 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I bought a “budget” mirror star diagonal from Amazon, and the mirror they had installed was coated on the wrong side! Caveat emptor!

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yikes! That is quite a mistake. Could you disassemble and flip or did you have to take it back?

    • @DavidMFChapman
      @DavidMFChapman 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@AstronomyGarageIt was not a simple assembly error that I could fix, they simply did not know what they were doing. It was obviously never tested. I got my money back without having to return it .

  • @EvenTheDogAgrees
    @EvenTheDogAgrees ปีที่แล้ว

    Taking the mirror cell out and putting it back in would've been so much easier if you'd let the tube rest on the ground, so you wouldn't have to lift as high. You'd have had a lot more control over the heavy cell, and would've had a much easier time.

    • @AstronomyGarage
      @AstronomyGarage  ปีที่แล้ว

      Good point. I think I chose that height due to the lighting sources and camera location.

  • @k.h.1587
    @k.h.1587 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Orion didn't make it, synta did