Wonderful video, perfectly paced! So many naysayers commenting with no practical experience that you should use all sorts of additives, from dish soap, or rinse with isopropyl alcohol, to ammonia (!) and I'm glad you are taking the minimally-invasive approach! When I do mine, I shall use far more pads and ensure to never use them more than a single pass, mainly because I know my mirror is significantly more grimy than yours was! I'd also love to see a video of you doing collimation, again, so many armchair experts, and you have the exact model of scope I do, so I will always trust you!
Thank you for your positive comments. Water is a wonderful all-round solvent, except for oily substances, and it is great for removing particulate matter. If I had a difficult grease spot, or perhaps the remains of a long dead insect on the mirror, I would be comfortable with using sensor cleaning fluid for spot treatment, but I find that in most other cases less is more. I have had little luck with collimation till now, so my advice would be to place your trust in someone else, at least for the time being. 😉 I have however chosen the path of eliminating weak links in the optical path, hence the change to a better focuser, and I will soon be posting a video of me aligning it with the mirrors using some optical tricks.Hopefully I will be able to achieve good collimation soon. Don't forget to 'like' the video, and maybe subscribe to my channel if you want to see more videos of this kind.
Hi David.Thanks for the advice. I did not notice any locking screws in the retaining ring on my scope. If I have to do this operation again I'll certainly be on the lookout for them.
@@flemmingsastro at 16.04 when you show the mirror to the camera, you can see the two threaded holes where there should be two small grub screws to lock the mirror lock in place so it cant unwind. they might not be there in your spec rc, but they are there in mine. but both scopes will be GSO so i guess itl be down to the suppliers specs.
Great video thank you. I notice that you do not mark the primary mirror cell with alignment points made on its side with a marker before returning the cell approx 15:15 in your video. So the mirror cell itself has not to be realigned to its factory position prior to removal?
The telescope was in very bad collimation at the time, so I had no preferences as to the orientation of the mirror or any other part of the optical train. If your scope is in top notch configuration it may be a good idea to mark the position of everything. I suspect that disassembling the scope will necessitate a renewed collimation no matter how careful you are but I guess it won't hurt to reinstall everything in its original orientation.
Thank you for your tutorial. I also have an RC8, although I haven't needed to clean the primary mirror yet, your video will surely be very useful to me. One more thing, would you be so kind as to share with me the model and brand of your new focuser? Many people have suggested that I should change mine, and I've seen some alternatives, but I would like to know the one you chose if it's not too much trouble. Thanks again for your video.
No trouble at all. I ended up buying the following directly from the Baader-Planetarium.com web-shop: 2" BDS-RT BAADER DIAMOND STEELTRACK FOCUSER Part nr. 2957210 RT-ADAPTER M90X1 DIAMOND STEELTRACK® (SKYWATCHER) Part nr. 2957283 The focuser is very sturdy and smooth running, and there is no discernible backlash making it a joy to use. As a personal preferece, because I don't trust myself with thumb screws holding the camera, I also ordered the BAADER 2" CLICKLOCK EYEPIECE CLAMP S58 clamp (Baader Diamond Steeltrack) Part nr. 2956258 The clicklock clamp gives you a very firm hold on the camera and is quick and easy to use, so I would recommend it unless you chose to screw the camera directly on to the focuser. I will post part two of the video very soon, showing the installation of the focuser, so stay tuned. Best regards, Flemming
It's an extra. I got something like this: www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p14792_Tecnosky-secondary-mirror-heater-for-8--and-10--RC-telescopes.html
I'm not sure why your focuser is so weak. I have the Omegon version of this RC8, also a GSO and if you tighten that focuser clamp screw on the bottom of the focuser down nice and tight I can actually tug on it pretty firmly and it doesn't move at all. Interesting.
Hi @mark2220 and thanks for your comment. I agree the GSO focuser is sort of ok for manual focusing. My problems started when I attached a focus motor to it. The focuser was not moving in a predictable manner, and I could not get autofocusing to work.
I thinkyou should use some detergent, otherwise you remove only particles and not molecular contaminants (grease, oily things deposited on your mirror). Also, how clean is the cloth you use for drying? . Replace cotton parts with optical paper. And also avoid speaking while manipulating the cleaned mirror, bcos for sure you leave droplets on it. All in all is a good video so users are not afraid of disassembling and cleaning . Thanks
Ciao. Grazie e complimenti per il video. Avrei una domanda. Io ho un RC8 carbon e nello smontare lo specchio mi sono accorto che il primario è libero di ruotare nella cella nonostante la vite di serraggio sia ben stretta. È normale?
Hello Diego, and thank you for your question. There is nothing preventing the mirror from rotating except friction against the retaining ring and the back of the mirror cell, so yes, that would be normal. Mine did not rotate easily, when the retaining ring was tightened, and there is probably no outside interference which would cause the mirror to rotate. Then again, the mirror should be rotationally symmetrical within the tolerances, so even if it did rotate I would not expect you to notice any problems. I would advice you not to tighten the ring excessively, as the pressure could cause deformation of the mirror which would certainly influence its performance optically (pinched optics).
![How to clean your telescope's mirrors [8" Newtonian Reflector]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z-vys30LThs/mqdefault.jpg)
Very helpful. So many posts online with strong emotions on people just giving up RCs. You made it look so simple. Thanks so much!
Thank you. Your positive critique means a lot to me.
Wonderful video, perfectly paced! So many naysayers commenting with no practical experience that you should use all sorts of additives, from dish soap, or rinse with isopropyl alcohol, to ammonia (!) and I'm glad you are taking the minimally-invasive approach! When I do mine, I shall use far more pads and ensure to never use them more than a single pass, mainly because I know my mirror is significantly more grimy than yours was! I'd also love to see a video of you doing collimation, again, so many armchair experts, and you have the exact model of scope I do, so I will always trust you!
Thank you for your positive comments. Water is a wonderful all-round solvent, except for oily substances, and it is great for removing particulate matter. If I had a difficult grease spot, or perhaps the remains of a long dead insect on the mirror, I would be comfortable with using sensor cleaning fluid for spot treatment, but I find that in most other cases less is more.
I have had little luck with collimation till now, so my advice would be to place your trust in someone else, at least for the time being. 😉
I have however chosen the path of eliminating weak links in the optical path, hence the change to a better focuser, and I will soon be posting a video of me aligning it with the mirrors using some optical tricks.Hopefully I will be able to achieve good collimation soon.
Don't forget to 'like' the video, and maybe subscribe to my channel if you want to see more videos of this kind.
dont forget to loosen the two allen screws in the mirror lock ring before loosening and retighten after locking the primary down
Hi David.Thanks for the advice. I did not notice any locking screws in the retaining ring on my scope. If I have to do this operation again I'll certainly be on the lookout for them.
@@flemmingsastro at 16.04 when you show the mirror to the camera, you can see the two threaded holes where there should be two small grub screws to lock the mirror lock in place so it cant unwind. they might not be there in your spec rc, but they are there in mine. but both scopes will be GSO so i guess itl be down to the suppliers specs.
Great video, i really feel chills and nerv with some of the operations, but i t will be so useful in my next adjust to my RC6
Thanks! Stay tuned for the follow up video where I show my process for adjustment after the reassembly. I just need to get some editing time in. :)
Great video thank you. I notice that you do not mark the primary mirror cell with alignment points made on its side with a marker before returning the cell approx 15:15 in your video. So the mirror cell itself has not to be realigned to its factory position prior to removal?
The telescope was in very bad collimation at the time, so I had no preferences as to the orientation of the mirror or any other part of the optical train. If your scope is in top notch configuration it may be a good idea to mark the position of everything. I suspect that disassembling the scope will necessitate a renewed collimation no matter how careful you are but I guess it won't hurt to reinstall everything in its original orientation.
Thank you for your tutorial. I also have an RC8, although I haven't needed to clean the primary mirror yet, your video will surely be very useful to me. One more thing, would you be so kind as to share with me the model and brand of your new focuser? Many people have suggested that I should change mine, and I've seen some alternatives, but I would like to know the one you chose if it's not too much trouble. Thanks again for your video.
No trouble at all.
I ended up buying the following directly from the Baader-Planetarium.com web-shop:
2" BDS-RT BAADER DIAMOND STEELTRACK FOCUSER Part nr. 2957210
RT-ADAPTER M90X1 DIAMOND STEELTRACK® (SKYWATCHER) Part nr. 2957283
The focuser is very sturdy and smooth running, and there is no discernible backlash making it a joy to use.
As a personal preferece, because I don't trust myself with thumb screws holding the camera, I also ordered the BAADER 2" CLICKLOCK EYEPIECE CLAMP S58 clamp (Baader Diamond Steeltrack) Part nr. 2956258
The clicklock clamp gives you a very firm hold on the camera and is quick and easy to use, so I would recommend it unless you chose to screw the camera directly on to the focuser.
I will post part two of the video very soon, showing the installation of the focuser, so stay tuned.
Best regards,
Flemming
Do all RC 8 in GSO come with a secondary heater because my ioptron doesn’t have one that I Can see?
It's an extra. I got something like this: www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p14792_Tecnosky-secondary-mirror-heater-for-8--and-10--RC-telescopes.html
I'm not sure why your focuser is so weak. I have the Omegon version of this RC8, also a GSO and if you tighten that focuser clamp screw on the bottom of the focuser down nice and tight I can actually tug on it pretty firmly and it doesn't move at all. Interesting.
Hi @mark2220 and thanks for your comment.
I agree the GSO focuser is sort of ok for manual focusing. My problems started when I attached a focus motor to it. The focuser was not moving in a predictable manner, and I could not get autofocusing to work.
I thinkyou should use some detergent, otherwise you remove only particles and not molecular contaminants (grease, oily things deposited on your mirror). Also, how clean is the cloth you use for drying? . Replace cotton parts with optical paper. And also avoid speaking while manipulating the cleaned mirror, bcos for sure you leave droplets on it. All in all is a good video so users are not afraid of disassembling and cleaning . Thanks
Thank you for your comments.
Ciao. Grazie e complimenti per il video. Avrei una domanda. Io ho un RC8 carbon e nello smontare lo specchio mi sono accorto che il primario è libero di ruotare nella cella nonostante la vite di serraggio sia ben stretta. È normale?
Hello Diego, and thank you for your question. There is nothing preventing the mirror from rotating except friction against the retaining ring and the back of the mirror cell, so yes, that would be normal. Mine did not rotate easily, when the retaining ring was tightened, and there is probably no outside interference which would cause the mirror to rotate. Then again, the mirror should be rotationally symmetrical within the tolerances, so even if it did rotate I would not expect you to notice any problems. I would advice you not to tighten the ring excessively, as the pressure could cause deformation of the mirror which would certainly influence its performance optically (pinched optics).
Grazie mille
Mirror looked clean to start…
To me, at least, it looked cleaner afterwards.