Sears-branded, 60mm Refractor Telescope - Model #6333-a

My recently acquired, and almost completely restored 60mm refractor telescope — made in Japan. It is a Sears # 4 -6333-a achromatic refractor, from about the late 1960's (or early 1970's).

Here are a few quick videos, to serve as a brief look at the current status of this Sears 60mm refractor:

When it arrived (well packaged) it was in very nice condition. So there's only been some very minor (and super easy) restoration steps taken:

The small chrome levers, for locking the RA and Dec movement of the scope, had a tendency to be in a constant state of being slightly unscrewed / un-tightened. It was very annoying! You can see both levers in the center of the  video frame above.

Well, applying just a tiny amount of Loctite Blue to the screw threads of those small shafts solved the issue.

The black handled screwdriver, seen in this video frame - is actually designed specifically for Japanese screws. They may have laughed at me, when I left the hobby shop with a couple of these screwdrivers all those years ago...But, who's laughing now?

Upon disassembly of the star diagonal (to find the cause of the minor rattling sound) - I suppose I was fully expecting to see a mirror. In my experience, that is what was always found residing in a star diagonal.

Not so with this one; it uses a glass prism instead. 

There will be much more to follow, in the upcoming posts. I will be covering the minor steps I'm taking, to make this vintage refractor look, and perform as well as it can. Stay tuned.

In even more exciting news: Not one, but three wonderful, vintage telescopes are being delivered by new friend Scott sometime soon...just waiting for the weather to cooperate. 

As mentioned briefly in the previous post, these 3 telescopes: a 4.25", and two 6" reflectors (different F/ ratios) were manufactured by Edmund Scientific. Probably in the mid-seventies to early eighties (prob ~1981 for the red tube).

All the wonderful details about these 3 optical instruments will be revealed here on the blog, in due time :) Along with "before" and "after" Pics and (YouTube) videos. It's going to be a lot of fun!!

The short version of the headline is: Yes, there still are thoughtful, decent, and generous people in the world. 

Stay tuned! - It appears that I will become a vintage telescope collector overnight! 

It's going to be amazing! If all goes according to plan - This blog will have the unique distinction, of being a depository of information and photos on Edmund Scientific telescopes. Along with detailed pictures, and restoration steps, etc.

Until next time - Clear & steady skies to you!

Out With Astrophotography - In With Video Astronomy?

As stated in my previous post: I just have had it with AP.

The Star Adventurer Pro mount has been sold (on eBay) and is en route to it's new owner, in warmer climes. With Winter fully upon us now, equipment functioning properly in seriously cold temperatures is a concern. Not only electronics for Astrophotography, but even professional equipment for wildlife sound recording - I will be covering these topics, both here, and on my bat detector reviews blog soon...

I'll also be covering how intrigued I've been by a couple of the latest 'Actual Astronomy Podcasts ' recently, and what they had to say about cold weather observing. They discussed one instance, when temps were so low (-30° C) that cameras couldn't be counted on to function! And they had to resort to sketching - just wow!

And finally, I want to touch on a subject matter which is close to my heart. Without going into too many details:

I was fortunate enough to have a Want Ad responded to, by an extraordinary gentleman. A former Research Scientist, current Educator, and collector of vintage astronomy equipment. He collects the good stuff! 

Such as telescopes by: Cave Astrola, Edmund Scientific, Unitron, Questar, Optical Craftsman, etc.

His name is Scott, and he's a super nice guy, who generously offered to go to great lengths to get not one, but three lovely vintage telescopes to me (here in upstate New York). I always thought stuff like this only happens to other people - LoL! I recently read about a fellow (on one of the Facebook groups) being gifted a complete, beautiful, Unitron refractor! 

However, the undertaking is not only comprised of a great distance to travel - but some weather forecasts promised to add snow to mix, on the proposed travel dates... 😢

So, I was beginning to lose hope of getting them anytime soon...As of Jan. 14th, that has changed :) This real, amazing human being will be making the trip...

As some of you may recall, I happen to be disabled. I have 8 damaged discs in my spine (which are inoperable), and Fibromyalgia. So I deal with chronic pain, and don't drive. This Scholar-Gentleman agreed to drive 6.5+ hours, to deliver the 3 telescopes to me! For just the cost of gasoline. Yes, people like this still exist among us. And it's very fortunate for me.

I've just now been reminded of a line from a H.S. textbook (Asian history): "...Confucius would accept a student, even if all he had to offer was a bundle of dried meat."

One of the topics I'd like to cover in future posts here on the blog, is the challenges, methods and optical instruments used for super-cold weather astronomy.

If you have a favorite optical instrument, which you use for (relatively short) astronomy observing sessions (in Winter) - I'd love to hear about it! Please mention in the comments section below.

Until next post, clear and steady skies!