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Oiling telescope



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 15th 13, 01:06 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Alastair McDonald
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Posts: 13
Default Oiling telescope

This is probalbly a dumb question, but I was given a Jessops telescope for
my Christmas and it is a bit stiff when pointing it at stars, and following
them as they move. Should I oil or grease it? Or is that a no-no? Should the
telescope move completely freely or is a bit of stiffness needed to prevent
wobble?

Cheers, Alastair.



  #2  
Old January 15th 13, 01:19 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Martin Brown
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Posts: 1,707
Default Oiling telescope

On 15/01/2013 12:06, Alastair McDonald wrote:
This is probalbly a dumb question, but I was given a Jessops telescope for
my Christmas and it is a bit stiff when pointing it at stars, and following
them as they move. Should I oil or grease it? Or is that a no-no? Should the
telescope move completely freely or is a bit of stiffness needed to prevent
wobble?


Depending on the design of the telescope mount there are usually
friction clamps to lock the scope in place and maybe slow motion worm
screws to make fine positional adjustments. A bit of lubrication on any
stiff worm wheels or bearings will do no harm but obviously you don't
want to get any on the brake/clamp or the optics!

Some Dobsonian designs rely on being fairly accurately in balance and a
bit of bearing stiction to keep them pointing in the right direction.

You may need to make the tripod a bit more rigid in due course.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown
  #3  
Old January 16th 13, 05:17 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Alastair McDonald
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Posts: 13
Default Oiling telescope


"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
On 15/01/2013 12:06, Alastair McDonald wrote:
This is probalbly a dumb question, but I was given a Jessops telescope
for
my Christmas and it is a bit stiff when pointing it at stars, and
following
them as they move. Should I oil or grease it? Or is that a no-no? Should
the
telescope move completely freely or is a bit of stiffness needed to
prevent
wobble?


Depending on the design of the telescope mount there are usually friction
clamps to lock the scope in place and maybe slow motion worm screws to
make fine positional adjustments. A bit of lubrication on any stiff worm
wheels or bearings will do no harm but obviously you don't want to get any
on the brake/clamp or the optics!

Some Dobsonian designs rely on being fairly accurately in balance and a
bit of bearing stiction to keep them pointing in the right direction.

You may need to make the tripod a bit more rigid in due course.


Thanks Martin,

I have greased the plastic sheet in the azimuth bearing and oiled the
altitude bearing. It has not made a lot of difference, but I read on
Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobsonian_telescope ) that
"Dobson's use of Teflon on all bearing surfaces and the large diameter of
the bearings created a smooth action with a moderate amount of friction, so
that a clamp mechanism is not necessary to prevent unintentional motion of
the telescope." So perhaps it is meant to be stiffish. There is a clamp for
altitude, which is now fairly loose.

Off to a star party on Badbury Rings tonight, so I will see how it goes.

Cheers, Alastair.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown



 




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