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 16" MEADE STARFINDER REFLECTOR - Possum Obs

I purchased this Californian made telescope via SkyLab in Christchurch. The large 41cm  mirror allows more starlight to be collected than a smaller scope and thus fainter objects can be seen. Even though the optics are very good the mount and motor were less that satisfactory for astrophotography. After much internet searching I found Anssen Technologies, an Australian company that specializes in quality mounts at an affordable price. I purchased a 300mm 'wheel', RA and Dec motors, encoders, control hand pad, etc. The end result is a GoTo scope that allows me to locate a faint object (e.g. a magnitude 14 comet) on the computer, press a tab, and away the scope moves in both axis until the object is centred in the telescope field of view...

Various photos of the scope and mount are found below, click on the image for a larger view...

  

My friend and I. The 41cm (16") in Possum Observatory before the mount was upgraded.

The scope has a focal length of 1830mm.

The focal ratio is f4.5. The 3" f5 is also seen.

 

The 300mm bronze 'wheel' from Anssen Technologies in Oz. The worm and motor attached to the 300mm wheel. I moved the old RA wheel to the declination axis with a new motor.

 

The encoder ring attached onto the RA axis. Some of the electronic gadgetry. Me posing - the scope can be controlled by the hand pad or computer.