PST Repairs

Hi All,

Well the PST objective is really getting covered by the mould problem now so I'm just wondering if anyone here has returned theirs to Coronado in the US and how long it took to get it back. I hear there are huge delays in getting them back since they moved from Tucson to to Meade HQ.

Thanks,

Trev

Fortunately, I don't have this problem, although alot of other people have. If I were you, I'd contact the vendor and insist on return postage and repair to be paid for by Coronado.

As an aside, I plan to go a different route anyway and come up with a double-stacking h-alpha system which would not use the objective lens of the PST.

Regards,

I know I just bought a Meade but 'ordinary' scopes and solar instruments are two entirely different markets. Solar instruments because of the inherent risk require an entirely different standard of manufacture. I lost my faith in the Coronado brand the day that Meade bought it and was very glad that I already had one of the pre-Meade PSTs.

Hi Trev,
How did this happen?, did it ever dew over, was it sudden or did it happen over the space of a few months?

It is a manufacturing problem which Coronado had admitted to.
www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.../fpart/1#Post1291617

Below is a quote alleged to be associated with a representative from Coronado that appeared on Cloudynights.com website. It is known that Coronado are replacing or repairing alot of PSTs.

"The "breakdown" or rust colored appearance that has been seen on front objectives of some PSTs is a result of degradation of the ITF coating. Our ITF's are being supplied by an outside source. Upon arrival at Coronado they were cemented and assembled into the PST objective. Unfortunately, when improperly handled, meaning too much time before cementing whether at the vendor, Coronado or both degradation began. This degradation could not be seen during the assembly process or in our field testing prior to shipment. The coating started to visibly degrade a few months after assembly. Because this problem does not affect safety (only performance) and does not affect all PSTs, Coronado is repairing the affected units rather than issuing a general recall

www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat...d/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

To be fair, manufacturing errors can happen and Coronado are trying to fix the issue. Bit of a bummer thought if you own one that's subject to the condition.

Regards,

Thanks Michael, it's registered with Coronado/Meade so I guess I'll give them a call direct. Failing that I'll give Starizona a call.

Seems to be happening to an awful lot of the older PSTs, i.e. the ones without the gold or transparent blue objective.

Dave, it's only been out of it's case for observing (maybe 20 times) and has never had any dew or anything on it. Apparently it's caused by Coronado using a faulty coating process that allowed said coatings to oxidize over time, which is why they had to redesign a the lens system a few months ago. The first symptom is a spotty green mold spreading across the inside of the objective, which gets progressively worse. Contrast is then slowly degraded.

They replace the objective under warranty but since they moved premises in August the turnaround time seems to have gone crazy. It just occurred to be though that there was a rush of people sending their scopes back to get them fixed before the Mercury transit so turnaround may be back to normal now.

Gonna try Meade tonight and see what they say.

Hey Michael, are you planning on using the "baader cool erf" and refractor method, with the PST etalon at the back?

Thanks all,

Trev