PST90

With all the activity on good ol' Sol at the moment I finally got it together to finish the PST mod I gave up on a couple of years ago. The difference in view is quite dramatic.

90mm DERF + TS Cell + Celestron 102/1000mm scope (thanks to Carl for the quick shipping of the scope) + PST back. Was a shame to cut the scope but it can still be used at night as the tube only had to lose 2 inches. Some pics:




and some images from the weekend.

Only thing I miss is a larger view. Must try a stage 2 and try to get my hands on a BF15.







Handy mod as the gold tube can be screwed back on for a portable normal pst whenever required.

Unfortunately still can't remove the EP spacer meaning that the only way to achieve focus is with a 2.5x powermate hence the mad image scale.

Next step is to work on my focusing and processing!

Trev

Nice work there Trevor, keep it up! How much overall did modding it cost you?

Seanie.

Good stuff Trevor.
Can't beat resolution!

great scope there Trevor, I'm hoping to get my hands on a good h-alpha setup someday...
so is there a way of doing this without the 2.5x barlow ?

Seanie_Morris wrote: Nice work there Trevor, keep it up! How much overall did modding it cost you?

Seanie.

Hey Seanie, worked out at around €400 for the DERF + cell (90mm) + €240 for the scope and another, 30 quid for the etalon to 2 inch adaptor. + the cost of the PST but you can pick them up for around £350 used on astrobuysell. Not exactly cheap all in all but a 90mm frontside filter would cost a few multiples of this. The mod won't match those filters but is a good cheaper alternative. Visually the detail is greatly improved and the image just pops out almost 3d.

Can't beat resolution!

That's for sure!

is there a way of doing this without the 2.5x barlow

Yep, it should be possible by removing the spacer underneath the eyepiece holder and screwing the eyepiece holder back in in it's place (note: not safe to do unless you have a good ERF up front like a cerf or derf). I haven't been able to get mine off however. My copy was part of the "new PST" batch and as such has tonnes of red loctite holding it in. Meade engineers went a bit overboard with the stuff. Have broken 4 boa constrictors so far trying to get it off and it hasn't budged.

Now if only these clouds would go away!