Bausch and Lomb 8" f11 SCT donated, December 2008
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Dec 6, 2008 Picked up from Mick Peters a donated Bausch and Lomb Criterion 8000 SCT telescope. This is an 8" (203mm) f11 SCT reflector. I think it may have been manufactured between 1984-1987. I believe it has the "golden pyramid" tripod. There are no counterweights. There is no drive corrector or equipment case. The exterior of the OTA has a significant ding, looks like it was caused by bumping the finderscope (ding is barely visible in the attached photo). The finderscope screws probably need to be replaced (all 3). Scope includes a telrad, which is starting to come loose. Also includes a new (v3.1) licensed Starry Night Pro CD. Also includes an instruction manual, 30mm and 18mm eyepieces and a right angle focus adapter. Exterior surfaces of the scope and tripod were cleaned of mud dauber nests, but otherwise everything seems to be in good condition, other than the finderscope holder.
First Light: Collimation seems to be good. Finderscope is not usable yet, but I was able to allign the telrad. I did not try to star drift-allign the telescope, but simply sighted Polaris in the telrad with the scope more or less in the "straight line" position. This resulted in stars drifting from center to edge of a 30mm eyepiece in about 12 minutes.
From Pflugerville, which is in the red/white border (or worse) of the Austin light dome, I observed Jupiter, Venus, the Ring nebula, the Perseus double cluster, Orion nebula and the Moon (day 7). The Trapezium in the Orion nebula was easily viewed with a 30mm eyepiece. On the Moon, I observed crater Plato and Vallis Alpes (the Alpine Valley) with a 10mm eyepiece and lunar filter, which not only seemed appropriate due to the temperature, but was a personal first for me. Compared to my 8" Newtonian, 8" dobsonian, and 90mm Meade SCT, the lunar views were, in a word, stunning.
The telescope is very succeptible to vibration. The declination control feels sloppy, and the right ascension changes too much when the RA lock is applied.
Bottom Line: I think this will be a difficult telescope for new users. Also, the RA drive requires 110v external power. But it is a really nice scope, and with a little work and instruction, should be robust enough to survive even the Girl Scouts.
Jan 4, 2009
Repairs: On closer examination, the finderscope holder was found to be broken. Someone had drilled a hole through the two pieces and inserted a screw and nut. The problem is that it loosens easily and will not stay in position. Fixed by using epoxy to connect the two pieces. The large ding on the OTA was repaired by filling it in with more epoxy.
Aug 1, 2009 Telescope was delivered to Camp Texlake in late May, 2009. They said they will mail the AAS club to acknowledge the gift. Reported delivery to EC on June 1, 2009. We still have the Starry Night Pro software.
