Orion 80 mm PST MOD

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solarmax2016
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Orion 80 mm PST MOD

Post by solarmax2016 »

I completed a new PST-MOD using an Orion 80 mm achromat removed from an Orion Wide Field 80 mm refractor. I built a new tube from 4-1/2" OD
6016 grade aluminum tubing, and machined a new lens cell which is slidable within the OTA. The lens cell was arranged so that it almost touches the racked-in focus tube. I used a Meade 102 focuser with a large bore drawtube (2.5") so that the fast f/5 light cone would be fully fielded in a steep (f/5) light cone and in such a short scope. The OTA tube itself was made short so that it would just focus the PST collimator lens at -200 focal ratio. The little scope can also be used as a white light solar scope using a Lunt Hershel wedge, or just a good little deep sky instrument because the focus travel of the Meade 102 focuser is a whopping 11" out-travel. I anodized the OTA Gold with a black machined front ring that takes a Lunt 60mm Ha making it also a double Ha filter instrument, but I find the wider 80 mm aperture perfoirms better alone without the restrictive 60 mm Lunt Ha doubler. The whole outfit performs well in all modes. The 80 mm achromat is also available at Surplus Supply on the web for less than $50.00 The expensive part of the fabrication was machining the lens cell but it was more than worth the money. It would be worth my while to buy the achromats and focusers and build this scope for
people as it performs much better than my Lunt 60mm PT Ha with its wider aperture plus it is an all-around versatile instrument
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DSobserver
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Re: Orion 80 mm PST MOD

Post by DSobserver »

nice mod & scope!


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MapleRidge
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Re: Orion 80 mm PST MOD

Post by MapleRidge »

Your modded scope look great and the image shows it works very well. Nice work !!!

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
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marktownley
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Re: Orion 80 mm PST MOD

Post by marktownley »

Cool looking scope!


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
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