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Post by Admin on Mar 29, 2014 16:09:21 GMT -5
The Cave-astrola website has been a very satisfying project for me. It's viewership has gradually increased over the year it's been up and I'm happy there is a community of followers. It does have it's issues though.
One of the problems of such a site is that there is no real interaction among the visitors. I get emails on a daily basis from the site and respond as quickly as I can. Email isn't the best means of interaction. I have very knowledgable visitors come to the site, what was needed was a way to connect everyone together.
That all will change with this message board. Visitors can post pictures of their scopes for identification,look for hard to find parts or just sit and talk about their remarkable piece of history. No longer do they have to correspond with me for their answers, but they can interact with the many members of the Cave collecting community. That's how I got started. Asking others about these remarkable scopes.
So the boards are open. Sign up for an account, post pictures and videos, sell Cave items, or just look around. Ad a bookmark to your browser and check us out once in a while.
Turk
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Post by Datapanic on Mar 30, 2014 13:54:16 GMT -5
Congratulations on setting up the first Just Caves forum website!
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Post by pisigma on Apr 2, 2014 18:46:58 GMT -5
Very nice Turk! Hopefully we'll get a nice group going here.
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Post by Admin on Apr 2, 2014 23:14:51 GMT -5
It's a start and an experiment. Post a few things to bring up the content.
Software works well though!
Turk
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Post by Jesse on Apr 4, 2014 14:22:48 GMT -5
I am considering restoring an older Cave 10" I believe f8 that I bought used somewhere in the mid 70's from a guy in thousand oaks California. Is there an easy way to tell what model it is? It does not exactly look like any of the pictures I have seen on this site. I spent many a night viewing the skies with it years ago but got away from that after the trees around my house grew too big to allow viewing anything that wasn't near strait up.
Thx for any input
Jesse
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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2014 19:07:56 GMT -5
Hi Jesse
post a few pictures here of the scope and mount. It will give us a better idea than just a description.
f/8 makes it a long scope and good planet killer!
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jesse
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Post by jesse on Apr 5, 2014 14:28:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the quick response and will post pics when I can. May be a bit, lots to do around the house and it is kinda buried in the garage. Would a measurement from the main mirror to the diagonal help to determine the "f" number. The tube itself is about 62 inches long. It has been some years since I have used it but recall seeing Saturns rings and of coarse the big red spot and bands on Jupiter. May not mean much as I was more interested in Star clusters and the like back then. |
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jesse
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Post by jesse on Apr 11, 2014 19:23:28 GMT -5
After dragging it out, I'm not sure it would be worth the effort in that some of the aluminum is cracked and need heali-arced. It also appears to be the most basic model. But I will listen to any advice. I took the main mirror out and could not find a serial number as someone else stated should be there. Instead I found what I believe is probably the name (Kafka) of the individual who ground the mirror. Anyway, original clock drive works, but is in rough shape overall. Gotta figure out how to make the 3 pictures I have smaller. They are currently over the 1meg limit
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Post by Datapanic on Apr 11, 2014 23:38:46 GMT -5
I would be very interested to see what you have. Not all Cave mirrors were signed and almost every Cave scope, no matter what the condition, can be brought back to life.
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jesse
New Member
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Post by jesse on Apr 18, 2014 14:52:15 GMT -5
Okay, here are a couple pictures. I hope they show enough detail. It is missing the spotting scope and has some other issues, but hate to see it just continue to collect dust much longer. |
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Post by Admin on May 22, 2014 7:01:41 GMT -5
That is the most unusual Cave mount I have ever seen!!! Do you have any history on this thing? It looks like someone took two mounts and turned it into one.
How does the OTA (tube) get mounted in there?
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Post by davidguarente on Aug 18, 2016 12:54:00 GMT -5
Hi Turk,
I plan on powder coating my 1977 8" lightweight deluxe-(I think that's what it is)- It originally had a cradle tube saddle, and I upgraded that with a parks rotating set- Now i want to dis-assemble the mount and re grease it and what ever- do you have tips for taking it apart? How does the gear come off the RA axis?
I saw you had one that was fairly rusted- mine is in pretty good shape save for the paint- I also saw you had some labels made and I wanted ask kindly if you have any left I may buy from you-
Are there any plans or schematics for the mount pieces available anywhere?
this is a great site and I just joined up- awesome!!
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Post by willhannemann on Sept 25, 2016 22:07:26 GMT -5
Thought I'd better join since I just picked up a Cave 12.5 at auction. Completely new at this and need to decide how to proceed. I do have other scopes, older c-8, explorer scientific 102, older c90 and ioptron zeq25eq mount. My primary interest is the photography side but this looked to good to pass up, my wife doesn't agree.
The motor only has the on/off switch, are wiring diagrams available and how difficult is it to add the additional controls for the motors. The focuser is only a Meade 2" base so that will need dealing with.
I will be out of town for the next week and half so photos and checking out the primary mirror will be delayed till then.
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Post by Admin on Sept 26, 2016 3:11:00 GMT -5
Thought I'd better join since I just picked up a Cave 12.5 at auction. Completely new at this and need to decide how to proceed. I do have other scopes, older c-8, explorer scientific 102, older c90 and ioptron zeq25eq mount. My primary interest is the photography side but this looked to good to pass up, my wife doesn't agree. The motor only has the on/off switch, are wiring diagrams available and how difficult is it to add the additional controls for the motors. The focuser is only a Meade 2" base so that will need dealing with. I will be out of town for the next week and half so photos and checking out the primary mirror will be delayed till then. |
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Post by vincent on Mar 6, 2017 12:01:31 GMT -5
Turk, Thank You for setting up this forum!
Ever since I left ATT some years back, I was locked out of Yahoo and forums, and a few other sites, where I had used my ATT user name as primary.
So I've been looking for another resource on Cave Astrola Telescopes ever since.
Ever since I say my first Mercury launch, I've been an avid Amateur Astronomer. I've always wanted a Cave, but as a teen, dad wouldn't let me spend the money.
By the time I got through college and the military, Cave was closed for good! Over the years I'v made or owned a few scopes, but right now I use a Celestron NexstarSE 8"and an older Meade 80MM refractor.
About 2 years ago I bought a Cave Astrola 10' F/6.2 Model C Transportable in need of some TLC. Just started work on it, but life interfers and it's gonna be a long process!
I'll post a thread later about the work I'm doing on it, with pics of course! After I look over the boards. I'm gonna be picking your brains for all the advice and suggestions you can give me!
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