Refurbishing 1960s Telescope (Criterion Dynascope RV-6)

After messing around a bit with radio astronomy in prior videos, I'm finally doing some visual astronomy! I picked up a pile of old and broken telescopes at an auction, with this one being the most complete. It's about a 6" or 152mm aperture and has various modifications like the mirror positions and eyepiece holder. After some cleaning and adjusting, it seems to work!
In this video I'm trying a basic Azimuth / elevation platform made from an old security camera PTZ mount. It's not really strong enough for the telescope's weight, but it does let me roughly position and aim the thing. I'll probably do a part 2 video with a better (or at least different) mounting system.
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[@Larstronomy]

Hey, astrophotographer here. This is really awesome! Enjoy the scope and I love the fact you manage to find so many solutions for the problems you encounter. Seems like collecting junk isn't always a bad thing :)

[@saveitforparts]

Thanks! I'll see if I can get any good photos with this thing. I might try to make a camera or phone mount, but so far just sticking my camcorder up to the eyepiece seems the most effective!

[@russalbers1188]

I have that telescope! I put an ad in the paper for telescope wanted and had several calls (1982). I ended up with that and still have it. I did bust a piece of the mount but 1 inch copper fittings work perfect, exact fit.

[@tekvax01]

(05:03) the thing with the switches and red and black terminals is likely a clock drive variable sinewave frequency driver, for speeding up and retarding the speed of the equatorial clock motor drive. The wired eyepiece thing is an off-axis lighted reticle for tracking stars so that you can speed up and slow down the clock drive to keep the star in the crosshairs so that you can get a long-time exposure of an astronomical object. The coloured filters are for viewing the moon... DO NOT use them for viewing the sun!

[@saveitforparts]

Good info, thanks! I'm not sure what happened to the equatorial mount, probably the auction company didn't know what it was and threw it away.

[@russalbers1188]

@@saveitforparts copper pipe fittings fit the shafts of the one I have perfectly, the tee fitting may come in handy.

[@glen7016]

@@saveitforparts you don't want an equatorial mount for this. It is too long at what appears to be f/8 or so, and a dobsonian would be far better. Those manufacturers at the time only made equatorial mounts, and it was not what was needed for such a long scope with a long moment arm. They are too "shaky" when viewing or photographing objects. I would highly recommend a homemade dobsonian mount for this, as the height is perfect for standing, and you don't need any electronics.

[@saveitforparts]

@@glen7016 I'm working on a Dobsonian next, already found parts at the local surplus junk store!

[@TheUrbanAstronomer]

Very cool and kudos for actually managing to point at both the moon and Saturn with that mount!

[@saveitforparts]

I also found Jupiter the other night, but I'm still experimenting with it. We had a few weeks of overcast weather so it's been off and on.

[@w3vjp568]

I borrowed a friend’s old RV-6 around 30 years ago, and it outperformed the much more expensive Meade 8” SCT I owned at that time. A few years back I found an RV-6 tube assembly at a yard sale for $50. I’m building a Dob mount for it now so my grandkids can use it. Dynascope optics were manufactured to very high standards, far better than the mediocre optics in most modern consumer-level telescopes.

[@Rumscunner]

The cut to the zip ties 🤣🤣

[@izzzzzz6]

This is cool, the other day i was watching you contacting satellites and this evening driving home i found a huge telescope left by the bins. It might be a little bit smaller than this one, it has all the counterweights, a serious tripod and all the tracking gears but not automated. Going to look for the Dobsonian video.

[@saveitforparts]

Oh nice! Hope it works! I had to clean and adjust the mirrors on mine, not too hard but a little fiddly.

[@leonardvorhis838]

Hi, @4:53 that is the original focuser. It is a lower profile design, so the mirror may have been placed at the holes nearest the bottom of the tube. The secondary mirror is larger in diameter than the original. Get a shorter focuser and and you can take advantage of wider field (expensive) eyepieces. The OR on the eyepieces denotes an Orthoscopic design, they produce sharp images. Checkout the Cloudy Nights forums. There is tons of info from many people there. L

[@henrysara7716]

One of the best channels.

[@mattparker9726]

man! your videos get cooler and cooler!

[@andy1845c]

I really enjoy your channel!

[@saveitforparts]

Thanks! I should have some more telescope stuff this fall!

[@seabeepirate]

I’ve been following your channel for a little while but I just discovered this video while searching for info on the 8” model. The ring mounts don’t need to be in the middle, move them to your center of balance. The glass in the back usually outweighs the focuser and secondary on the front. The stand it came with looks like it could use some love but I bet with everything tightened it will feel pretty solid. Equatorial mounts or neat because they mechanically “track” celestial targets but if you just want an easy to use telescope Dobsonian mounts are hard to beat.

[@donnafrano2779]

Really interesting! Thanks!

[@manameisjack6409]

Hi, astronomy hobbyist here. To align your finder and main scope, point the main scope at a distant object (e.g distant house, wind turbine etc), then look through the finder scope and adjust until the object is centred. It’s best to do this with an object on the ground rather than anything in space as they don’t move with the earths rotation. Hope this helps, happy observing!

[@saveitforparts]

Thanks! I don't have a really long view from my place in the city, but maybe when I take it out to a remote spot I can get the finder dialed in.

[@manameisjack6409]

@@saveitforparts sure, I live in a crowded little town and I managed to get away with using someone’s chimney! Doesn’t have to be perfect, just shoot for something that’s at least a quarter mile away.

[@deansimono7057]

Envy you, pretty smart work across the board!

[@harmony9341]

Cool! Good work!

[@ZombieB]

pretty retro but reliable, that gives a good experience at night certainly

[@Brian-ky9yy]

Sweet!

[@plebugen9659]

That looks fun

[@B-rad-and-LBs-adventures]

Great video, cool shot of Saturn

[@mike97525]

Thanks😎😎

[@zedbear1]

A couple things, you DO want this on an equatorial mount. The original mount works great, I had mine out last night. They can be bought usually 25-50 bucks in working shape . If you can find a Vixen New Polaris GEM mount meant for a Celestron C6, it's heavy enough to carry the rv6 tube and a more modern and useful mount. The box is likely a drive corrector. The other item (electric eyepiece) is an off axis guide with an illuminated reticle. The user would watch through this and correct the drive by hand during a long exposure or manual guide without the clock drive (sidereal drive) The original focuser had a slip tube to adjust close to focus, then final adjustments are made on the focuser rack. It's not too bad IF the slip tube is tight and doesn't lean to one side, causing a misalignment of the eyepiece to secondary mirror. DONT polish the tube, it wont stay where you put it and one end is slightly larger in outside diameter. Measure accurately, it's only a few thousandths bigger. That end goes into the focuser. If using for photography, the mirror has to be moved forward to account for the extra length the camera adds beyond the focuser. Once imaging is done, user moves the mirror back to the original position. I have NEVER seen a mirror moved so far up the tube to account for a camera, it's usually less than a couple inches to correct. I am wondering if the mirror has a faster focal ration. Perhaps replaced at some time, and is now an F6 or 7 instead of an F8. I own two RV-6 telescopes, one on a Vixen New Polaris C6 mount and one on the original pier mounted equatorial with clock drive. I am looking for an 8" Criterion to add to my collection. You got a good scope, and parts are mostly available. Join cloudynights.com as someone else suggested, there's a wealth of info and parts there. Good luck with your project, these scopes are among the best of the best. I have an 8" Cave Astrola but the RV-6 is chosen more often for observing. The black tube might be a Criterion 4" reflector. I know for a fact there are parts on cloudynights.com for this. The 4" was the first reflector Criterion produced, and has lots of followers since it was their first scope. Good luck, I hope you can revive that fantastic telescope!

[@zedbear1]

I forgot to say, if the pier you have came stock with this scope, it was made after '67. It has "Moon Lander Pads" on the feet of the tripod. Older models like mine do not have the round pad feet.

[@saveitforparts]

Hey good info, thanks! Its been to cold and cloudy to get the telescope out much this winter, although I keep meaning to look at the comet.

[@asn413]

yeah that foam is like eating okra. at the end of it all it gets everywhere.

[@kevinbreaker2683]

Awesome great job,,,❤👍

[@tekvax01]

Nooooooooo! Never take the mirror out! Now you are going to have to re-collimate the mirror! And whatever you do... Don't attempt to Clean the primary mirror, it is a first surface aluminised mirror, and you WILL destroy it if you clean it incorrectly!!! NB. Okay... you did a pretty good job cleaning it :) Nicely done!

[@saveitforparts]

I tried to be careful with it! And it was so coated in dust and cobwebs that there wasn't much light getting through. Some websites said you have to re-collimate this type of telescope any time you move it, so I figured that wasn't such a big deal.

[@kevinbreaker2683]

That's awesome telescope I think it's gotta At least 10" diameter,,

[@saveitforparts]

The actual reflector is only 6", I think the tube might be 7+

[@SkyNetIO]

yo is it weird that i know what all the things are

[@mattparker9726]

please use fine computer control, like maybe with a Raspberry Pi?

[@saveitforparts]

I'd consider it, but this particular PTZ mount isn't really precise enough or strong enough to accurately aim the scope. If I can find something a little better we'll see if I can rig it to a tracking computer!

[@IMCDundee]

Why was my comment deleted?

[@saveitforparts]

Not sure which one it was. KZbin shadow-deletes stuff with links and anything their filter doesn't like. Sometimes I see it show up in notifications but the comment no longer exists.

[@IMCDundee]

oh, and clear skies! @@saveitforparts

[@dagmarsuarez3033]

Good Lord don't set that rig up near airports or government buildings.