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Posted by Kip Crawford on October 10, 2001 21:43:39 UTC

I have almost made it a career in retro-fitting Meade reflectors (Dobs & EQ). The first thing that goes is the focuser. 90% of the time I replace them with either all metal low profile or a Crayford. The next thing I do (with the owners permission of course) is I cut a hole just forward of the mirror face and insert a 1.5" fan that blows in. These have foam filters to minimize dust. Then I either drill out a larger hole or a small one depending on what aperture size, in the cell. Note: Some of the older cells did not have a solid back. There, I install a 3" fan that blows out. This draws heat from the mirror and helps draw cooler air down through the tube. Now I'm not saying you should drill holes in a perfectly good scope, but if one knows what to do and wants to optimize performance down the road, then these are some of the things one must do. Usually, people who are involved in ATM or have the inclination of making things different to help enhance "anything", will do what I do. Also it isn't that uncommon for some folks to dicard the original scope (Meade's especially) and save the optics (which are normally good) and build new scopes around them. Anyway, first thing I would do is get rid of that focuser. Replace it with a Crayford. You'll need to at least measure where the focus plane is first...anyway. Good Luck!

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