First off, Thanks for any help in advance which I may receive here!

I was gifted a rather old Newtonian (from a gentlemen in his 60's, he used it as a boy) that literally had almost 1/4" of dust covering everything. I did the appropriate google search and found several good resources for cleaning the primary and secondary mirrors and followed them to the T. With the Cleaning done, I proceeded to collimating it without any tools to the best of my ability.
Finally last night I was able to get outside and make some test observations (everything appeared to be gravy in the daylight) when I noticed I had problems. Observing the moon I noticed on both sides of it, there was a faint image of the moon slightly peeking out on either side of it. Overall, image quality was good, though when I used the higher power eyepiece I noticed I was not able to bring it perfectly into focus. I then switched targets to Saturn and noticed kind of a worsening of the effect I mentioned on the moon. Saturn appeared (in both magnifications I tried) to be surrounded on two sides with progressively fainter copies of itself. The center image being the brightest and most clear. I kicked on the patio lights and went back thru the collimation guides I printed up and everything seems to be right (granted I've no tools to do so) and still the image issues I described remain.
I did a quick sketch in paint to illustrate what I'm seeing and I hope I was not to overly verbose. I just would love to turn this old baby into something more than a conversation piece

Attached Images

image issues.bmp (58.7 KB, 17 views)

it seems the eye pieces are not any good. collimation wouldn't affect that I believe.

how is the focus? are things clear when you look at the moon other than the multiple images?

I imagine the eye pieces once had a layer for correction that is no longer there. See if you can borrow one from a friend.

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Yes, when observing the moon last night it was pretty sharp and clear. Saturn was a tad fuzzier but still clear enough to observe the gap between the rings and the planet itself. What thru me for a loop was the multiple images I saw when observing Saturn. Please keep in mind it's been ages since I've been able to do any stargazing via a telescope (darned ex-wife) and my experience with Newtonians is limited.

Something I didn't mention in my OP, the secondary is supported by a single stem (not the modern spider-cross) and is rectangular not circular. A side note- looking at the secondary, it seems someone "may" have replaced it at some point. I only say this as it looks like two mirrors, one on top of the other as if someone simply glued a replacement on top of the original. I could be wrong about this. I'd take some digitals to assist but my camera is gone till next week. (brother mooched it for vacation) Again thanks for any help, any questions you may have to help me figure this out I'll respond to asap as I'm working from home today and have net in the background.

when you look down the big end of the telescope towards the primary do you see yourself?

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Yes, behind the image of the secondary, albeit magnified.

and upside down I suspect.

any news on the secondary?

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Not upside down, although the image reflected in the secondary that I can see reflected in the primary is.

When you asked about the secondary I assumed you meant the second "replacement" mirror being attached on top of the original. From the looks of things, it definitely appears to be the case. I called the gentlemen who gifted it to me and he let me know that his son had used it like 20 years ago before it went into the attic and he cannot say if he had tinkered with it.
I took the stem out and took a closer look and it there's a substance coming out from behind the secondary that looks and feels like dried glue. And whatever is underneath it is definitely glass. The actual support for the secondary is about 1/8" smaller than the mirrors attached to it. (if that 2nd piece of glass is a mirror)

And my image does invert in the primary if I walk accross the room and look at it from a distance, Closer in it just magnifies my reflection. Trying to put as much info out there so someone goes "duh... its this!" And thanks alot for taking the time to respond Crosscountry.

Is the "top" secondary coated on the back? If it isn't, is the glue clear? If the answer to both questions is yes, what you're getting is multiple reflections from the light bouncing off the surfaces of several layers: glass, glue, more glass, coating. Replace the secondary.

If this isn't the case, then it's probably the eyepieces. How old are they? See if replacing them with some cheap modern ones helps.

LMAO (pardon the internet slang) Well, looks like I'm going to have to replace the secondary irregardless. I was taking it out and my g/f had come into the condo (had some Joplin blaring away) and she scared the bejeezus out of me causing me to drop it... Anyway, it was two mirrors (one glued to the other which was all cracked under it) and the coating looked to be intact with a small scratch or two in it on the edge. I do not know if this is relevant, but the edges were not coated and it appears someone simply cut it out of a larger piece of mirror.

So I'm going to get some new eyepieces (only had 3 that came with the scope) Barlow, Medium and High magnification (going off the size of the lens) But my question now is what do I do to fix replace the secondary? i.e. What type of mirror do I need and what sort of shop would I look for to procure one?

And again, thanks.

Nitpick: It's "regardless."

Now that the Grammar Nazi has gone away, it would probably be easiest to try a three or four straight vane spider. You can probably find plans for some on the Internet or from other members here. For the actual mirror itself, you'll need either an aluminum or silver coated plane mirror. It should be elliptical to provide the smallest cross-section to incoming light (and the nicest diffraction pattern). Again, there are several optics shops that have websites. Other members here probably have recommendations.

As to your old multiple reflections problem, no, the mirror doesn't need to be coated all the way round. You say that it looks like the previous owner just cut out a piece of another plane mirror. From this, I think the coating was on the back of the mirror (like it is in a bathroom mirror), and this caused there to be multiple reflections as light bounced back and forth between the glass and the coating, each time some light escaping from the glass and heading towards your eye.

Yes the coating was on the back of the Mirror. So I will assume for the time being that was the cause for the multiple images I was seeing. I will be purchasing some new eyepieces here shortly and retiring the originals. I would appreciate any links to sites that have DIY instructions for constructing a 3 or 4 straight vane spider. (i'm a pretty handy fellow) I've yet to start looking for a local optics shop, but between Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinatti, I should be able to find one.

ct - Nice catch on the grammar, work went out the window early today and the music started blaring as cocktail hour started here. Prepping for an evening with the woman and friends cooking out on the patio... Funniest part of it all, my g/f thinks she made me break something that I'll have to fix. I let her off the hook though and came clean, pity though; I could have milked it for more. ;-)

Totally off topic but:

Scott or Janis?

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I concur with crosscountry - probably an eyepiece issue. Try another eyepiece and report back. It is also possible the primary mirror is misaligned. This would be blatently obvious - the focal plane would not be centered on the secondary mirror. Take out the eyepiece and center a star on the secondary mirro. If its not dead center, adjust the seconary mirror until it is. If the image is distored, the primary mirror is misaligned.