THE scope from my childhood! An appreciation of the Edmund Astroscan.

Misc Notes:

Do I have the WORST tan lines or what?? For those who don’t know, I raced bicycles for years in the amateur divisions. I’m still out on the bike almost every day. Thus, tan lines….

The Astroscan in the video was borrowed from a club member. He used it to view comet NEOWISE while I was imaging the comet. Seeing him play with it brought back memories of simpler times and I asked to borrow it.

The actual quote from the catalog is “The Shape of Success.”

Make sure you get as much of the original documentation as possible. This can be like hitting a moving target since Edmund changed what they sent out over the years. The little black and white half-sized pamphlet “Star Checking Your Edmund Telescope” in particular is becoming hard to find. Some users swear they received the Mag 5 Star Atlas with their Astroscans even though it was never in the bill of material. Lucky them.

The serial number can be found –sometimes, but not always- inside the dew shield near the corrector plate.

The focuser uses a rubber roller against a metal drawtube. Users sometimes found if they left the focuser “parked” in one position too long, the roller would develop flat spots. Also, in the cold, the rubber could freeze.

The image erector is unique. Many Astroscan users don’t even realize they have it. Unlike modern external image erectors, these installed inside the focusing tube. The model in the video has one. Fun quote: The Edmund catalog boasts the erector “uses the same prism design found in binoculars costing as much as $600.” (!!)

There was an attempt to revive the Astroscan after 2013, in the form of the Astroscan Millenium. It appeared to be an Orion Starblast painted red.
Specs (from 1979 catalog):

Pyrex primary mirror, 4 ¼” (108mm) diameter, f/4.12 (445mm) focal ratio/length.
Secondary mirror: 1.5” minor axis, elliptical.
Both mirrors quoted as figured to 1/8 wave.
Clear aperture is 4” (102 mm) diameter, for an effective f/ratio of f/4.4.
Weight: 8.4 lbs, with a 2 lb base (these weights varied over time)

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Видео THE scope from my childhood! An appreciation of the Edmund Astroscan. канала Ed Ting