[amsat-bb] Telescop Mirror Cleaning

["Kevin Forbes" <vk3ukf@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello there all, I am replying to the Dirty Telescope mirror question.
Well, I went through this myself a long time ago, when I used to cart my 
telescope into the
nice clear air of the far from the city country side.
I pulled apart the telescope until I had the mirrors, all of them. not just 
the main mirror.
I then immersed them into de-ionised, filtered water, I then put the end of 
a bar of non perfumed soap into the water and sloshed it around some until a 
couple of suds appeared, not many though.
Now I have soap in the water and the mirrors, if you have access to an ultra 
sonic cleaner, perhaps use that to loosen and remove dust, give the water a 
swirl to carry away the dust or stand them upright so that it slides down, 
or just use a very SOFT artists brush and very gently, stroke the surface of 
the mirrors. Rinse only in pure de-ionised water lest you be left with 
drying spots and have to start again.
This was the method I used and I perceived no damage to the mirrored 
surfaces. Reassembly was a long job as I had to check the alignment of all 
the mirrors, but with practice, a small backyard scope of about 6 inches 
dia. should be no problem just using your eyes as the alignment tool. If it 
looks distorted and not central, it needs a move and checked again until it 
is right.
This I guess is the backyarders method using what he had.
Maybe there is a better option, I shall observe the responses.
Hope that was of some help folks.
Kevin VK3UKF.

_________________________________________________________________
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