Fresh Optics for Teenie Galilei!

Teenie Galilei Gets a Makeover: My FLT110’s New Optical Train

With Mikel and Marian joining us at the observatory, Teenie Galilei (my Trius H694 on the FLT110 TEC) needed a little “refresh” to avoid any setup duplication with the new gear. So, I decided to swap out the 0.8x reducer and replace it with a TSFLAT 2.5 corrector to bring the FLT back to its native focal length (F/6.5). While I was at it, I also ordered the SkyTrack 2.5 Off-Axis Guider and some custom rings from my good friend Didier at SkyMeca. We already have two SkyTracks at the observatory: a 2.5 on the FSQ106 and a 3.0 on the AP155. In my opinion, it’s the best OAG on the market, and I’d been wanting one for the FLT for quite some time!

The setup before modification:

And after:

Installation in the observatory…

My initial tests between the clouds show a beautifully corrected field thanks to the TSFLAT 2.5. The only snag? I can’t quite reach focus on the Lodestar, so no autoguiding for now. Didier is sending me a custom ring to fix this tiny little issue… Next time, I’ll calculate my backfocus a bit better! ;-)

UPDATE 10/08/2017: The ring arrived faster than lightning! It’s installed, and the setup is working perfectly. Thanks, Didier!