Telescope Tuneup

[wholloway]

I have a six inch diameter Meade reflector. I used it the other day to get a good look at Mars. I was sad to find a large amount of glare when viewing a bright object. I changed the lense but had little effect. I usally look at faint objects, so I did not notice this before.

Does anyone know of direction to tune up a standard reflector. Also I suspect it might need cleaning. Please help.

[Noah]

Here are some links that may help you.

General Guidelines for Cleaning Optics and Mirrors

Colliminating a Reflector

There are other ways to rough colliminate, if I come across a site I'll post it for you. As the cleaning one said, unless there is a large amount of dust, you shouldn't worry about it too much.

Noah

[deamonstar]

could have been condensation on the eyepieces or primary or secondary mirror. this would cause glare on bright objects even if the amount of condensation isn't noticable visually.
if it is your ep's that are collecting condensation, put them in your pocket to keep warm enough to prevent the condensation. if it is either of your mirrors, try a dew zapper or a battery powered or cigarette lighter powered blow dryer. I found a small dashboard mounted car windsheild defroster that works well for this... it was less than ten bucks at my local auto parts store.

[wholloway]

Many thanks to both of you.

The tune up guide is just what I was looking for. And for dew I am going to try a hair dryer.