Adjusting an Intes-Micro Makstutov-Newton 7" f/8

A hobbyist brought in an Intes-Micro Maksutov-Newton 7" f/8 today. It needed to be adjusted. The secondary mirror, for example, was significantly off.

This had to be adjusted first. However, during collimation, it turned out that the felt protecting the Maksutov plate was only present in homeopathic doses. Since the risk of conchoidal fracture was too high, it was replaced.

To do this, the entire secondary mirror had to be removed.

The opening of the focuser was sufficient to grip the secondary mirror.

 

The focuser disassembled.

 

The entire secondary mirror holder.

The central screw (slotted screw - Russians seem to love that) must be turned counterclockwise to pull the secondary mirror holder toward the lens, and clockwise to remove the secondary mirror from the meniscus lens.

The three grub screws (1.5 mm hexagon socket) are for collimation.

What's not visible in the picture: the adjustment is a bit fiddly, as the secondary mirror tends to rotate. Only when the cover at the front is screwed back onto the opening, which is exposed for adjustment, does the whole thing become stable.

After installation, the Intel could be optimally collimated again. Furthermore, the front of the meniscus lens was cleaned of dust and fingerprints with LensAid.