We have chosen AstroSystems as the major supplier of components in our upper tube assembly. The design of our 20" Renegade requires extra support for our secondary mirror. AstroSystems understands that a short-focal-length telescope has an unusually large secondary mirror. Size translates into weight. And the fast primary mirror means that collimation has to be spot-on for superior performance. The design of the AstroSystems components address these special needs of our Renegade line of telescopes.
The AstroSystems spider is made from a heavier material, and offers a larger, 1/2" central hub. The twin #10-32 fasteners allow us to tension the vanes to a level where collimation will be stable. The doubled contact points also reduce vibration of the secondary mirror. These supporting spiders are custom made to our specifications.
For dew control, we attach the AstroSystems Dew Guard to the back of our elliptical mirrors. The dew heaters are matched with a Kendrick Digifire 7 controller, with electrical work run along a spider vane with ribbon cable.
When you look inside the top of a Renegade, you'll see that the large secondary mirror is contained inside an AstroSystems secondary holder. This component is also custom built, automatically providing the proper amount of secondary mirror offset.
All of these AstroSystems components work together to provide an assembly with minimal vibration, and stable collimation. Plus, the AstroSystems collimation screws are long enough to stand above the spider vanes, making collimaton a fast and easy job. Especially when using the Astrosystems 2" autocollimator!
