In order to convert my Ultima 8 into a Hyperstar ready OTA, we had to remove the corrector plate, and then disassemble the factory inner baffle from the factory secondary holder on the front of the scope, and essentially replace it with a Hyperstar ready baffle and secondary holder with the threaded ring purchased from STARIZONA. . STARIZONA calls this the Hyperstar Conversion kit.
To prep for this operation, I watched the STARIZONA video on the internet on how this all comes apart. You remove the retainer ring, mark the position of the corrector and secondary on the side so you can install both in the exact same position, lift out the corrector, squeeze around the baffle to break the glue and then thread the two pieces apart. You then install the new baffle, transfer the secondary to the new holder, install and orient the corrector and then align and check orientation. The video takes 10 minutes or so to watch and looks straightforward. Nothing to be scared of, just be careful.
The first issue we ran into was we could not get the corrector out. It had set itself in the retainer ring and would not budge. We tried the heat from a hair dryer and got nowhere, so we went and got some 99% isopropyl from the drug store, and we used a q tip to dab it all around where the glass meets the rubber, being careful not to wash off our indexing marks. With patience and time we got it to come loose then it came right out. Step 1 done.
We removed the secondary and put it aside for it’s protection. Then we did the baffle squeeze and no way was that glue letting go. We worked and worked and worked, even used a strap wrench on both sides and still no luck. So we held one side with a strap wrench and used the heat from a heat gun being very careful to only direct it to the plastic baffle and not the glass itself until finally, in a stroke of luck, it released, and the baffle came off the secondary. I was left holding the secondary holder and the glass, and the baffle came apart being held in the strap wrench, Andy with the heat gun in hand. We had done it.
At that point we began to put it all together, putting it on the new baffle, with the gaskets in the right spots, tightening it all up and orienting the slot correctly to its proper position. We were smart, we had made multiple index marks so we could not mistake exactly where the corrector went and even that we had it the correct way around, etc., and it’s a good thing we did. Because after we washed it with water and a small amount of dish soap, and rinsed it, and then dried it with a small amount of isopropyl alcohol, some of the marks were gone, but we had enough to get it all back in correctly, and we knew this because we had aligned the position of the slot on the secondary holder with it’s own mark, we got it back together with nothing broken.
By that time I had a huge smile on my face because we were through the worst part of the process. We connected a device called an OCAL to a T-adapter, threaded one end into the camera and threaded the other end onto the rear cell of the Celestron 8, and did an alignment and got everything aligned properly. It all came together. That whole process took us about 3 hours from start to finish, no small task really but having done it ourselves, we will take a bit more pride in what lies ahead.
I did a few other improvements along the way, but I will leave that for another article. Clear skies to you all.
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