Anyone from the Kankakee area is familiar with Olivet Nazarene University, and the dome poised atop the Reed Science Building has been an icon for the University since the mid 1960's. The instrument inside is a Deluxe model 12" Criterion Dynascope. Long out of production, the Dynascope line made by Criterion Manufacturing Co. of Hartford, CT, is a much sought after instrument because of it's superb optical and mechanical craftsmanship. Beyond that, the 12" model was in production for a very limited time, and I know of only one other in the United States. The 12.5" was the standard model, and the 12" has a smaller mirror fitted into the 12.5" mirror cell.
When I was a child, in the late '60's, I used to ride my bicycle around Olivet's campus, and since my parents bought me a small telescope for Christmas, I hung around the science building and planetarium a lot. I got to know the planetarium director at the time, Ed Sweeney, and managed to get myself invited up to the observatory a time or two. The memory of seeing that beautiful instrument those few times has stuck with me over the years.
Through our local astronomy club, the Kankakee Area StarGazers, I made the aquaintance of Brock Schroeder, the director of Strickler Planetarium and Astronomy professor at Olivet. After a few discussions, we decided that the observatory needed a facelift, and I was ready and more than willing (read "excited!") to do the job. After more than 35 years, I was getting the job of updating and restoring my dream telescope!
The dome is a classic 20' round steel structure with motorized rotation and a hand crank for the slit operation. Very little was needed to be done on this except some grease and cleaning.
Inside the dome, before and during the restoration. The tube was repainted with gray Rustoleum sand textured paint. Flat black Rustoleum was used on the mount. The movable cart on the left holds the drive corrector, eyepeices and other accessories, focuser hand control, and CCD camera control box. Some of the nylon screws that held the rotating rings for the tube were broken, so, don't tell anyone, but modified toilet seat bolts are holding this telescope together!
A lot of the work involved with the mount was cosmetic. Because of the location, exposure to humidity, heat and cold over the years took its' toll on painted and exposed aluminum surfaces. Mechanically, the equatorial mounting was broken down to nuts, bolts and bearings. All shafts were reworked, bearings greased, setting circles polished, the declination slow-motion control was repaired, and the R. A. drive train was readjusted. The synchronous motor and all electrical components were replaced.
The main upgrade on the instrument was with the focuser. Because research is to be done eventually with this telescope, we wanted to replace the focuser with a modern, heavy-duty, motorized unit. Also shown here is a 'flip- mirror' imaging attatchment, the 'Tracker III', made by Taurus Technologies, and an SBIG STV CCD video/imaging camera. In the near future we will be adding a 4 1/4" reflector to be used as a guide telescope, and maybe upgrade the imaging capabilities with a dedicated CCD camera.
The mirrors were in bad need of recoating, so they were sent to H. L. Clausing in Skokie, IL to have new 'Durabright' coatings applied. In case you Dynascope owners out there were wondering, I left the 'monster' mirror clips intact, mostly for nostalgic reasons, although I did apply a center spot to the primary mirror. I also left the thick 'double circular' secondary support unique to Criterion instruments intact. If either of these prove to cause problems with the 'scopes' performance, they will be replaced or modified.
The room directly below the telescope houses the computer to control the CCD camera and process images received from the telescope. An extension was run downstairs for the focuser hand control, video from the CCD camera is sent to a monitor next to the computer, and an extention for the drive corrector hand control will be downstairs, allowing almost complete control of image aquisition from the warmth of a heated room.
The main application for this instrument right now will be use by students to learn how to use an astronomical telescope. Basic operation of a telescope for visual use and imaging will be taught in Prof. Schroeder's "Tools of Astronomy" classes at the University. It will also be used in conjunction with the planetarium to project live and previously recorded images of the moon, planets, and deep sky objects inside the planetarium dome for public shows.
Renovation of the observatory is to continue with the replacement of the original mount and drives with an Optic-Craft german equatorial mount, servo motor operated custom R.A. and declination drives, and Astrometric's Skywalker control system. In the mean time, we have been learning to use the new SBIG ST8i CCD camera with the original mount and optics. You can see examples of our work so far here.