After vowing never to do it again, i've made another daft impulse buy on e-bay, this time its a Tal 1 reflector with mount and other bits and bobs.
I had heard good things over the years about Tal scopes and fancied trying one out, so when I saw this one I reckoned it would be a decent little scope for my son and my nieces and nephews to use, and my max bid was 50 quid, so I guessed it wasnt too much of a gamble.

Then in the last few days I read a few things about the earlier Tals having a non-standard eyepiece size so that modern 1.25 eyepieces wouldnt fit in the focusser.
I had hoped that I would be outbid by someone, but alas Ive come home from work and found out that I'm now the proud owner of the scope.

I dont think the seller was very clued up about the scope but says that its maybe as much as 20 years old, but their not sure.
she also says that the optics are in great condition and that there is a box of ''spare lenses'' included.

Have I bought a lemon or what ?

Has anyone any experience with one of these scopes of that age? and if so what are the supplied eyepieces like ? I reckoned that if the eyepieces that come with it are in reasonable condition and there is maybe a Barlow included then it could still be useable, otherwise is it a case of fitting a new focusser ?

Any advice and help much appreciated.

I dont know much about TAL scopes specifically but if its really 20 years old then its almost for sure fitted with a .965 sized focus tube which used to to be the standard. No idea what condition the mirrors will be in.

I looked at one ages ago at a 'bargain' price but it was a complete heap of junk being sold by someone who had been told 'by a mate down the pub' that any old telescope would be worth 'millions rodders'

Without seeing the scope its tough to know whether its a lemon or not.

Firstly congratulations, TAL1's are superb scopes. I've got mine mounted on a dob mount and it's great fun to use. Mine is about 15 or so years old, in white and has a normal 1.25" focuser. I believe the real old ones are finished in either grey or a kind of duck-egg green. What colour is the one you bought?



Tony..

Built like tanks and last a life time.

Fantastic optics as well.

Great buy.

Its white, sorry about the poor picture but its the one from the listing on e-bay, dont know if its big enough to make out any detail that might give a clue as to age and focusser size.

Hard to tell from the pic, but at least it's not completely hammered. Looks like it's also got a 1.25" focuser . The only thing you might want to take into account is that there's no centre spot on the primary mirror which makes collimation slightly more difficult but it's no biggie especially as it's a bit slow at f7, collimation isn't super critical.



Tony..

Thanks Tony, fingers crossed it is a 1.25'' focuser, i could always centre spot the primary with one of those little adhesive paper rings.

The focuser was my main concern as I would like to be able to use some of my existing eyepieces on it.
50 quid isnt too bad a price if its in half decent nick.

Im hoping to use it for viewing the moon and Saturn/Jupiter on nights when the skies arent going to be clear long enough to justify setting up the bigger scope.

Fingers crossed for you, unbelievably £50 for a TAL1 is about right. They just don't hold their value at all.


Tony..

The best view I have ever had of M31 was with a TAL1.

Finally got around to picking up the Tal, majorly dissapointed when I saw that it wasnt white,as the e-bay picture had suggested, but grey.
Remembering that Tony (Whippy) had said that the old models were grey and had non standard focusers, I was resigned to putting the impulse buy down to experience.
However, when I got home and assembled the scope I noticed that the focuser had been "modified" ,by a hacksaw from the look of things, to accept the eyepieces which the seller gave me (original Tal plossl's and a 3x barlow) and seems to have been originally a 1.25" focusser.
I was under the impression that the older eyepieces were smaller in diameter than the 1.25" ones, but the supplied Tal eyepieces wont fit in my other scopes focusers as they are too big.
At the end of the day it doesnt really matter as i can use my existing 1.25" eyepieces and the scope itself is a marvel of engineering, and collimation is spot on, despite the fact its probably been untouched for years , the plate on the bottom end of the scope says it was made in 1994, all I need now are some clear skies to try her out.

Good stuff . I hope you manage to get your first light soon and get some great views out of it.


Tony..

Not on a Tal1 Mel

Crepitis, the old original Tal not-quite-standard-and-just-a-tad-over-1.25" focuser had a draw tube with a spring collar'cut' into the end, the original oversize eyepieces are held in place by that collar.

Seems that's what you actually have.

The eyepieces might not be modern standard fit but they are good quality and all that your young-uns should need to enjoy the scope.

HTH.

Funnily enough I've just purchased one of these scopes off eBay based on all the positive comments and reviews - and also because it was £65 unused from a camera shop!

The Tal-1 is hugely under-rated. Built like a tank with a very nice mirror-set. If every school had a Tal-1 and someone willing to demonstrate it the world would be a better place!

Here is what they look like today:

That would explain it, cheers . My 1.25" eyepieces fit into the focuser ok and come to focus nicely so I can always use them to compliment the Tal ones.

No worries

Great lil scope the Tal1, no matter what version. Enjoy.

Here's my old one;

Ah, the SLT TAL1(T) .


Tony..

Ahem, Tal1SLT(t) - and IIRC you finalised that designation Tony

Ah yes, so I did! Either way that was a nice bit of kit mate .


Tony..

Cheers, we keep in touch

By email ?



Tony..

Three fingered typing

Tried some views of the Moon tonight and couldnt bring the 1.25" eyepieces to focus .
Razor sharp focus on my neighbours roofline but no go on the Moon.
Original Tal eyepieces come to focus ok, but they arent the greatest to be honest.
Am I going to have to move the primary mirror or something equally drastic to enable me to use my 1;25" eyepieces ?

My Mate had a TAL scope it gave nice views of the night sky.They are a solid scope, kids will love it.Mark