Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Are Tasco Telescopes really that bad?


Matt1979

Recommended Posts

I have never owned a Tesco telescope, but I have heard that they are generally quite poor quality or have been in the past. When I was a kid in the late 80s they always had Tasco 2-inch refractors (always bright red) in catalogues and no other telescopes. I wanted a Tasco in around 1989-90 but it was around £70.00 and my parents said it was too expensive!

Looking back, from what I have since heard about Tasco telescopes, it was probably best that I didn't have one. I recently read a 1980s review of a small Tasco telescope by Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest (in a New Scientist issue available on Google Books) and they commented that the aperture was stopped down. I didn't realise Tasco would have done this, although I know that the poorest quality cheap "toy" refractors have had stopped-down lenses.

Can anyone remember the Humbrol telescope? This was always in the toy section of Christmas catalogues and it looked the cheapest of cheap, with its flimsy tabletop tripod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got a bit of a soft spot for Tasco scopes as the first scope I looked thru was one (cant remember which but it was red :rolleyes: ) It showed me M42 & Jupiter for the first time & as a 10 or 11yr old (30yrs ago now :eek: ) it wowed me completly. Obviously they are not up to todays 'proper' (not argos style though :mad: ) scopes quality wise but like anything u get what u pay for and as one of these ended up with me buying my 200p 30yrs later I'll never say a bad word against them :grin:

Steve

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first scope was a 60mm F/13 Tasco refractor and I still have it !. This one is from the 1960's and was made in Japan. The scope optics are pretty good but the supplied eyepieces and rather wobbly mount let it down until I fixed these things. With a decent eyepiece and mounted well it now performs as well as you can expect any 60mm scope to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same here .... I have very fond memories of my first ever telescope when I was a kid - and of course it was a 60mm Tasco. I will always remember the first time I saw Saturn (complete with rings) and Jupiter & its moons. Sure - they have a reputation for not being the best scopes ever - but you'll find a heck of a lot of people who have owned them as first scopes which got them into the hobby in the first place, and have lots of fond memories. Many years later I bought my son his first telescope - and yes - it was a 60mm Tasco... and he was similarly 'hooked'. So despite their poor reputation, they seem to being a pretty good job of introducing people to the hobby... which can't be a bad thing ;-)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a rime when they were ace, made in Japan and they did some beautiful hardware. Of course back when they were god they were also pricey. Back in the day it was common practice for the scope to come with a range of accessories and eyepieces and back then the EP choice was somewhat limited.......i was browing an old catalogue the other day and I wonder where the gearheads would be back then....a choice of a Kelner or a Ramsden, maybe a Plossl if you were flush cos they were primo and widefield and most scopes didnt come with them.

Even my Unitron from that period was pnly supplied with a single symmetrical ( plossl ) and that was only if you were good, ate all your greens, went to bed on time and had flipping great wadges of cash for the 'de luxe' model :)

Some of Tascos stuff from when they actually sold good hardware is quite colectible. Think its the 7TE thats the one that Tasco buffs like a lot........

I took my Unitron out once, never again, all the horrors of 1970s telescopes came back to life :) the buffs can say what they like about how brilliant the optics were but they probably like steam trains, trams, folk music and everything else that rightly died out 50 years ago :). Thank the Lord for the Chinese for bringing us quality optics at a decent price.

Edited by Astro_Baby
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saved up all my dinner money at school along with my bus money and managed to get a 70mm Tasco refractor. Was it bad? Yes. It was wobbly and the eyepieces were awful with a pinhole diameter. It was better than nothing though and it was eventually surpassed by 10x50 binoculars a few months later on my 8th birthday.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first scope I bought myself was a 4.5" tasco newt. As john said, the optics weren't bad, it was the truly shocking eyepieces that came with it. The high power Huygenian eyepiece combined with the optical garbage Barlow supplied, gave appalling performance.

At lower powers it wasn't too bad. I had it for many years and still look back with fondness. It showed me the beauty of astronomy, and for that I will forever be in its debt :)

The mount mine came with, although wobbly is still being sold today with some of the Skywatcher starter scopes. :eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of the TASCO models from the 1980's were produced by Vixen and then, in the 1990's Tasco had a range of GOTO scopes that were re-branded Skywatchers made by Synta put on re-branded Celestron GOTO mounts. I think TASCO may have owned both Synta and Celestron at one point !

Interesting that Unitrons are not always all they are cracked up to be though. Another fantasy shattered ! :rolleyes2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

John, the optics on the Unitrons are good but like most scopes of their day they are undermounted, well mine is anyway. The finder is a joke, it looks tres cool but woeks about as well as a bog roll tube.

The focuser is a horror all to itself......the focus tube extends about 12" but the focuser only has enough travel to gake the tube maybe an inch and a half. The EPs are about as non parfocal as you could ever make them. So when you swap EPs you have to unlock the focus tube lock, manually push the tube in or out unyil its close to focus and then use the focus knob for find focus. Some of the Polarex EPs focus massively far apart from the others. It all adds up to a lot of grief in actual use.

Optically the EPs and scope are very good but probably no better than a modern achro.

I have often considered converting my unitron to a solar scope. Its optics are very good and in a more limited role with more modern EPs it would probably be cracking. I keep meaning to get a calshell so I can mojnt it on an HEQ5 and a .965 to 1.25" converyor so I can give it a run on a modern mount with modern EPs and see how it fares but I have so much on it nit a project that will mature quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my youth I had a three different Tasco telescopes my parents bought me for birthday/Christmas etc.

They really opened up the sky for me and showed me much more than I could see without, despite observing from the London area, somwhat dubious optics and a very wobbly tripod.

So I have a bit of a soft spot for them as they got me started into astronomy and was hooked for life.

Sometimes its not the quality of the scope that makes for the overall enjoyment of the experience, but it does help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first scope as a child was a Tasco 4.5" reflector (saving paper round and birthday money). The optics were not bad, the mount very shaky, and the EPs not great at all, though overtime I managed to acquire (somehow - guessing parental support) a couple of secondhand Televue Plossl EPs which transformed what I was able to see at high power. While certainly not a great example of a telescope, it was my first steps into amateur astronomy 20 years or so ago, so fond memories none the less.

I had heard that at certain times in history, Tasco have "produced" (rebranded other scopes as suggested above) some rather good scopes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first scope was a 1970's 60mm Tasco refractor and it will always have a place in my heart and memories. If anything it will always be the best scope i ever owned as it gave me all my big first time wow's (moon, saturn and jupiter). So in my mind even i spent £20K on a knockout 6" Apo and Paramount, the little Tasco would still thrash it silly. :) I stupidly sold my Tasco for a pittance. Without doubt my biggest regret.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same here .... I have very fond memories of my first ever telescope when I was a kid - and of course it was a 60mm Tasco. I will always remember the first time I saw Saturn (complete with rings) and Jupiter & its moons. Sure - they have a reputation for not being the best scopes ever - but you'll find a heck of a lot of people who have owned them as first scopes which got them into the hobby in the first place, and have lots of fond memories. Many years later I bought my son his first telescope - and yes - it was a 60mm Tasco... and he was similarly 'hooked'. So despite their poor reputation, they seem to being a pretty good job of introducing people to the hobby... which can't be a bad thing ;-)

It is interesting to hear that so many people got into astronomy with Tasco scopes - it seems Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest were being a bit too critical in their 1980s review. If only I was bought a Tasco after all...I am a bit emabarrased to say what my first telescope was. It was a fairly cheap terrestrial refractor (a toy bascially) and I can't even remember the make of the telescope, but it was bright blue and slightly better in appearance than the Humbrol telescope.

Many astronomers have said that these cheap terrestrial refractors can put kids off astronomy and that is what mine did! The telescope had its supposed magnification listed near the eyepiece - 45x, but what I didn't know at the time was how the refractor's lens was stopped down. Jupiter and Venus looked just like bright points of light (no moons of Jupiter or phases of Venus) and I was disappointed! My parents didn't know about telescopes and didn't make enquiries. After a few months of use, I started to hear a rattle near the lens - a plastic ring had become loose and we fixed it back - if only I had known back them what that blasted ring

did :sad:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a white 60mm back in the 60's and saw Saturns rings and M42, this is what really started me off in astronomy. I don't know what happened to that scope, but I was recently given a red tasco 60mm and put it on an old EQ1 mount and bought an eyepiece adaptor to use 1.25" eyepieces. It looks the part now but only in a nostalgic way as the views are pretty poor, even the moon. I think my eyes where better in those days.

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found my first scope , last week in dads attic , saved all year and got it on holidays in Bournmouth, if memory serves me right. I think 1976 40mm tasco. I had always though my first scope was a 60mm but that came later. Just to mount it now. eq6 here it comes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a Tasco 40mm refractor which I received as a Christmas pressie from Santa when I was about 4 or 5 yrs old. Its optics are limited compared to today's standards, but I do still use it on occasion for nostalgic purposes and it does afford a good view of the moon. It has a fixed EP on a tube which is drawn back to focus. A bit of CA, but nothing too bad. It is what sparked the interest all those years ago and for that, it is both priceless and invaluable!

Treasure those old Tasco's even if the newer one's have started to let the side down a bit.

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I was young TASCO was just about the only option. I recall they had one of the 3" refractors (gosh !) in a camera shop in Bath (this was the 1970's) and I must have stared through that window for a long while each time I went shopping there with mum and dad. It seemed so inaccessible back then - I think the price was about £400 :shocked:

As Astro_Baby says, thank goodness the Russians and the Chinese have revolutionized what is available to us in the past couple of decades. £400 at 1970's values must be a couple of grand now - just think what you can buy with that today :smiley:

My old 60mm cost just £45 back in the early 1980's and it was 20 years old then. It showed me my 1st view of Saturn and M81 / M82 though and thats a priceless gift :grin:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Nephew was given a nearly new Tasco Galaxie (Yes it is spelt like that I think) by a bloke who bought every gadget imaginable and then got a girlfriend so had to "get rid of the junk". Apparently he paid over £100 for it. It was unusable. Floppy mount and the focusing tube was floppy making it nearly impossible to point at anything. I think I gave up and got my cheap 114" Meade Newtonian out to show my nephew what was supposed to happen.

He wasn't that interested anyway!

I think the old ones are probably better. I have a 1970's Japanese electric guitar that would have been bought from a catalogue at the time. I bought it second hand in the early 80s for £50 'cos it looked liked Jimmy Page's guitar. It still looks gorgeous (not a typical telescope attribute I know) and having had it professionally fixed it is far far better than the cheap stuff around today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a white 60mm back in the 60's and saw Saturns rings and M42, this is what really started me off in astronomy. I don't know what happened to that scope, but I was recently given a red tasco 60mm and put it on an old EQ1 mount and bought an eyepiece adaptor to use 1.25" eyepieces. It looks the part now but only in a nostalgic way as the views are pretty poor, even the moon. I think my eyes where better in those days.

Dave

Reading that i think its best i did sell mine, looking through it now would probably ruin all the wonderful memories i have of my little Tasco.

It is interesting to hear that so many people got into astronomy with Tasco scopes - it seems Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest were being a bit too critical in their 1980s review.

Aged 13 i used to get very angry when i kept reading people should avoid the 60mm refractors. Buy a good pair of binoculars all the advice was at the time. I remember thinking, based on what exactly? The moon and planets are rubbish in my Swift 10x50's, i would have given up if that's all i could see. My little 60mm is what got me (and my friends) hooked. Baloney to that advice. At the time my anger was also, dare i say, aimed at Sir Patrick. :)

Edited by fredster
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reading that i think its best i did sell mine, looking through it now would probably ruin all the wonderful memories i have of my little Tasco.

Aged 13 i used to get very angry when i kept reading people should avoid the 60mm refractors. Buy a good pair of binoculars all the advice was at the time. I remember thinking, based on what exactly? The moon and planets are rubbish in my Swift 10x50's, i would have given up if that's all i could see. My little 60mm is what got me (and my friends) hooked. Baloney to that advice. At the time my anger was also, dare i say, aimed at Sir Patrick. :)

I agree about the way the Moon and planets look in 10x50 binoculars. Even with 20x50 binoculars the planets only look like bright dots of light. I was always quite surpised about how Patrick Moore said that small refractors should be avoided.

If only I had a Tasco for my Christmas present instead of the "toy" terrestrial refractor! The cheap telescope I had eventually caused me to lose interest, at least in looking at the stars and planets although not in reading about space. I became more interested around 12 years ago when I bought my Celestron 3-inch refractor and with a 2x Barlow Lens I finally saw Jupiter as a disc and the four moons as well as the rings of Saturn. I can never forget my first sight of Saturn through the telescope - Jupiter and Saturn were the first objects I saw with the Celestron.

Has anyone else had experiences with cheap terrestrial refractors like those that often used to be in the toy sections of Christmas catalogues? I know many astronomers have said that these toys often discourage kids from Astronomy with their limited optics and ridiculous claims about magnification.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm the proud owner of a 60mm Tasco that up until a couple of months ago had been in a shed for over 20 years and was about that old again when it was put there and I love it. I've bought a couple of cheap ep upgrades and my sons and I have enjoyed fantastic views of the moon (doing the Lunar 100 at the mo) and Jupiter plus lots of other wonderful sights that our bins would struggle with. Ok so I am now looking at upgrading to a Dob but the fact my boys are happy to ditch the Xbox to come and stand in the cold with me and learn something means the little Tasco is worth its weight in gold !

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.