Quick review - Telrad finder on 300P Flextube

[mitchelln]

Hi.

Just received my 2nd Telrad finder from FLO and thought I'd write up a quick review.

2nd I hear you ask? Yes, the first Telrad arrived and the reflector was cracked. So first thing to note is that it's made of glass and obviously fragile! FLO were absolutely great. They shipped me a replacement which arrived the next day, including a postage paid jiffy bag to return the broken one. That's what I call great service. The first finder was shipped by FLO in very good packaging with no sign of damage, so I suspect the unit was broken between the US and FLO rather than from FLO to me.

Onto the finder then. It's long. Very long. It barely fits the top tube of my 300P Flextube in fact. The situation is exacerbated by the bottom ring of the tube flaring out to accommodate the struts. So there are not too many places where I could actually fit it. Fitting one of these to smaller scopes will present problems I think.

Here's a side view. The AA battery gives some scale. The unit takes two of these.

You can see the on switch/brightness control on the left. This gives a nice smooth brightness control. A high quality pot has clearly been used. Peering though the back of the reflector you can see the three sighting rings. One at 4" then 2" and 0.5". You feel like a Spitfire pilot!

The rings look smaller with the camera than the eye. Down to focusing distance I think.

The finder attaches to the base via a mount. The finder can be removed from the mount via two knurled screws. The mount itself sticks onto the tube via two strips of double sided foam. I have to admit this worries me. Cold dewy nights and sticky pads tend not to mix. Coupled with the obvious fragility of the glass reflector, I must admit to being nervous! The mount has two screw holes, but I'm not going to drill into my OTA any time soon, so sticky mount it is. Pity a standard shoe fitting is not available. However, the finder can't be left on my scope when collapsed anyway. It fouls on the Astrozap shroud no matter where I fit it. So it will come off when not actually in use. I would recommend this as the standard approach.

The finder is aligned via three hand adjustable screws. They give a good range of movement to align to the telescopes field of view.

Here are a couple of shots of the Telrad mounted on the scope.

Note how close the bottom left of the finder is to the 300P's tube base ring.

In use, it is a joy. You can swiftly jump from target to target with ease. The brightness of the rings can be adjusted down as your night vision kicks in. Does what it says on the tin.

I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone has. Might not be able to help with "will it fit my xyz scope" though!

[scarp15]

Good review especially for anyone considering purchasing this type of scope. I actually removed the finder scope and situated the telrad in this position, which also helps to keep the weight balanced more on the primary end.

The supplied sticky tape does a very reassuring and permanent job at fixing the mount. You might like to consider purchasing a riser bar, that are available in a 2" and 4" format. I use the 2" and it contributes towards a more comfortable position when using.

[No-i-dear]

I made a temp placement using a bit of double sided tape and a couple of large cable ties so I could tweek its location for best viewing.

Whilst there is a lot of rotation on the brightness knob I found that only the last 1/4 was of use. Anyone else found this?

Mine dews up quick without a shield, but you can now get a dew shield with a right angled viewer, so maybe a riser is not always required?

All in all I love my Telrad. Very easy to set up and use.

[mitchelln]

The supplied sticky tape does a very reassuring and permanent job at fixing the mount. You might like to consider purchasing a riser bar, that are available in a 2" and 4" format. I use the 2" and it contributes towards a more comfortable position when using.

Thanks for the reassurance re. the sticky pads

Whilst there is a lot of rotation on the brightness knob I found that only the last 1/4 was of use. Anyone else found this?

Yes, mine is the same. A bit odd, but hey

[skywatcher58gb]

Hi I agree, nothing much to see until you are well past half turn.

Dave

[scarp15]

I made a temp placement using a bit of double sided tape and a couple of large cable ties so I could tweek its location for best viewing.

Whilst there is a lot of rotation on the brightness knob I found that only the last 1/4 was of use. Anyone else found this?

Mine dews up quick without a shield, but you can now get a dew shield with a right angled viewer, so maybe a riser is not always required?

All in all I love my Telrad. Very easy to set up and use.

Yes it is a good idea to temporarily fix the telrad mount for a session or two with tape to ascertain the best position. I used PVC, so a bit of gaffa or double sided tape will also do. The telrad is fairly light so is quite secure.

For sure dew can at times become a bit of a nuisance. I have never used a dedicated dew shield for the telrad and have heared very mixed reviews as to how effective they are (purchased or home made). If really bad then I will dab dry with a lens cloth or give a quick blast with a 12V hair dryer. Once home though I allow to dry naturally before storing.

[No-i-dear]

If really bad then I will dab dry with a lens cloth or give a quick blast with a 12V hair dryer. Once home though I allow to dry naturally before storing.

Great minds think alike! I was looking into a 12v dryer just for that task.

[Lorne]

The supplied sticky tape does a very reassuring and permanent job at fixing the mount. You might like to consider purchasing a riser bar, that are available in a 2" and 4" format. I use the 2" and it contributes towards a more comfortable position when using.

Once I used my Telrad and found out how effective it works my temporary double sided tape gave way to a more permanant 2 small screws and nuts drilled through my OTA. Wouldn't be without it now

[66mikeg]

The adhesive can get a bit questionable if it gets really cold I attached mine the second time using cable ties, this makes it a lot easier to adjust the alignment when first attaching

[PDW]

I bought a Telrad - it is a huge and ungainly thing - I can´t fit it to my SV102ED - the clamshell leaves no room. May buy the RIGEL QUICKFINDER alternative - which has a much smaller foorprint.

[PDW]

footprint, sorry - where the heck is the EDIT button??

[John]

The Telrad is a great finder but, ergonomically, is better suited to larger tubed scopes.

footprint, sorry - where the heck is the EDIT button??

Please see this thread:

[brucen]

I made a temp placement using a bit of double sided tape and a couple of large cable ties so I could tweek its location for best viewing.

Whilst there is a lot of rotation on the brightness knob I found that only the last 1/4 was of use. Anyone else found this?

Mine dews up quick without a shield, but you can now get a dew shield with a right angled viewer, so maybe a riser is not always required?

All in all I love my Telrad. Very easy to set up and use.

I made a very cheap dew shield from this link. http://www.homebuilt...dDewShield.html

[mitchelln]

I made a very cheap dew shield from this link. http://www.homebuilt...dDewShield.html

Thanks very much for the info. I'm off to buy some foam sheet!

[mitchelln]

Please see this thread:

http://stargazerslou...on#entry1854460

When I click this link I get

Sorry, we couldn't find that!

You do not have permission to view this topic."

Permissions I guess.

[Stu1smartcookie]

On 28/02/2013 at 15:49, mitchelln said:

Hi.

Just received my 2nd Telrad finder from FLO and thought I'd write up a quick review.

2nd I hear you ask? Yes, the first Telrad arrived and the reflector was cracked. So first thing to note is that it's made of glass and obviously fragile! FLO were absolutely great. They shipped me a replacement which arrived the next day, including a postage paid jiffy bag to return the broken one. That's what I call great service. The first finder was shipped by FLO in very good packaging with no sign of damage, so I suspect the unit was broken between the US and FLO rather than from FLO to me.

Onto the finder then. It's long. Very long. It barely fits the top tube of my 300P Flextube in fact. The situation is exacerbated by the bottom ring of the tube flaring out to accommodate the struts. So there are not too many places where I could actually fit it. Fitting one of these to smaller scopes will present problems I think.

Here's a side view. The AA battery gives some scale. The unit takes two of these.

You can see the on switch/brightness control on the left. This gives a nice smooth brightness control. A high quality pot has clearly been used. Peering though the back of the reflector you can see the three sighting rings. One at 4" then 2" and 0.5". You feel like a Spitfire pilot!

The rings look smaller with the camera than the eye. Down to focusing distance I think.

The finder attaches to the base via a mount. The finder can be removed from the mount via two knurled screws. The mount itself sticks onto the tube via two strips of double sided foam. I have to admit this worries me. Cold dewy nights and sticky pads tend not to mix. Coupled with the obvious fragility of the glass reflector, I must admit to being nervous! The mount has two screw holes, but I'm not going to drill into my OTA any time soon, so sticky mount it is. Pity a standard shoe fitting is not available. However, the finder can't be left on my scope when collapsed anyway. It fouls on the Astrozap shroud no matter where I fit it. So it will come off when not actually in use. I would recommend this as the standard approach.

The finder is aligned via three hand adjustable screws. They give a good range of movement to align to the telescopes field of view.

Here are a couple of shots of the Telrad mounted on the scope.

Note how close the bottom left of the finder is to the 300P's tube base ring.

In use, it is a joy. You can swiftly jump from target to target with ease. The brightness of the rings can be adjusted down as your night vision kicks in. Does what it says on the tin.

I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone has. Might not be able to help with "will it fit my xyz scope" though!

Hi mitchelln 

live just ordered a telrad ... thanks for the review . I’m a bit worried about the size , I have a 250 collapsible dob .. is there a way the base can be cut down to fit on the scope ? I’d never even heard of this device until the other day , but nearly everyone says it’s a godsend . Even after seeing reviews I still can’t believe how is it works , with no magnification ...surely you are just seeing the sky as you would normally do without a scope , sorry for my ignorance on this . Of course I will have one soon to use for myself but it’s very useful for me to get opinions such as yours 

clear skies 

stu

[Ricochet]

I don't think you can really cut the baseplate down. The securing lugs are at the ends so the only part you can remove is the middle. 

[John]

Ther dimensions of the Telrad are given by this retailer and include the base size, which might help:

https://www.365astronomy.com/telrad-finder-finderscope-red-green-reflex-sight.html

The Rigel Quikfinder does a similar job but has a much smaller "footprint" on the scope:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/rigel-quikfinder-compact-reflex-sight.html

[jock1958]

Love my Telrad I think it’s a cracking bit of kit! started off with it ty-wrapped to my Tak 100 but it looked cluttered and out of place so attached it to the puck mounting on my Skytee 2. 

Also made my own detachable dew shield out of a cardboard tube and  painted it black, theres some pics of it on this forum from earlier this year, May?

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Hi mitchelln 

live just ordered a telrad ... thanks for the review . I’m a bit worried about the size , I have a 250 collapsible dob .. is there a way the base can be cut down to fit on the scope ? I’d never even heard of this device until the other day , but nearly everyone says it’s a godsend . Even after seeing reviews I still can’t believe how is it works , with no magnification ...surely you are just seeing the sky as you would normally do without a scope , sorry for my ignorance on this . Of course I will have one soon to use for myself but it’s very useful for me to get opinions such as yours 

clear skies 

stu

It can be shortened quite a bit if you're handy with tools and glue:

You are projecting circles onto the sky so you can see where your scope is pointed.  A green laser sight accomplishes the same thing at the risk of having men in uniform showing up at your door.

[Stu1smartcookie]

1 hour ago, John said:

Ther dimensions of the Telrad are given by this retailer and include the base size, which might help:

https://www.365astronomy.com/telrad-finder-finderscope-red-green-reflex-sight.html

The Rigel Quikfinder does a similar job but has a much smaller "footprint" on the scope:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/rigel-quikfinder-compact-reflex-sight.html

Thanks John , I reckon the telrad will be ok ..that’s what I like about this site ... there is ALWAYS someone to answer a question . 

[Stu1smartcookie]

just received my telrad ... fits nicely on the dob , although it all looks a bit cluttered there now .. just need some clear skies now !

[Louis D]

I prefer my Telrad to my QuikFinder when space on the scope is not an issue.  It has a larger outer circle (4 degrees), the lines are thicker making them easier to see, the circles are easier to locate in the larger window, and they shift much less relative to the sky if my head bobs about.  However, on anything smaller than a Dob, Telrads seem ridiculously oversized.  Again, there is no one best solution in astronomy.

[niallk]

I love my 2 Telrads: one for my solid tube 250px (the sticky pads still going strong after 9 yrs!), and one for my 15".  Wouldn't be without them!

I do think that the footprint could be shortened with a redesign, like in the best mod pic above