Telrad died - replace or new finderscope?

[sheeprug]

I can't help thinking that as an electronics engineer of 40 years standing I should be able to repair a simple device like my Telrad, which has died - probably not unconnected with some leakage from the battery. Grrrrrrr!  Unfortunately the main bit with the LED and target in appears to be a sealed unit that is firmly glued in place, so despite only being a diode an a resistor I can't get in to even attempt a repair without probably trashing it.  

So, since my used Dob came without an optical finder you might say I'm now somewhat aimless. Given available funds are limited,  what does the team think - splash £60+ on a proper finder or get another Telrad. I have to say, I do find it easy to find most of what I'm after with the Telrad but I can't help thinking an optical finder would be generally more useful.

SR

[Garethr]

Telerad,

My optical finder sits in the drawer.

Gareth.

[Tinker1947]

I gave up with optical finders, all the stars appeared to be as bright as each other, the Telrad just works...

[Demon Barber]

Plus one for Telrad   

Regards

Mike

[triton1]

If you buy an optical finder you will still end up buying a Telrad so stick with a Telrad,I use both but I would be lost without a Telrad.

[michael8554]

For me, life wouldn't be worth living without a Telrad AND a 9x60 RA finder

Michael

[Charic]

I prefer my 9x50 optical finder ( when at home ) .

For roughly the same price, the choice is yours.

Check out astroboot for the optical, and 365Astronomy for the Telrad.

I'd still have a go at fixing the original Telrad.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Charic

[Knighty2112]

I got the Skywatcher 6 X 30 right angled finderscope for my new ST120 refractor scope, and for just over £31 was very surprised at how good the stars looked through it ( i.e normal), and could easily make out M31 with it too in my light polluted, street lamp infested back garden. Only thing I made a mistake with was I ordered the wrong one up by mistake. I got the east is west, west is east version, and not the correctly orientated view. But I can live with that quite easily. Dead easy to calibrate it to the scope to with one spring loaded screw, so you only have to twiddle two screws to achieve correct alignment.

[John]

If I were in your shoes I'd get another Telrad. My 1st choice preference would be a Telrad and an RACI optical finder but with a budget constraint I could cope very happily with a 14" dob with just a Telrad (working !) mounted on it

Lots of the planetarium software and printed star charts have Telrad rings as an overlay and combining those tools with a decent wide field, low power eyepiece in the main scope will enable you to find your way to practially any target.

[PHIL53]

I would say it depends on how dark is your sky.

Telrad is indeed my first choice, but just as long as either target is visible or at least some star nearby to guide you, using the red circles.

Sometimes in light polluted areas, after setting the scope in the general direction with the Telrad, an optical finder (such as 8x50) is quite useful to get near your target, following a path of stars otherwise invisible to the naked eye.

p.s. forgive my English, but hope you can understand what I mean....

[happy-kat]

Astroboot might have a cheap optical finder then get both :-)

[brantuk]

Yup - I'd go for a cheapo Telrad from Astro boot, or a second hand one from UK Astro Buy Sell or SGL classifieds. You can always borrow a raci from a mate at your local astro club until you get your own - at least you'd find out how you get on with finder scopes in the meantime.

(It's hard to beat a Telrad on a big dob)

Edited November 19, 2015 by brantuk

[Grotemobile]

Totally agree with PHIL 53, about seeing things with the  

8x50 finder, that U cannot see with the eyes.

Be lost with out it.

Steve.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Grotemobile

[sheeprug]

I can't help thinking that as an electronics engineer of 40 years standing I should be able to repair a simple device like my Telrad, which has died - probably not unconnected with some leakage from the battery. Grrrrrrr!  Unfortunately the main bit with the LED and target in appears to be a sealed unit that is firmly glued in place, so despite only being a diode an a resistor I can't get in to even attempt a repair without probably trashing it.  

So, since my used Dob came without an optical finder you might say I'm now somewhat aimless. Given available funds are limited,  what does the team think - splash £60+ on a proper finder or get another Telrad. I have to say, I do find it easy to find most of what I'm after with the Telrad but I can't help thinking an optical finder would be generally more useful.

SR

Professional pride kicked in and I've mended it.  I had to break it apart and drill out the LED which was smothered in leaked gunge from the batteries - which is presumably trashed it.

Unfortunately the only replacement LED I can find at the moment is green - quite a cool colour, but maybe not the best from the point of view of night vision. I must have a red one somewhere to replace before I glue it back together again.

SR

[swamp thing]

On a smaller scopes I would opt for the optical finder first.

Reasoning being I find I can eye down an optical finder to get the scope roughly on target  then home in with the finder. 

On your 14"........not so sure eyeing down the finder will be accurate enough though. I struggle to do this on my larger scope and a tetrad is almost mandatory for rough aligning.

I dont know about you but I find rough positioning tougher with larger tubes. This is where a tetrad really helps. 

Edit: Oops too slow I see you have sorted it happy days. 

Edited November 19, 2015 by swamp thing

[Astro Imp]

Well done for the repair, that's saved you a few pennies for other goodies.

[happy-kat]

spot of red nail polish on a clear one would do

[clarkpm4242]

A good job you have fixed it.

I have used the full range of unit power finders...

...red dot is best  

YMMV  

Cheers

Paul

[sheeprug]

Found a red one now.  

Now need some glue.

SR

[julian489289]

On 19/11/2015 at 13:46, sheeprug said:

Professional pride kicked in and I've mended it.  I had to break it apart and drill out the LED which was smothered in leaked gunge from the batteries - which is presumably trashed it.

Unfortunately the only replacement LED I can find at the moment is green - quite a cool colour, but maybe not the best from the point of view of night vision. I must have a red one somewhere to replace before I glue it back together again.

SR

Hi Sheeprug.  My telrad has just failed in the same way.  Everything else works just fine it is the red circle LED that has failed.  Where did you locate the new one that you used to replace your defective one please?

Thanks

Julian

[Louis D]

I had the same thing happen to mine.  I picked up a couple of used Telrads with bad potentiometers for cheap, so they are basically on or off.  The Rigel QuikFinder doesn't seem to suffer from this since it uses a CR2025 cell that never seems to die or leak (20 years and still going strong on mine).

I also use a green laser sight from ebay mounted on a Picatinny rail to save my neck and back.  And yes, I always check for air traffic before lighting it up.

[Whistlin Bob]

45 minutes ago, Louis D said:

 The Rigel QuikFinder doesn't seem to suffer from this since it uses a CR2025 cell that never seems to die 

I thought this too, but got mine out a couple of weeks back and found it'd been left on for around 6 weeks. That did it!!! 😐

[JOC]

Everyone knows my answer, cheapo RDF and cheapish RACI optical finder both on Y mounting clamp pucked up 3D printed on ebay for £8, the whole setup probly sub £35 with secondhand bits.