DaveL59

hmmm must say I've not checked for that. Collimation would give you double stars if it was out rather than an odd shape to a single image.

Are they Porro or roof type?

hmm I never checked, turns out it is 25mm according to this site:

http://rus.telescopes.ru/product.html?cat=1&prod=10

is your mount dismantled?

It basically screws into the pier top or fits atop the wooden tripod and then you set the latitude according to your location by undoing the big crank/lever that  is next to the scale on the side.

Perhaps this will help?

one more thing to mention with this scope. With the finder being built-in to the main focuser, the intention is that the finder and main scope should be parafocal so you can seamlessly switch between the two and not have to fiddle with focus. Now having reassembled I find there is a focus shift needed which I'll adjust out. Basically loosen off the grub screw and adjust the finder objective in/out as needed, tighten the grub screw and you're all set.

Nicely thought out design on this little scope 🙂 

That finder is quite good too, I've even forgotten to pull it outward in the past and was looking at Venus via the finder instead of thru the OTA, even barlowed up and still getting a pretty good image which was a surprise!

thanks Mark, it came out pretty good in the end, reassembly is pretty simple, literally reverse of dismantling and no odd bits left over at the end either, tho I was tempted to post a pic of some odds and ends and pose a question just for fun 😉 

Just need to collimate it now and tidy some of the felt in the box. Ordered another EC110 nitrile end cap so it has matching ends, tho it will mean the finder can't fully retract with the cap fitted. Still fits fine into the case tho but am thinking about how to make a dual-cap arrangement so the end of the OTA and the finder can be covered together. Perhaps glue a plate onto the larger cap to attach the smaller one after cutting that to suit. Will be nice to get it out under the stars and see how it performs after the overhaul, especially with Jupiter and Saturn showing in the evening and the moon leading them across too, just the timing after the op but with this little scope I reckon I can move it in bits easily enough.

Also ordered an EC120 for the 100RS, it's  a little too wide but some felt should see it fit over the objective with the dew shield removed for storage/transport. Was never comfortable with the objective exposed in the box so perhaps an original cap went walkies over the years under prev ownership.

yeah I saw that earlier too, one of the pics I was thinking a flat speaker, electrostatic type maybe... 

Great if it works and is all you want from looking at the stars, but good luck if anything stops working etc

worth trying it without the diagonal in the path, perhaps, in case that is adding too much extra length to the light path, are you getting closer to focus as you rack inward but just not quite getting there? 

I'd suggest remove the diagonal and just slot the barlow and eyepiece directly in the scope focuser tube. If that lets you reach focus then you'd maybe need to get a regular star diagonal as that'll add less compared to the erecting diagonal. Would also affirm that the barlow supplied is really for terrestrial use and not astro and perhaps getting a 2x shorter barlow as well would then gain you the flexibility, at least with the 20mm.

16 minutes ago, Alfian said:

I would have preferred to have painted mine but it was cold and damp with no sign of it changing, and had no where out of the house that was dry where I could paint , so C/F effect wrap it was. Managed to find this photo from an old post of mine.

Looks nice, like the red stars to finish the job too, shame we can't easily get a TAL logo sticker, almost tempted to find a hammer and sickle one 😉 

Finally reached the end. The other day I sorted some stitch loops thru the acetone and flock along the edges, I know, maybe not needed but am playing safe given temperatures where this can be sat during the day times. Don't want the flock breaking free and resting on the mirrors after all. Won't bore with a pic of a sheet of black flock tho there's one of those further up this thread 😉 

So today I cleaned the mirrors ready to go back and while they dried, reassembled the focuser and fitted back onto the OTA. Hopefully the alignment mark I made will have the finder still aligned with the main scope, will find out one day lol. With the mirrors clean and refitted I thought some vanity shots of it set up in the garden would be nice, tho only using a single pier section - less trips as I can't carry it assembled quite yet.

and back in the nice baltic pine case

I never did do a highlight of the latitude scale, I think there's not enough relief after the "baking the paint" experiment that turned the knuckle biscuit colour. I reckon I'd have to hard strip the paint with chemicals and start over on that part, another day maybe. Weird too how the pillar turned a slight off-white colour and they weren't baked other than sitting in the airing cupboard to cure the paint. Again, it'll wait

Funny how bright sunlight brings the eye sharply to any slight blemish in the finish 😢 but overall it's pretty good and am pleased with the final result. It can always be done again in the future should it need it and I'll have learned how not to do some of the bits, esp the part about patience and light coats and wait... and NOT TO BAKE the paint!! 😄 

I do think I'll need to sort some better felt for the case though as I can see some has lifted away. I'd like to better cover the sharp screw ends to protect the paint for a start, but it can wait for now. Also a place to stow the 32mm accessories (25+15 eyepiece and 3x barlow) that are dedicated to this scope, perhaps foam fit the wee box in the corner to hold them and the knuckle so they're safe and secure.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed a few laughs at the goofs and perhaps useful a reference if anyone else want to do the same 🙂 

edit: Oh yeah, still got to collimate and then set the finder aim but that can wait for another day too...

to give an idea of the difference flocking can make, I've just finished refit of the mirrors in my TAL-M, the spider is painted in blackboard paint, brush.

8 minutes ago, Alfian said:

When I revamped my Tal1 I used black carbon fibre wrap which didn't work out quite as well as I would have liked but it was OK. Wrap comes in various colours so could lend itself to a more creative finish. 

 

Did think about wraps, but the need to rotate the OTA in the tube rings I thought would be an area where it'd start to lift and tear away so wouldn't look great after a short time. Powder coat was another possible, but seems that can add 0.5mm or so to the dimensions and during lockdown not so easy to go see people to price up etc. A simple flat paint coat is reasonably DIY even with limited place to do the spray work - the shed in my case, the TAL-M has turned out reasonably well so far tho I did go through several cans to get a nice finish lol

24 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Small table to hold my increasing collection of eyepieces when in the field. Normally, I simply use the trays on the Berlebach Planet tripod, but it does get a bit crowded at times. And need to be careful as the field lens at the bottom of the Nagler 26 is pretty close to the opening, so a flat surface is essential to place it on to avoid contact with the lens.

OK, so it's not actually Berlebach (they don't seem to make tables), but it is wooden (well, mostly!) 🙂

Just hope I don't bump into it at night!

I'd be worried that a slight knock and they'd all be on the ground. Guess you could always drill some suitable holder holes tho so they're secure and size ordered 🙂 

hmmm this thread is making me wonder which day-glo paint colour I should use when I come to refurb the TAL-1 one day. Too late for the TAL-M as that's already painted and close to reassembled, just waiting on the mirrors to dry off. Maybe some form of metallic pearlescent hot rod colour scheme, purple and gold flake...perhaps? 😉 

be best to post pictures here in the thread as others will be able to add too. I expect they are basic plossl eyepieces and there are a lot better ones out there but it is what you have to work with. It is a beginner scope so will have limitations for sure, the eyepieces, the diagonal both could be improved upon. For astro you would be better to get/use a 90-degree star diagonal than an erecting one, you get an inverted image but less light loss. As mentioned by Niall, the supplied barlow will not be very useful, better to get another eyepiece in the 8-12mm range perhaps. Depends on how much more you're prepared to spend tho as eyepieces like the BST Starguiders are around £50 each for example. These can then be used on other scopes as you upgrade but it's an investment right after getting a scope that may not be what you want to do right now.

a pure brass buffing wheel

with a future plan to try this out on the finder bracket for the old vintage scope

The old JPY grey+white just doesn't look right against black leather and brass, just need to figure how to fully dismantle that old Prinz type 6x finder (the silver tube and grey ring into the main tube just didn't want to shift last try) and then I can refinish it to suit too, tho I'd like to get the TAL-M refurb finished first.

Am thinking along the lines of brassed foot and holder, the chrome tube and if metal also brass the dew shield, rest in black...

good idea to have tested the fit, sounds nice and secure which is good. As to further mods, worth seeing how it performs as-is and then decide if you might gain anything from doing more, the gains reduce progressively I expect. As it stands it looks very good and certainly different, perhaps a fake shell nose cone on the end cap would amuse folks too 😉

As for the motor, if it still works then it may make things easier for tracking objects if you have the RA axis pointing north so you aren't having to be tweaking the manual controls to stay on target, you can just relax and enjoy the view. One for later on tho perhaps.

1 hour ago, Abhishek said:

Hi dave 

The 4mm eyepiece is really small I can hardly see things clearly with it. I tried to put the Barlow and then the 25mm eye piece today I really couldn't see anything clearly 

sadly the eyepieces that are supplied with many scopes aren't always the best. The 25mm should be usable but the 4mm is that an SR4 by any chance or a plossl? The smaller the focal length (mm) the smaller the eye lens tends to be so it can be hard to use. If they supplied an SR4 then it's pretty much no use. Barlows can vary in quality too and a 3x isn't as useful as a 2x I think, at least in my experience.

I'm guessing your mount isn't a tracking or goto type, so by the time you switch from the 25mm to that plus barlow the object you aimed at will have drifted across the field of view and would need to be found again. So you really need to get it well centred and perhaps even over to the left a little, so that if you are quick it might have stayed in view after swapping over. Have a try at the moon and see how switching over goes so you get an idea of the change in magnification and also how the target shifts. Also being very bright the 4mm might give you a view you can use.

If you do decide you want to do more, then upgrading the eyepieces and barlow may be a good idea but ask here for advice and recommendations and focal lengths. We'll need the details of the scope - 80mm F400 is it? Assuming it is the 80AZS, looking that up it's supplied with an erect image diagonal, 20mm and 4mm plossl and a long 3x barlow. So that would give you magnifications:

25mm  x16
20mm  x20
4mm   x100

Max useful magnification they state is x189 so the barlow is of no use with the 4mm as that significantly exceeds the scope's abilities. With the barlow and 25 or 20mm it would yield x48/x60 depending which you have. Planets will still look very small so you'd need the 4mm on its own to get a slightly better view.

Does the 4mm work ok not barlow'd on the planets? 

That barlow would only be useful with the 25mm eyepiece giving you an effective 8mm. The 4mm eyepiece would put the magnification way over what that scope would be able to handle and you'd just see blackness. It should work with the 25mm though and give a higher magnification compared to the 25mm alone. You would need to be very centred on the target as shifting the magnification that far would put you off target otherwise and then you'd need to hunt for it again.

Blackboard paint may be better than matt black as it'll be flatter in terms of light. Flocking is a sticky-backed black velvet that looks very dark as light isn't reflecting off the surface so may give a better image. Not had a chance to try it as I'm still completing the refurb on mine and at the mo can't lift heavy stuff so no chance of dragging a scope out to play. I expect yours will work just fine though, only object likely to cause surface reflections will be a bright moon after all 😉 

Good move on the mirror and focuser, I squeezed the tangs in slightly on my original focuser so it held the 1.25-inchers snug and that worked ok too. Just have to remember when you flip the scope so they don't fall out.

Know what you mean about mains, an RCD on the house end will help and a plastic box to place the connections into so they don't get damp on the ground would help. The original would give 12vAC I believe, worth checking if it all works and then you can decide if you might use it or if other works may be needed on that part. There's a thread here I think it was Mark who rebuilt it with a different motor and battery power source.

nice!! Well done too on getting a new foot made for it, they're a nice stable setup and very solid. I see yours is the motorised model, hopefully that all works too.

My 1995 TAL-1 with manual mount is in fairly good condition with only a few marks in the original off-white but I'll maybe refurbish it one day too, once I've completed work on the TAL-M that is along with a couple other bits I'm fiddling with. I did replace the focuser on mine for the later 1.25-inch version and shifted the main mirror up the tube using longer screws and springs rather than cutting the OTA, might be a worthwhile mod later on.

I've also flocked the inside of the OTA on the TAL-M by using a sheet of acetate and applying the flock to that, to get a darker path to the main mirror, the internal of the OTA seems a touch greasy or unwilling to adhere to so this seemed an easier option and simple to revert from. I'll probably do the same for the TAL-1 at a later date but otherwise I find mine performs very well.

thought I'd report back on the ageing process (of brass bits that is)

Given this scope is vintage the bright shiny new screws really don't meld with the rest so having read around the web I've tried a couple methods but this one was what worked reasonably well for me.

You'll need:

• Acetone
• Malt vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• Suitable container
• Bowl to for a water bath
• fine grit emery cloth
• tin foil and tape

First up, soak the component/section with acetone for a while to soften/remove any protective coating, 30 mins say. Then gently rub down with the emery paper to remove any residue. Dip the part in vinegar and remove. Now rather than faff with making holes in the lid and screwing the parts into them I just went with a bit of tin foil folded and pushed the screw thread through, tape on the thread to hold them so they don't drop into the jar/vinegar while curing, like so...

Then pour some vinegar into the jar and pop the foil cap holding the screws on top.

Pour some hot water into the "bain marie" and leave for a long while, refresh the hot water every now and again. The idea here is the fumes from the vinegar act to age the exposed brass and heating should improve the fume rate.

Next morning the result:

Rinsed under the tap and rubbed with fingers and then dried off and fitted to the scope:

Quite a difference to the shiny non-aged brass that's also pictured and to my eye looks very good indeed, very pleased with the results of this little experiment 🙂 

a feature of newts as the vanes cause diffraction spikes. Only fix would be a refractor or a MAK/SCT where the secondary mirror isn't held with a spider vane.

tend to agree with Peter, I've bought a few trad leather cases and some fit, others don't, still keeping an eye out for one that'll suit the Swift HR/5's. Padded ones work fine, the Minolta 10x50's came in one and being rubber clad they don't fit a regular leather case which were more usually in the non-rubber clad era. You might find something in the samsonite range if lucky.

a car paint shop might be able to match and supply, some DIY places can mix too but not sure their paint would suit as I think that's more emulsion tho I could be wrong. Problem will be getting a nice finish as brush painting isn't likely to look good and getting a spray can mixed to match might not be so easy, worth asking tho. While refurbishing the TAL-M I just went with hammerite smooth, white and black since that was what was on the shelf down the road and it was lockdown so options limited at the time.

1 minute ago, MarkAR said:

Second ones a winner. 

Was going to say if you need a one off made I can muck around on my lathe. Just let me know dimensions.

thanks Mark, yep second one is more in the original style, just needs ageing a bit now. Was wary of trying it in a hand drill but it worked out ok in the end and no bits or files went flying 😉