Are these

[Damo636]

I am thinking about one of these for my incoming (today, cue the clouds) 4'' refractor and wondering if anyone has experience with them. They look identical to the William Optics part but a fair bit cheaper.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=310303473183&index=2&nav=SEARCH&nid=58332674418

[Damo636]

Oops, some text missing in the title, was supposed to read "Are these the same"?

[JamesM]

I'm a little confused with what is being sold. On your ebay link, the red dot finder is placed on top of a stalk type bracket. On Astronomica's own website, the red dot finder would appear to be sat on its own flat base, though the picture is taken at such an angle that it is difficult to tell. The reason why I mention it is because FLO sells what appears to be an identical finder, on a stalk bracket but is labelled as a Williams Optics Multi-reticule finder costing £70.26 and can be seen here This stalk is designed to fit on the focuser where as the flat base variety would be attached to the scope's tube. You would expect to pay a little extra for the stalk bracket compared to the flat type (excepting any extra cost for the WO branding). Ebay does contain a lot of cut and paste images of products where in fact the real item might differ slightly so I would give Astronomica a ring first to clarify what is in the price.

As to the product itself being useful. In my own opinion I prefer the Telrad of for the smaller scope a Rigel Quickfinder. I'm not a fan of red 'dots' that can sometimes obscure the target - I much prefer the circles.

James

[Damo636]

Cheers James. I haven't checked out the website but according to the Ebay description it comes supplied with a base to fit the Skywatcher (Synta) foot. I have the Synta foot on the focuser. It might as you say be a good idea to contact them to be sure. I have a Telrad on the dob, excellent piece of kit but didn't think the Rigel was as good. I wonder would i be better off with a more straight forward right angled finderscope

[JamesM]

Damo in my opinion the answer is BOTH If you are manually finding objects the red dot finder gets you to the spot, the right angled finder closes in allowing you to fine tune at the eyepiece. The hardest thing that I found was gauging distances in relation the the map. You would see a particular star configuration that helps point to your object only to find that the 'real' configuration is twice the size! I have been caught out many times like that. The red dot finder cuts out a lot of the star hopping and the right angled finder presents a more user friendly image - yes still back to front but at least not upside down as found with the straight through finders. It also provides a more comfortable viewing position and is kinder on the neck! The slight downside I'm afraid is price as there are a little bit more that those that come with the scope. Skywatcher are the cheapest and I'm sure FLO sells them (around £40) but like the red dot finder mentioned in previous post, give them a ring to ask about the finder bracket and whether its included or whether you can use an existing one on your scope.

James

[Dave Smith]

I bought one of these from Astronomica at Kelling recently. I find it superb. It is a bit more then just a red dot finder as the graticule can be switched from a dot to a cross to a circle etc. The only problem I have with it is that it is a bit too bright even on the lowest of 7 brightness settings, but that has been the case with other RDFs including a Telrad that I have used.

Dave