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Telrad or not Telrad?

Gottzi

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Gottzi

Gottzi

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I have on my scope the skywatcher red dot finder, which is OK, but I was thinking would a Telrad be a better option.

I was thinking about the easier side of star hopping using the rings.

Will the Telrad fit on the holder for my own Red dot finder?

Who is selling this cheapest at the moment?

Any advice would be welcome.

David

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Telrad

Telrad

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David, Good choice IMO. :icon_confused: The Telrad projects a series of concentric red rings (4 degrees, 2 degrees, and one-half degree in diameter) on a tilted clear viewing plate at the top of the finder. These circles make it easy to starhop from object to object. If a galaxy is 10 degrees north of a known star, for example, two 4 degree Telrad jumps and one 2 degree jump from the known star will take you to that galaxy in seconds. The half-degree circle makes it easy to quickly center a computerized scope on guide stars for start-up alignment, and to center on planets, comets, and DSOs. The Telrad comes with an adhesive tape that can be attached to your telescope, and will more than likely not fit the red dot finder that exists.

Telescope House and Harrison Telescopes are currently selling them. Good luck! :rolleyes:

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umadog

umadog

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I very much like the Telrad because it's possible to get the circles very dim and the batteries seem to last forever and ever. The circle sizes are useful, as described above by, erm, Telrad. :icon_confused:

That said, my smaller scope has a simple red dot finder and I never found this to be a problem in finding stuff. Almost all of the time I point a scope by looking at the stars and linking them up in my head as triangles or squares, etc. Then I just point the scope at the required location. I find I rarely need to use the circles as a guide. So if the red dot finder you have is otherwise good then you may not gain much by switching to a Telrad. If you're having a little trouble finding stuff, however, then the Telrad may provide more information for you.

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topdude

topdude

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I know "Telrads" are popular but i didn't get on with mine.

I found it too big and prone to misting up (even with home made dew shield).

Suggest you either keep the RDF or get a better one, the Baader sky surfer 3 is good and will fit the existing mounting :icon_confused:

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todd8137

todd8137

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big fan of the telrad ,a great aid to the 9x50 finder use if you have stallarium,press and hold `Alt`and press `b` puts the telrad circle on the screen,i no some one wo is trying to get one all the uk suppliers are waiting for them

get one great toy and tool

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John

John

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I have a Telrad on my 10" newtonian and it's a great finder. It's body / base are quite bulky though (mostly air inside !) so I prefer something more compact on my smaller scopes. The Rigel Quikfinder gives you 2 concentric circles (half a degree and 2 degrees I think) and has a much smaller "footprint" on the scope so might be a good compromise if you don't want to go to a Telrad. The Quickfinder has a feature where you can make the reticule (the circles) flash on and off at a speed determined by you which some find useful.

Other than that I've found simple single dot finders like he humble Skywatcher / Celestron ones and the Baader Skysurfer III all work pretty well too. The Skysurfer III comes with a foot that will fit into your current finder shoe and it's lens is larger than average and well hooded from dew, which is a good design.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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I much prefer Telrads for initial placement of dobs and again in conjunction with a RACI 9x50mm finder for fine placement.

on my small refractor I also have a small RDF (the baader one John mentions) and this is really good on its own if you use relatively low powers <100x (which in truth is what this scope works best at).

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umadog

umadog

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The misting problem will go away completely if you place a resistor just inside the glass and use it as a heat source. Any finder will mist up eventually in heavy dew so you will always have to solve this problem. You just notice it first with a Telrad as it's usually the first thing to dew.

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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I very much like the Telrad because it's possible to get the circles very dim and the batteries seem to last forever and ever.

I Forgot it even had batteries.:rolleyes: mine still has the ones in it I bought with it 4 years ago. I have even forgot to switch it off in between observing sessions weeks apart and it's still going.:icon_confused:

The misting problem will go away completely if you place a resistor just inside the glass and use it as a heat source. Any finder will mist up eventually in heavy dew so you will always have to solve this problem. You just notice it first with a Telrad as it's usually the first thing to dew.

As the Telrad has no optical surfaces I just gently dab it with a tissue. Job done. I always leave the end caps on my other finders in between objects. This keeps the dew off. I do have the ubiquitous 12v hair dryer just in case though.;)

Regards Steve

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Daz Type-R

Daz Type-R

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Just ordered mine today from RVO, phoned them up to make sure they had them in stock, arrives tomorrow - brill.

Was a bit more expensive then I have seen else where (£49.99) but the other places do not have any in stock so willing to pay more.

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