pluton Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Hello, Anyone have used the Televue 60APO telescope for dual purpose, astronomy-birding terrestrial ? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluton Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 Ani others alternatives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MjrTom Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I have not used the Vele Vue 60 APO but I have used the skywatcher Equinox 80 for this purpose and a friend has the Equinox 66mm as well which he has used for birding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychobilly Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I have a TV Pronto (76mm) which I am thinking of using for birding with a Baader Hyperion 8-24 MKII zoom... Only thing is its a lot heavier than the zoom spotting scopes I already have... and I can get an new Acuter for the price of the EP...The Terestrial views through the Pronto are so much better than my other spotters though (with the 40mm TV Plossl) The OM said he wouldn't take it out (to heavy and "nervous") on his own which defeats the object in some ways...Peter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MjrTom Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I have a TV Pronto (76mm) which I am thinking of using for birding with a Baader Hyperion 8-24 MKII zoom... Only thing is its a lot heavier than the zoom spotting scopes I already have... and I can get an new Acuter for the price of the EP...The Terestrial views through the Pronto are so much better than my other spotters though (with the 40mm TV Plossl) The OM said he wouldn't take it out (to heavy and "nervous") on his own which defeats the object in some ways...Peter...Hi Peter I use the Baader zoom with my ED80 as well although I need to pick up a 45 degree erecting prism.I have also tried it with the 35mm Panoptic and I have never seen such a sharp and contrasty image.But as you say its a fair bit of weight when comparing it to a standard spotting scope but the optics sure make up for it so much so that I sold my 52mm ED travel scope and eyepieces and now just use the 10x42 binoculars and the telescope for closer views.However I am a bit of a fair weather nature watcher so weather proofing is of less concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychobilly Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Cheers MT...The pronto has a 2" diagonal... So views are reversed which also confuses him... I guess I will leave him with the spotter and I will carry the pronto..The BP Zoom will be a handy ep for the other scope...Apologies to the op for the drift off topicPeter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great_bear Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 The OM said he wouldn't take it out (to heavy and "nervous") on his ownWhat's an "OM"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychobilly Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 An 83 year old... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haitch Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 My OMs a dustman - he wears a dustmans hat, he wears cor-blimey trousers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Onions Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Im a dustman and I will be ordering a TV60 in the new year,I will let you know how I get on but I know for a fact the TV60 is streets ahead of the TV Pronto optically!I've wanted one of these refractors for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychobilly Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Oh absolutely agree.The Pronto is an old design...some might say like classic cars you are prepared to live with lower performance for the privellege of owing them...Do they (The 60s) come with the user manual hand signed with a message from Al Nagler ?Peter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Onions Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 No idea,I think they come with a TV baseball cap.They're only supplied with a cloth cover,a soft case can be bought seperately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 The Pronto is an old design...some might say like classic cars you are prepared to live with lower performance for the privellege of owing them...Neil English was rather impressed with the TV 76 in his Cloudynights review last year:"The TV 76 is arguably among the most perfectly made, ultra-compact, and highly versatile refracting telescopes ever designed..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 If the Televue 60 APO is the one with a pull-out drawtube and helical focuser then I breifly owned one. I remember it had remarkable close focus ability, at times it felt like a long-range microscope! I didn't keep it because my interests became more astro than terrestrial so the 60mm aperture was too limiting. I also remember it's soft case was obscenely expensive if bought new! HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Do they (The 60s) come with the user manual hand signed with a message from Al Nagler ?Mine did. I think it was his signature with "enjoy the view" or something similar. It was about ten years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Onions Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Steve,Im amazed that you're not certain you owned one,I mean you would think you would have rememberd or are you like Ed Ting and have bought dozens over the years? Strange I don't think the TV60 is limiting for astronomy,it will clearly show Jovian shadow transits for instance and produce a massive 4.5 degree field with the 24 panoptic.All this from a scope that can just about fit in your top pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 It was about ten years ago, I bought it secondhand from my local camera store. Back then I was quite new to astronomy so the whole TeleVue 'thing' was lost on me. I wasn't aware of it's heritage so saw it only as a well-built compact spotting scope. If I was into binocular astronomy then I might have kept it as it would enable me to use a number of different eyepieces. Having said that I would want to use it with a binoviewer because I like the 3D effect my binoculars give. My next scope was an 80mm refractor. I achieved more with that but I still consider all telescopes with apertures 80mm or less as 'one hour' telescopes. After an hour I run out of suitable targets. I did keep the TeleVue eyepieces for a while and liked my 24mm Panoptic and 9mm Nagler very much but sold them too when I needed to raise some cash. I am not suggesting you shouldn't buy one, I am only sharing my thoughts in response to the original post Your experience may be different. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.h.f.wilkinson Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I have used a completely different APO (APM 80 F/6 triplet) for birdwatching, and the views were awesome. With a 40mm Paragon and 22mm Nagler, this gave amazing views of birds. The upright but mirrored image obtained using my 2" WO diagonal can be confusing, so I am getting a WO 2" 90 deg Amici prism for correct image views. This has a 40mm free aperture, much larger than the Baader (31 mm). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.