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I should add, it's completely unaffected by seeing conditions. Gives a truly perfect in focus airy rings every time. Stunningly sharp.

If only all starter scopes were this good, the world would be a better place.

EVERY time I use use it, I continually am saying to myself, 'this is a 60mm scope, this is a 60mm scope'.

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Hi Andy!

Sorry for delay in replying. I know what you mean about the Carton, it's a cracking scope. My original objective pair weren't as good as I thought they should be, so I bought another pair from Sheldon; they're definitely better. But I have a new love in my life now, and a somewhat surprising one; a Prinz Astral 400, the earlier two tone blue with Towa optics. This is a 60x700 and is just superb! It produces stunning, absolutely perfect rings in extra and intra focus. It's quite frustrating in a way because I'd spent a fair bit of time upgrading another Prinz 330 that I thought was great; I'd flocked the inside and blacked everything, but this 400 is better without having done anything to it yet! I've just come in from using it for the first time on a Tasco goto mount; boy am I happy! I watched Io emerge from transit, with it's shadow on the edge of the SEB, while the 'lone' barge was sllightly offset on the NEB. The trapezium was clear as a bell tonight, and Theophilus, one of my favourite craters, was just superb. As you've probably guessed, seeing and transparency were both excellent.

Cheers

Max

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  • 7 years later...

sorry to resurrect an old thread but seemed more sensible than starting another Tal-M thread. I bought a 1994 one a short time ago, needs a little refurb but in generally useable condition and in the wood case with wood supports. Initial impressions are that its a lovely little scope and very well built. The white paint has taken a beating and it was missing both OTA end caps and only has the barlow and 15mm eyepiece with the 32mm helical focuser and in-built finder, screwdriver and brush, but no spanner or 25mm EP not the extension tube.

So to replace the mirror end cap I ordered a 110mm OD nitrile bearing cap which is a nice snug fit, plus a plastic 110mm tube end cap for the open end, just trimmed the fins off and filed smooth to suit the OTA. A 35mm served to replace a missing foot pad also, just trimmed down the length to suit the shallow foot recess. Hopefully that may come in useful if anyone else needs to source replacements in the future 🙂 I've also stripped off the thin foam on the wood supports and replaced with felt and found a couple spare bino lens caps to cover the finder objective and 15mm lens.

I'm hoping I might eventually source an original 25mm eyepiece but looking at other posts on the TAL-M it seems there was an extension tube also? So perhaps another missing item I hadn't realised I may need, could a standard 1.25-inch short extension tube be used I wonder?

I've tried standard 1/25-in eyepieces and ran into the focus issue (not enough in-travel) and I do wonder if part of that may be due to the way the tube is not very deep? Anyway I've moved the primary mirror inward using longer screws for now and can get the newer EP's to focus fine, that is unless I add a filter and then they don't quite, so may have to move the mirror in a little further later on. Also replaced the secondary adjuster screws with longer M2.5 ones that clear the spider, to make future collimation a little easier.

Downside is that now I lose the use of the finder scope unless I use the 15mm original EP. Also I find that neither the TAL barlow nor a regular 1/25-in barlow will work for any EP against the main mirror. Am thinking of options regarding the finder, is it possible to shift the objective in further to compensate? But before I start dismantling it all I figured best to ask those more experienced and I noted AndyH mentioned moving the primary on his M and wondered if you found a solution for the finder too? Or do you just use original EP for finder and then switch to standard EP's for observing?

I wonder if the later TAL-M's had similar issues with regular EPs or if not how they solved the finder issue, is it possible maybe to replace the helical focuser with another helical with more travel?

many thanks
Dave

Nitrile cap for mirror end.JPG

OTA end cap.JPG

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  • 1 month later...

thought I'd add a comment on the eyepieces after a lucky purchase:

Still not moved the main mirror back to its original location and thinking about the finder issue with newer 1.25 EPs I considered adding a RDF once I get around to the refurb. Then I came across a Meade MA40mm 0.965 inch EP on fleabay and as I was chasing a vintage scope I bought it. Of course that sank the other auction for me and I didn't get the vintage achro, oh well. So this EP arrives, nice solidly made and weighty and it has a lens low in the nosepiece, hmmm wonder if it'll need less in-travel... Offered it up to the TAL-M with the finder in play, no barlow and... lo and behold, it focuses!😄  So I've ordered up an adaptor for it to fit a regular 1.25 tube and see if it'll still focus. Will mean I can return the mirror to original position and use the scope unmodified, with this 40mm and its original 15mm and barlow and have use of the finder too.

A nice accidental result I think, might help others who obtain a Tal-M and find it short on EPs 🙂 

 

Meade MA40mm 0.965.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

just to update re the MA40, the 0.965 to 1.25 adaptor arrived, but it shifts the EP back away from the tube by around 4mm which wipes the far focus ability 😞 Can focus real close with that in place (like 20M) but kinda isn't what we have a scope for huh... Perhaps a bit of further tinkering to adapt the MA40 and adaptor so the whole EP can sit further in and it may work, but perhaps not worthwhile, given this with the 2x barlow would give the equiv of a 20mm? One for the back-burner for now I think :) 

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