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Tal 100RS OTA back in stock!

FLO

By FLO
in Sponsor Announcements and Offers

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Adz

Adz

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Got my az4 and 100rs with the dovetail thanks FLO and Caldwell 14 :):icon_eek: It looks the bees knees for sure!

Haven't had a chance to use it for astro yet :angry4: but have sampled it in the garden and all things are looking good. Viewing anything above about 45 degrees you need the tripod legs right out extended I find.

The focuser does slip with my heavier eyepieces, but I understand the screw on the underside nearer the viewer is for keeping the focus smooth and the the screw nearer the optics is for locking off your focus.

Anyone else have some input on this?

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AndyH

AndyH

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The focuser does slip with my heavier eyepieces, but I understand the screw on the underside nearer the viewer is for keeping the focus smooth and the the screw nearer the optics is for locking off your focus.

Anyone else have some input on this?

Yes, that's normally how the crayfords two thumbscrews are set up. Just crank up the 'nearest to the eyepiece screw', for heavier loads.

Someone with a Tal crayford will, I'm sure, confirm soon.

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carlc

carlc

Posted
Posted
Got my az4 and 100rs with the dovetail thanks FLO and Caldwell 14 :):icon_eek: It looks the bees knees for sure!

Haven't had a chance to use it for astro yet :angry4: but have sampled it in the garden and all things are looking good. Viewing anything above about 45 degrees you need the tripod legs right out extended I find.

The focuser does slip with my heavier eyepieces, but I understand the screw on the underside nearer the viewer is for keeping the focus smooth and the the screw nearer the optics is for locking off your focus.

Anyone else have some input on this?

Got mine on Friday - with an EQ5 - out on Saturday night/Sunday morning for an hour at 1am (all I could cope with as my fingers were hurting by the end and took an hour indoors for the pain to die down).

I will not comment optically beyond the 25mm giving sharp stars and a vague fuzzy Orion Nebula because I couldn't get the 6.3mm to show anything that I was trying to look at. I couldn't concentrate and was too busy trying to drive the mount (first time with an EQ mount) to worry too much about the view! Need a warmer night so I can spend more than a few seconds looking at anything.

As to the focusser - I had the same problem - yes you are correct about the screws - tighten the one nearest the viewing end and the focusser will be perfectly smooth and will hold position even at zenith.

Just to reiterate - any problems with the 6.3mm EP and the EQ5 are mine and not the scope - I've had years of 10x50 bins and this is my first scope. I'm expecting great things but have a steep learning curve ahead!

Carl

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Adz

Adz

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Thanks for the clarification guys. I can't wait to get some use out of it, so much cloud predicted though! :)

The 6mm eyepiece supplied is going to give 166x magnification and I think you work out limiting magnification as roughly the 1.5x aperture of scope in mm. So 6mm is only going to be used on the best of nights.

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MjrTom

MjrTom

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The 6mm eyepiece supplied is going to give 166x magnification and I think you work out limiting magnification as roughly the 1.5x aperture of scope in mm. So 6mm is only going to be used on the best of nights.

I think you should be able to push it a little higher.

I use a 5mm EP on my f/10 refractor on good days to give me 200x magnification (50x per inch) :)

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carlc

carlc

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Thanks for the clarification guys. I can't wait to get some use out of it, so much cloud predicted though! :)

The 6mm eyepiece supplied is going to give 166x magnification and I think you work out limiting magnification as roughly the 1.5x aperture of scope in mm. So 6mm is only going to be used on the best of nights.

So regardless of how high you can push the mag on a 'good' night realistically a 10mm or 12.5mm Plossl may be a good buy for all other nights?

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Adz

Adz

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Oh yes definitely, it provides a good 'workhorse' magnification. For example my eyepiece set in my sig gives me 28x, 41x, 76, 125, 166, 200x, 250x, 333x respectively. A good range for any situation/object.

I could predict the 35 Pan and 13 Ethos getting the most use tbh.

Silly question now, when balancing the scope for an eyepiece, do I move the ota within the tube rings, or the dovetail along the mount screw?

I think it's the latter but I wanted to check.

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Marki

Marki

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Glad I finally read this thread. Been having the same issue with the focuser that Adz and CarlC mentioned - slipping and not retracting properly.

I guess I haven't been tightening the "nearest to viewer" thread enough, especially when its under load. Will try again tonight.

Otherwise I love this scope; mounted on the eq5 it seems steady and has an excellent finderscope, I like the aiming reticule thingy, and the diagonal supplied with it seems perfectly accpetable. As for the optics - fab! Crystal sharp views of Jupiter briefly last night before the clouds rolled in - look forward to getting Saturn in my sights soon!

<looks out of window and shakes fist at sky... .>

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Caldwell 14

Caldwell 14

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Crayford slipage is the bain of some imagers lives. One you have your TAL out a few times and had her up at the zenith (quite easy to acheive with an AZ 4) a few times and adjusted the crayord accordingly with your heaviest eyepiece you shouldn't have any problems, mines going out in the garden in a minute :icon_scratch:

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Caldwell 14

Caldwell 14

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Well its clear again here again and M42 is just fantasic at 25mm and 18mm. Jupiter was very good earlier too. I got M32 also very good at 25mm (must buy a 32mm ep as a matter of some urgency) did a bit of double spliting before heading of to M35, 36, 37, 38, 44 and 45. Mars is just rising nicely over our cottage so its a quick cup of coffee and I'm back out there...I love my scope!

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Marki

Marki

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Cool - good viewing!

Wish conditions were better here...!

Nipped out earlier with my bins to select some targets. All looking good, but Venus dipped behind hill. Managed a nice glimpse of Andromeda nebula ( I think my eyes are better a looking than they were even two months ago), and the Pleiedes looked gorgeous. Went in to make tea and sort out washing, feeling like this was going to be a good night, notwithstanding urban heavily light-polluted location.

Scope set up in yard 30 mins later and aimed at Jupiter - instant cloud! Swing tube round to pick up Orion nebula - oh no, guess what! Swing round further, and I can make out Mars, but washed out by the floodlights of a carpark opposite my house... . And then cloud.... . Meh, will have a coffee and try again later.

I suppose I could do with something to take out a little of the LP, maybe. Mars looked pretty insignificant, but maybe I need something better than the 25mm super Plossl that came with the TAL, on a TAL x2 Barlow (as well as darker skies) to show it better?

By the way, are the EPs that ship with the TAL actually TALs?

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