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Unloved Televue pronto

Captain Caveman

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Captain Caveman

Captain Caveman

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When chatting to a friend about my new nocturnal habits, they mentioned they had an old telescope somewhere, thought it was quite good but didn't know how to use it

Turns out is a Televue Pronto 70mm Refractor with 17mm plossl

Got some very clear images of the moon and jupiter with moons last night so just wondering if anyone has experience of these scopes and what EPs work best with it. Seems that planetary/lunar will work best but not sure how short an EP to recommend. The 2x barlow doesn't give good eye relief. Its also missing its finder which I think may have been a red dot finder but bits are missing

Seems to get some good reviews online but can't find much else on it

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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They are rather nice .. but I cant afford to keep mine in EP's...

The supplied TV 40mm focuses ok but none of my other EP's will come to infinity focus with the 2" Diagonal and 1.25" adaptor...

The finder is a Tiny early red dot and theres a little dimmer pcb that slides in on top of the battery...

I replaced mine with a nicer RDF...

Peter...

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Mr Onions

Mr Onions

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The Pronto really excells as a low power sweeper,I think it has a 480mm focal length {I think} It was advertised as a semi apo so you will see false colour at high powers on the moons limb,Jupiter and Venus etc but it's a lovely little scope and built like a tank. a 32mm plossl will give great wide field.

They have become something of a collectors item of late.

You're very lucky!

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Captain Caveman

Captain Caveman

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They have become something of a collectors item of late.

You're very lucky!

It's not mine though

They did ask if I wanted to borrow it as I dont think any of them are interested in astro....yet. Perhaps after showing them stuff last night on best UK nigts viewing this decade they might be tempted. I'd love to have someone to share the sky with (other than you lot - you know - someone real :) )

I thought best not to borrow it as I got my boy a SW heritage 76 for Xmas and don't want to upstage it yet - that's also why I'm still on the bins

The other reason is that I have 3 of their kayaks and a bike trailer of theirs o it feels like I'm taking the mickey!!

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Parus major

Parus major

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Any reason the 17mm was so hard to use with the Barlow x2? They also had a diagonal between scope and EP. How is the eye relief with the 3-6 zoom, and why do most people warn you away from zooms?

It's because they tend to lose light due to there being a mechanism inside the light path which moves lenses up and down so less light gets through. I'm sure the Televue one is nice - at that price you'd hope it is - but it won't be immune to this, even if they are able to cure the blind and make you invulnerable to bullets.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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I used to have an old Genesis and I missed it so badly when I sold it that I bought just this scope, the 70mm Pronto, to replace it. It is an absolute joy. They are ludicroulsy undervalued second hand and cost about a grand in the nineties, for goodness' sake. I think I paid about a third or a quarter of that, I can't remember.

Mechanically they will last forever and optically they are very good and quite close to full apo-dom. I love to use mine with a 26 Nagler for things like the Double Cluster with Stock 2, M45 with sky around it, the entire Veil or Rosette (using an O111 filter) and so on.

Unloved? I doubt that will long be the case. It is the most loveable scope on the planet.

Olly

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John

John

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It's because they tend to lose light due to there being a mechanism inside the light path which moves lenses up and down so less light gets through. I'm sure the Televue one is nice - at that price you'd hope it is - but it won't be immune to this, even if they are able to cure the blind and make you invulnerable to bullets.

The Tele Vue Nagler zooms (that's the 3-6mm and the 4-6mm) are a bit different from all other zooms and really do compete with top quality fixed focal length low glass eyepieces like Baader Genuine Orthos. As you say, they should do at £300 a piece but I guess 3 Baader GO's cost £210.

As MjrTom says, they are a little bit special compared to other zooms :)

The eye relief on these is 10mm throughout and the FoV is 50 degrees.

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Parus major

Parus major

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The Tele Vue Nagler zooms (that's the 3-6mm and the 4-6mm) are a bit different from all other zooms and really do compete with top quality fixed focal length low glass eyepieces like Baader Genuine Orthos. As you say, they should do at £300 a piece but I guess 3 Baader GO's cost £210.

As MjrTom says, they are a little bit special compared to other zooms :)

The eye relief on these is 10mm throughout and the FoV is 50 degrees.

Ah, but MjrTom didn't compare them to other zooms, he said they were the exception to the zoom rule, ie that they'll never meet the same standard of a fixed eyepiece of the same range. TV zooms may be the premium best zoom on the market but the "Zoom rule" still stands. As you say, they may compete but the do they meet or surpass?

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John

John

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Ah, but MjrTom didn't compare them to other zooms, he said they were the exception to the zoom rule, ie that they'll never meet the same standard of a fixed eyepiece of the same range. TV zooms may be the premium best zoom on the market but the "Zoom rule" still stands. As you say, they may compete but the do they meet or surpass?

Don't want to take the thread further off topic. All I will say is try one when you get a chance and see for yourself.

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