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TAL 200k review.

barkis

By barkis
in Member Equipment Reviews

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FLO

FLO

Posted
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The Tal 200K is one of those scopes that polarizes opinion (some cannot imagine life outside the blue and orange camps).

I had a secondhand one to use a while back and liked it, a lot! I still kick myself for not having bought it :) Especially now that KK is posting up evidence of what it can achieve!!!

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Kaptain Klevtsov

Kaptain Klevtsov

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The guy in the review has got the old one, not the new improved version. PeterN introduced himself recently and he also has the older version. The upgraded version has provision for collimation without a special test rig (you can adjust the primary with the focuser in place, which makes star testing possible) as well as a much longer travel focuser. The new focuser is a Crayford type as opposed to the older rack and pinion version.

Focal length wise, the jury is still out on that one, as it could be f/10 or f/8.5 that I have. I still need to measure it to find out.

Flat field for imaging? I think its very good in that department according to shots of the moon, a star field would settle that issue.

Ease of focusing? Very easy with a much bigger tolerance than the fast Newts. How come? Not sure yet as I need to get my head round the optics some more. I'm suspecting that the light cone is narrower than say an f/10 Frac. would have, but that could easily be nonsense. Like I said I'm unsure of the workings of it.

Mirror flop / image shift? Nope. None at all.

Physical size etc? Smaller and lighter than a 200mm SW Newt.

Finder? Superb bit of kit - a real mini 'scope.

Spiky stars? Optional with bits of string, native there appear to be none.

Kaptain Klevtsov

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  • 3 years later...
spaceboy

spaceboy

Posted
Posted
The upgraded version has provision for collimation without a special test rig (you can adjust the primary with the focuser in place, which makes star testing possible) as well as a much longer travel focuser. The new focuser is a Crayford type as opposed to the older rack and pinion version.

Kaptain Klevtsov

Hi

Where do you get the new ones from? Is this true you can collimate the like a SCT?

Very interesting :)

SPACEBOY

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AndyH

AndyH

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Hi

Where do you get the new ones from? Is this true you can collimate the like a SCT?

Very interesting :)

SPACEBOY

All Tal scopes in the UK, I believe, come through the importer, Optical Vision. I've still to see or hear of one of the new ones with the crayford focuser, over here. They are also now made at F8.5 instead of F10.

Collimation is done via the 6 bolts on the primary, unlike SCT's which are collimated with the secondary. The 200K secondary shouldn't be touched unless it's 100% known to be off.

That review was the one that sparked my interest in the 200K and Tal scopes in general.

Andy.

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AndyH

AndyH

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So you can't get one in the UK then?

No idea to be honest. The crayford/F8.5 200K has been getting produced in Russia for some years now. A question to a dealer , who could ask OVL may be worth a shot.

All the talk of 200K's on sgl usually involves second hand scopes.

Andy.

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PeterN

PeterN

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My first 200K was a 2001 (F/10) model which had the metal cover on the secondary and came with rings with a handle fitted to them. I regreted selling it after about 4 weeks after it had gone !!!. After that I went out and found an Intes Micro M603 (6 inch)which is also an F/10 scope but does have the SCT fitting on the rear and now has a crayford 10:1 focuser on it. This is a very nice scope but I kept thinking of the 200K so when one came up local to me I knew I had to get it. :)

This latest one is a 2004 model which is an F/10 but has the plastic cover on the secondary. I have had little time to play with it but from what I can remember of the old one it is just as good. I want to do a comparrison with the Intes as soon as I get a good clear night and can set them both up. Will get some details here when I've done it.

Peter

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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Can I start by saying sorry Peter for you missing out on mine but Jon was determined to have it. As anyone having to travel for 6hrs I wanted to cover my options just in case he didn't feel up to the journey. :D

I know what you are saying about regrets and I do and I don't have mine. I got aperture hungry and wanted to persue more DSO rather than planetary so the only affordable way was to go for a Dob but as I couldn't afford this I had to sell the TAL. But I do so miss the outstanding view the TAL gave and now it would appear I'm totally lost with out the contrast. BUT this said I don't miss it as the whole collimation issue with 200K's gave me sleepless nights. I know they are bomb proof but as with any open end scope at some point the mirror will require cleaning or re-coating due to dust and what dew dose form on the optics. I may have been thinking ahead of myself as Jon will vouch there's still some years left in the old gal but when the time dose come with such a specialized collimation process touching the mirror was out of the question for me. Then there is re-coating. What do you re-coat with? You can't just slap anything on, it's the optics of a 200k that sets it apart from the competition. So that means £££ for re-coating ££££ to send the 12kg OTA of for collimation. This was all to much of a weight to carry on my shoulders compaired to the easily collimated and maintained newts.

I must admit the moment one of the new models come into the UK £995 would be worth every penny. Nice new crisp optics giving superb views, Bright stars on a black sky, crayford with good travel and the most important easily collimated.:)

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sixela

sixela

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Ease of focusing? Very easy with a much bigger tolerance than the fast Newts. How come? Not sure yet

Because it's slower. The depth of field in slow scopes is a lot larger. It's also larger on SCTs except it you insist on moving the very fast primary to focus (as on stock Meade and Celestron scopes); if you actually install a Crayford focuser at the back instead focusing also becomes a piece of cake (not to mention there's no mirror shift when you reverse focusing direction).

as I need to get my head round the optics some more. I'm suspecting that the light cone is narrower than say an f/10
The light cone is exactly as narrow on all f/10 effective /fratio scopes - even on a fast Newtonian plus a barlow, at least behind the barlow (not that that helps focusing, of course, because the focuser is, again, in front of the barlow).

It doesn't have mirror shift because the primary doesn't ride on the baffle like it does on the Meade and Celestrons. What that means, though, is that you also don't have the enormous back-focus of these SCTs.

Physical size etc? Smaller and lighter than a 200mm SW Newt.

Are you sure? I find it heavy, but in a good "built like a Russian tank" way.
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astroeddie

astroeddie

Posted
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Steve at FLO.

Can you supply the 250mm F/8.5 version of this scope ?

I'd decided on the Skymax 180pro. But after reading this thread, and the review elsewhere, this is definately the scope I'm getting.

I've only found the 10" available on one site. at £1899 OTA.

Can this be mounted on the HEQ5 ??

I live on the north sea coast so no dewing is a major factor in this final decision.

.................................................

Anyone actually used the 10", or at £1,000 cheaper is the 8" F/10 better for planets and the moon ?

Cheers guys

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astroeddie

astroeddie

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EDIT ............. LINK REMOVED ...............................

£100 cheaper with a mount.

These scopes look the bizz. I'm away for 5 months at sea from 6th Dec, so it'll be sat awaiting my return.

Eddie

BTW .... cracking websites. Love those planetary images. Knocks the socks off what my C11 offered.

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