Telrads? Are they all that?

[knobby]

Hi all

I see loads of talk of Telrads on here ... what is so good about them?

Preach to me!

[umadog]

http://www.company7.com/telrad/products/telrad.html

[swamp thing]

Every single review of them I can find is positive. Try typing, Telrad review, into google, pick any one and read it.

No need to add anything more IMO

[Moonshane]

simple really, they work, they are robust, the batteries last ages (even if you leave them on for days) and they are user friendly. the only downside is they look daft / won't fit very small scopes and are sometimes hard to find new.

[Viv]

As everyone has said they do the job & do it well !

Unlike a finder scope, there is no magnification. I had lots of troubles aligning & finding with the stanard finder - no problems with the Telrad.

Even managed to fit it onto my ED80.

[rory]

i had one of those poor finders that come with astromasters, really poor, so i made do with my lowest powered eyepiece to act as a finder. now although it found me objects alot of the time,it would take me along time to locate . once i had a telrad however it put me in the area within a couple of seconds and often right on the money !

id recomend to anyone. how good they would be in a very light polluted area though ,im not so sure ? as they work on a hopping principle,and if you cant see many stars ,youve not alot to go on.

[ollypenrice]

A circle, as given by a Telrad, produces a visual scale on the sky. A dot is just a dot. I also have two that are over ten years old and going strong.

Olly

[farunj]

I have a doubt. Do you need to align the telrad to your scope or u just stick the telrad onto the scope and view??

[Tinker1947]

You get your Telrad, then download the free maps, the download Stellarium (its free) and use the in-built Telrad Option, and like Olly says his are over 10 years old, and properly on the same battery....

[Tinker1947]

I have a doubt. Do you need to align the telrad to your scope or u just stick the telrad onto the scope and view??

It needs to be aligned when the base is first attached , but once done its accurate if its taken on and off, i have 2 bases on my reflector, swap the Telrad from one to the other depending on its viewing angle, its accurate in either.

[Capricorn]

In the realms of finders it is a case of what you get along with.

Some have no problems with the supplied item - wahtever type it is.

If you do not get on with the supplied then you have to locate one that suits you, it seems that many like the telrad. Mainly I suspect because of the lack of magnification. At least what comes through the telrad matches what you see if you simply look, easy to correlate then 2 views that way.

I have a doubt. Do you need to align the telrad to your scope or u just stick the telrad onto the scope and view??

Consider the extreme case of putting it on upside down, as is pointing donwards.

If it didn't need aligning then it would still work in that position.

[RikM]

I have a doubt. Do you need to align the telrad to your scope or u just stick the telrad onto the scope and view??

You stick it on your scope as straight as you can get it, then there are three little knobs to align the red circles to the view though your eyepiece. It works just the same way as aligning a optical finderscope except you really only have to do it once. I use the smaller Rigel QuikFinder which is just as good but a better fit for smaller scopes. They are both fantastic bits of kit. Without doubt the most useful accessory I ever bought.

[Ganymede12]

Most of the time I've heard about Telrad's they have been attached to a scope with either a sticky pad or tied to the scope with rope, but on FLO it say's there are screw holes, so could I attach it to my Mercury 707 with the screw holes or are they designed for the screws of different telescopes?

[farunj]

Ah so thats how it works!! Thanks a lot for the clarification!!

[knobby]

Blimey ... its the Telrad fan club ! not a single negative view

If i'd goolgled the original quetion, yes I would have got similar answers probably, but not from peole that I have grown to trust and 'love' even over the past few months.

thanks again to the Mods and all the forum members for making this 'the place to be' when it comes to Astro advice !

....... skulks off to FLO looking for a Telrad or Rigel ........

Oooh oooh Idea for another new thread ' Telrad or Rigel' ? can't decide

[farunj]

Blimey ... its the Telrad fan club ! not a single negative view

If i'd goolgled the original quetion, yes I would have got similar answers probably, but not from peole that I have grown to trust and 'love' even over the past few months.

thanks again to the Mods and all the forum members for making this 'the place to be' when it comes to Astro advice !

Perfectly put!! I agree totally!! All the mods and even the members are so encouraging!! Delights me!!

[Naemeth]

Some people do use both a Telrad and a Right-Angled Finderscope. I've also not heard of a bad review of the Telrad, it provides scale (as others' have said) to a sky you cannot quickly and accurately determine in your head, or even with Stellarium, by printing out Telrad maps, you could find anything you needed to just by counting the circles. Much better than a red-dot in a finder, which is very difficult to find something that isn't visible by the naked eye. The 8 Messiers I have found each probably took 10-30 minutes each to find, and I anticipate a Telrad will make things much easier.

_{I don't have personal experience of a Telrad by the way, but have used the Telrad Occular Plugin on Stellarium .}

[Astro Imp]

Great piece of kit, really helps to put you on or very close to your target, also can't believe how long the battery lasts

[JamesM]

+1 for the Telrad and as Rik has said the Rigel QuikFinder looks better on smaller scopes and works in a similar way. I agree with many here that combine the Telrad with a right angled finder, a serious finder combo those two!

Ganymede12, yes there are holes provided but some decent sticky pads will be sufficient to hold it onto the scope and to allow you change its position/transfer to another scope without having to mark the tube.

James

[Ganymede12]

I prefer to use the holes. I feel that the sticky pads won't last long, that they'll lose their stickiness.

Any one have a photo of the base, showing the holes that should allow me to attach one to my scope?

[Stardust]

As a temporary install I used cable ties, that was 2 years ago and still ok, not pretty but saves marking the ota

[Moonshane]

you'd need to drill two holes in the tube to use the holes on the base. they are on the midline about a third in from either end.

[Moonshane]

there's absolutely no reason not to use the sticky pads.

[Ganymede12]

Those hole's aren't in the right position!

[Moonshane]

the right position for what? do you mean your current finder?