Telrads? Are they all that?

[Ganymede12]

The holes on my current finder are only about 1 inch apart, as are the screws on the telescope. The holes on the telrad are more than 1 inch apart, much more!

[JohnC]

You could utilise one of the holes that is already there.

This means that you only have to drill one extra hole.

Personally i use the sticky pads.

[rory]

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?

the tape is good stuff. but if you dont want to drill holes in the ota, you can use cable ties

[JohnC]

I have senn someone use long velcro straps as well.

[earth titan]

Does it exactly what it says on the tin.....

[DazC]

Would a telrad be of any use on my scope (see sig)? Or would it be too big/heavy?

D.C

[RikM]

Telrads are big and boxy but not that heavy, you might be okay. I prefer the smaller footprint and taller profile of the Rigel for smaller scopes. I have two of them and bases stuck on all my scopes with the sticky pads. They have been on there for two and a half years so far and show no signs of slipping or loosing stickyness. I have been out in dew so heavy you need scuba gear, I have had a thick layers of ice all over the scope and the bases sit on there while I'm doing solar avi's in 30°C so I would say I've given them every chance to come unstuck but they just work

[sologuitarist61]

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....

Have yet to find the Telrad option in Stellarium, can you point me in the right direction please.

[Naemeth]

Have yet to find the Telrad option in Stellarium, can you oinbt me in the right direction please.

Have you got the Occular Plugin running? It's the one with three circles, and I believe it's the third icon.

[sologuitarist61]

Telrads are big and boxy but not that heavy, you might be okay. I prefer the smaller footprint and taller profile of the Rigel for smaller scopes. I have two of them and bases stuck on all my scopes with the sticky pads.

Sorry, are you saying that you just have the bases stuck onto the tube? Are they in two parts?

[sologuitarist61]

Have you got the Occular Plugin running? It's the one with three circles, and I believe it's the third icon.

Thanks very much :grin:

[Moonshane]

to be honest, the Telrad is pretty light so you might actually get away with using one of the holes and a couple of small tabs of sticky foam. on a refractor, I'd normally recommend adding it at the objective end though.

[RikM]

Sorry, are you saying that you just have the bases stuck onto the tube? Are they in two parts?

The Rigels are and I think the Telrad also. There is a little square base that you stick on the tube and then the actual finder bit clips onto it. It clips very firmly mind!

[Naemeth]

Thanks very much :grin:

I'm not sure if you've used the Occular Plugin before, but you can put in your scope stats and EP stats and you'll be able to see almost exactly what you actually see with your scope!

[knobby]

Thanks for all the replies ... just to clarify, is a telrad still a straight through finder or can it be used as a right angle type ?

[Moonshane]

it's straight through but you can buy an attachment with a mirror to create right angled viewing. I had one and sold it as it did my head in - kept the Telrad though of course.

[RikM]

I think having a right angle mirror for it would defeat the point. You are supposed to look at the sky with one eye and the red circles with the other and your brain works it all out so you see the circles superimposed on the sky. (having just written that, I should say that it is much easier to do than that sounds...you just look through it / at it). If you can't see where you are pointing in the sky, you may as well just get an illuminated cross-hair optical finder. <shudder>

[knobby]

I think having a right angle mirror for it would defeat the point. You are supposed to look at the sky with one eye and the red circles with the other and your brain works it all out so you see the circles superimposed on the sky. (having just written that, I should say that it is much easier to do than that sounds...you just look through it / at it). If you can't see where you are pointing in the sky, you may as well just get an illuminated cross-hair optical finder. <shudder>

Sounds more like a trip than a finder ... I deffo need one now !

[Wobbly Bob]

There are a few bits of software that you can superimpose the telrad bullseye on the map, plus there are a series of charts which also haveb the bullseye on them, a brilliant way to find objects in the sky.

[Astro Imp]

it's straight through but you can buy an attachment with a mirror to create right angled viewing. I had one and sold it as it did my head in - kept the Telrad though of course.

Have to agree, the mirror is a gimmick, I had one and used it once just couldn't see where I was with it.

[sologuitarist61]

Still having trouble with finding the Telrad viewer in Stellarium. It gives four ocular views but these all seem to be single viewpoints as if through an EP. The help blurb says

'You can toggle a Telrad finder; this can only be done when you have not turned on the Ocular view. This feature draws three concentric circles of 0.5°, 2.0°, and 4.0°, helping you see what you would expect to see with the naked eye through the Telrad (or similar) finder.'

But this clearly says not to turn on Ocular view which goes against the opinion given above. Can someone give me the walk-through of how to set this particular function please. :huh:

[JohnC]

Go to the ocular plugin screen.

to the left of the configure button there is one for on screen control panel. Tick the box and then make sure that you save the options.

The screen then appears on the main view and the telrad is the third icon along.

Hope that makes sense.

[sologuitarist61]

Thanks John will give it go.

[Naemeth]

Still having trouble with finding the Telrad viewer in Stellarium. It gives four ocular views but these all seem to be single viewpoints as if through an EP. The help blurb says

'You can toggle a Telrad finder; this can only be done when you have not turned on the Ocular view. This feature draws three concentric circles of 0.5°, 2.0°, and 4.0°, helping you see what you would expect to see with the naked eye through the Telrad (or similar) finder.'

But this clearly says not to turn on Ocular view which goes against the opinion given above. Can someone give me the walk-through of how to set this particular function please. :huh:

Close Stellarium, open it again, click and turn on the Telrad, that's what you see with a Telrad.

[sologuitarist61]

Nope, the only thing I have to the left of the configure button is tick box for 'Load at Start-Up. Am I running the correct version? I have 0-11-1