Query regarding the appropriateness of a Telrad finder for my Dob

[Hole in the Sky]

Hello everyone,

I've been observing for a little while now, but have not had the smoothest of rides with the optical finder that was included with the Skyliner 200P dob i bought through FLO.

I was looking at the Telrad finder, and i have two questions that i would like to ask you:

1. Will it fit in my current mounting / is the included mounting a simple fit?
   
2. I've read that it's quite heavy, especially when compared with others in the category (such as the Rigel). Will it still be of a practical weight so as not to unbalance my OTA?
   

Thanks all and i hope to hear from you.

[John]

The Telrad sits on a base which fastens to the tube using adhesive strips. It's very secure. As it does not use your existing finder shoe you can use your current finder alongside the Telrad, which is the optimum arrangement. You can take the Telrad off it's base easily with a couple of screws which are supplied.

A Telrad does not weigh that much - around 300 grams.

Welcome to the forum, by the way

[Hole in the Sky]

Excellent, Thanks John, and thank you for the welcome

[JamesM]

There are also a choice of mounting options which effectively change the height of the Telrad that attach themselves to the base plate john mentioned above which you might also want to consider having a look at here.

James

[umadog]

The Telrad will be awesome with your scope. They're great finders and will get along just fine with an 8". It weighs less than a 2" eyepiece.

[Qualia]

+ 1 for the Telrad. From a city it works well when used in tandem with a 9x50mm correct image viewfinder (RACI), but would be near useless if used only on its own. The Telrad is great for placing the telescope in the correct area and for quickly working out direction and distances, and the finder indispensable for fine tuning your hunt and star hopping. A decent Star Atlas to help guide you is also a must. Obviously, this kind of set up changes in dark skies where on the whole you'll only need the Telrad and a low power EP.

You place and take off the Telrad from its base with two light screws similar to those which tighten up EPs to the telescope. The Telrad's base itself can be stuck straight onto the telescope with the double sided sticky tape included. Personally, I didn't fancy sticking anything to my frac, so three plastic tie straps have been used to tie the base onto the OTA. It works a dream. 100% solid and whenever I fancy, I can just snip away the ties. This is also a good tip, because you can experiment where you feel most comfortable with the Telrad before committing yourself to a more permanent fit. For additional comfort, I have also read that there are Telrad riser bases which give either an extra 2" or 4" height.

I live in Spain, so it's a completely different ball game, but I have read that folk in more northern climates suffer from dew and the Telrad is a particular magnet for moisture. I don't have any solutions to this problem but I'm sure a little soft tissue paper would clear that one up.

There are some great sites about which are essentially Telrad finder maps like this one. Stellarium also has a Telrad finder image which could be useful and for use with a star atlas you can always round a piece of wire to make a ring to the size of one of the Telrad's cirlces (say the 4º one) and place this over the maps to see what will appear in that area.

Hope this helps.

[umadog]

Telrad is a dew magnet but there are solutions:

http://agenaastro.com/telrad-dew-heater.html

http://www.simcoeskies.com/dew/no_can_dew_7.html

http://astronomyasylum.com/telraddewheater.html

There are non-powered solutions also:

http://www.homebuiltastronomy.com/downbino/HomeBuiltAstronomy-TelradDewShield.html

Hope those are helpful for you. You will need to implement one of them or you'll be wiping dew off the reflector glass all night.

[valleyman]

The Telrad is a most have with a dob alongside the supplied Finder.

[astrofox]

You don't mention what your sky quality is like. If your heavily polluted then the Telrad won't show anymore than your eye does. In such circumstances a conventional optical finder will win.

Otherwise a good piece of kit, lightweight so it wont add much to your scope

[paul schofield]

I have never heard a negative review of the telrad. I went for the Rigel and can honestly say, dew has never affected a nights star gazing. The telrad probably won't cause weight problems. The Rigel's weight is negligible. I tossed a coin between the two & the telrad won, but because it was so hard to get hold of then, I bought a Rigel & have not regretted it for a moment.