TAL 100RS Diagonal

[lhuchison]

I,v finally managed to get a Tal 100RS, i,v been after one for some time. Bought it second hand but Its unused and came with finder and diagonal .

Just wondering if the diagonal is any good in comparison to a mid range sky watcher one? the diagonal is a heavy lump!

I,m going to use it on my EQ5. Any advise on best size eye pieces and weither to use the tal barlow i have?

I plan on using a 7mm and 18mm would the 7mm with a 2x barlow be too much magnification for it,s 100mm diameter ? i hear they can take quite a bit of mag.

[Astro_Baby]

Relax...its a great diagonal and you can collimate it too which is rare in a 1.25 diagonal.

By the way to TAL users everywhere....I found a an eyepiece which wont come to focus in the TAL 100 RS I own.....its the Nagler 31mm. It needs a bit more in focus than the TAL can provide. Luckily I own an ES 30mm which is fine in the TAL.

[Marki]

Nice scope indeed . The Tal diagonal is a nice piece of kit, and is also separately collimatable. The finder is excellent for its size too. The scope sits well on an EQ5 (I have the same set-up), and the TAL x2 barlow is also excellent for its price range. In terms of eyepieces, the 6.3mm plossl that comes with the scope isn't so good, but the 25mm is perfecetly good. If I were starting again I'd get a wideangle eyepiece at c. 30mm or more, and something at the 8-15mm range (a BST type maybe). You'll love the views this scope gives - unbeatable in its aperture class and price range .

[nightfisher]

Another vote for the Tal 100 plus diagonal, BST explorer ep`s work very well with the tal, the 12mm is a good one as it will barlow to 6mm

[lhuchison]

Thanks guys , cant wait for a clear night so i can test it. It certainly looks the part , real old school elegance.

[Qualia]

...real old school elegance.

Ay, I'd have to agree. I've been having a wonderful time with the Tal 100rs - even from my sickly LP skies. Just as the others have said, the diagonal is the business and apart from having a smaller field of view, I think you'll find that the 25mm Tal Plossl functions just as well as your 25mm X-Cel LX. The 6mm is fine - especially has it comes with the scope - but will be nothing like your 7mm X-cel in terms of quality. The finderscope is an excellent bit of kit but in the end I needed to change mine due to i) having mental problems constanly flipping the inverted image it gave me in relation to those of my star maps and ii) I also needed something a little bigger to help me star hop about in the city.

We've more or less got the same kind of set up and you'll find the X-Cel series go really nicely with the Tal. The 18mm and 25mm are my main work horses which can be nicely barlowed for Jupiter, Lunar work et al. When viewing something like Jupiter, especially at around 150x to 200x, or the sun, you may note a smidge of CA, personally, such a thing doesn't bother me, but a light yellow or blue filter does wonders - effectively eliminating all traces. As Mark suggests, I think it'll also be worth our time in the future to go for something in the range of 30x.

You've probably already read the reviews and the critiques of the Tal 100rs, but to all extent and purposes, you've got yourself a really nice but of kit. It seems to perform almost as equally well as something like the ED100. It seems to be one of those fracs people regret selling on and is no doubt one of - if not - the best achromatic-quality-to-price telescopes on the market. It works fine of something like an EQ-5, especially if you need a steady mount for detailed observations or making measurements but if you wanted something for an even quicker, lighter, set up and go, especially if you're playing about betwen limited time and clouds, you might want to look into purchasing an AZ-4.

Here's a pic of the Tal sitting atop the AZ-4 (note the telrad tied on) up in the mountains this summer:

[Marki]

That looks great on the AZ4, rob. Do you find the telrad that helpful alongside the other finder?

[lhuchison]

Thanks Qualia, some useful tips there. I like your right angled finder, very nice! I have a Rigel quikfinder tied on to mine, so i can get the right position.

All in all, very pleased with my purchase.

[Hex]

Great scope, diagonal is sound, bomb proof I would have thought

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Qualia]

Do you find the telrad that helpful alongside the other finder?

Without the viewfinder, I'd be lost, so in this sense the Telrad isn't an absolute necessity. However, what is does do is speed up my work here in the city. In tandem witth the 9x50, the only obstacles to finding what I want to find are now out of my control. Namely, LP washing out constellations and the Tal's own light-grasp ability.

[nightfisher]

I have started using a 2" diagonal with my 100rs and a Revelation 42mm superwide ep @23x mag, its really good for sweeping the heavens with and viewing clusters