TAL100RT vs TAL100RS?

[Stardust]

I'd go for the RS, great focusser, mine has purple coatings whilst my friends are green.

I can't use a 2" diagonal though.

I've still had my finest views of jupiter with this scope.

[nightfisher]

I'd go for the RS, great focusser, mine has purple coatings whilst my friends are green.

I can't use a 2" diagonal though.

I've still had my finest views of jupiter with this scope.

How strange, my Rs takes a 2" diagonal and comes to focus with my only 2" ep, a revelation 42mm superview

My Tal is outside cooling for a view of Jupiter

[AndyH]

2 years back i got a tal 100rs for an early xmas pressie....................Me to Me gift

I've done that too.

BUT

I always wrap em(after giving em a test drive) and write...........

'To my great friend, Andy ............. Lots of love, Santa.'

True story.

I'm certifiable, I know. Peter Pan syndrome.

I love xmas.

Andy.

[nightfisher]

That case will need one hell of a lot of wrapping paper.

I'd speak to the Mrs and confirm that Santa hasn't added a excess size n weight charge.

Oh i could not resist, im in so much trouble now if you dont like it i will remove it, just my childish humour

[Astro_Baby]

The only eyepiece that wont come to focus in my TAL 100RS that I have triedis the Nagler 31. The skywatcher Panaview 38mm was very close with just barely enough in focus. Everything else has worked fine with a 2"diagonal. The ES30 82" comes to focus as well but not the Nagler ........the Nagler was borrowed to test it.

[twotter]

After a very tiring shift at work I've just helped Mrs Twotter carry a very big and heavy wooden box into the house. If Santa is reading this then I definitely did not have a look inside to make sure everything was in it's rightful place!

Pics to follow in due course....

[Stardust]

How strange, my Rs takes a 2" diagonal and comes to focus with my only 2" ep, a revelation 42mm superview

It was really annoying when I found out the Pentax's wouldn't focus with the 2" as I was at a star party and hadn't brought the 1.25" diagonal with me! They will work ok in the 1.25". Maybe my tube is a little longer.

[twotter]

Haven't managed a first light yet but my TAL100R is set up downstairs in our shady conservatory. It's clearly been well looked after with just a few touch ups to the OTA paint, and some buckling on the tripod tabs which mount the eyepiece holder. Everything works and goes together well. It all 'feels' very robust so I'm very happy with it. Only thing I want to do is to clean the diagonal as it's rather dusty, but I'm going to wait until after I've used it, to see if it's an issue.

Otherwise I've just aligned the finderscope on a distant telegraph pole and used the TAL 25mm plossl, and my Hyperions, all of which came to focus

Now I'm looking forward to viewing Jupiter and the Moon, so fingers crossed for clear skies tonight!

[TonyD]

Hello Mr Twotter,

Been following this thread with interest. I now have a TAL 100R residing in Edinburgh awaiting collection soon by me and I am figuring out a plan to get it back to Norway on RyanAir together with the original wooden tripod assembly and original TAL GEM EQ mount. Lots of interesting help from several members of this community. Now you've unwrapped your 100R would it be possible to help out by making one or two measurements to ensure that differences in the tube lengths of the 100R and 100RS don't result in things not packing the way they should (trying to have it all planned in advance to minimise unpleasant surprises).

Here is the link to the other thread.

Any help much appreciated! Cheers!

Tony

[AndyH]

Haven't managed a first light yet but my TAL100R is set up downstairs in our shady conservatory. It's clearly been well looked after with just a few touch ups to the OTA paint, and some buckling on the tripod tabs which mount the eyepiece holder. Everything works and goes together well. It all 'feels' very robust so I'm very happy with it. Only thing I want to do is to clean the diagonal as it's rather dusty, but I'm going to wait until after I've used it, to see if it's an issue.

Otherwise I've just aligned the finderscope on a distant telegraph pole and used the TAL 25mm plossl, and my Hyperions, all of which came to focus

Now I'm looking forward to viewing Jupiter and the Moon, so fingers crossed for clear skies tonight!

Now that's most excellent info.

Of all the specifications manufacturers give out regarding their eyepieces, info regarding need of extra infocus etc is pretty non existant. Folks with telescope designs that have limited infocus, need this info badly. Simple, old designs like kellners, orthos & plossls(usually Erfles & Konigs are fine too) shouldn't give any problem, but the jury's out when we talk about complex modern multi element eyepieces.

The fact that your Hyperions work on the very limited Tal 100 R focuser, has that design/brand jumping a few knotches on my interest list !!

Many thanks for reporting that.

Andy.

[TonyD]

Could anyone help me understand the differences between these two telescopes please?

I think it comes down to different coatings on the optics (purple on the RT and pale green on the RS) & a different focuser (1.25" on the RT and a crayford 2" on the RS), but I'm not totally sure. Also interested if I should choose one over the other?

Thanks.

It's like that Blues Brothers quote "Oh we have both types of music, country and western"

If I'm asked what kind of telescope I have, I'll just say "Both. An R and an RS"

[as if nothing else on the planet exists telescope-wise]

Tony

[twotter]

A quick update for my Tal-unian comrades. Courtesy of FLO I have two new astro items to try and I've just come back inside after a very brief look through thin clouds at Jupiter...

Good news!

AZ-4 mount - as Nightfisher and many others have told me, this mount suits the TAL very well. Simpler than a simple thing to set up, balance and use. With the legs fully extended I can comfortably observe whilst sat on my camping stool. I like it!

Bad news!

Baader 31mm Hyperion Aspheric - with the 1.25" fitting it looked good in the diagonal, but I've found an eyepiece that won't come to focus in a 100R. At best Jupiter was a yellow blurry disc with no sign of it's line of moons. Not a major drama as I'm sure it will be fine, in both 2" & 1.25" formats, in my 200P dob, but it might be interesting to see if it might come to focus in a 100RS???

[TonyD]

I was tempted with getting an AZ mount, but I have plumped for the GEMs because of my location - my house is north-south facing (almost to a degree!) and I am a tad under 60° north, so the mount is really easy to roughly set up fairly accurately with no real alignment effort. I have tracked Jupiter around the RA axis with the TAL 2M in the 10mm for a long, long time and it doesn't drift out. I've really impressed myself, even

So I am going to have my HEQ5 syntrek by next weekend.

Roll on more bad weather...

Clear Skies

Tony

[nightfisher]

I was tempted with getting an AZ mount, but I have plumped for the GEMs because of my location - my house is north-south facing (almost to a degree!) and I am a tad under 60° north, so the mount is really easy to roughly set up fairly accurately with no real alignment effort. I have tracked Jupiter around the RA axis with the TAL 2M in the 10mm for a long, long time and it doesn't drift out. I've really impressed myself, even

So I am going to have my HEQ5 syntrek by next weekend.

Roll on more bad weather...

Clear Skies

Tony

I have yet to try my 100rs on the HEQ5 syntrek,, but it should be a rock solid set up

[Astro_Baby]

It will be rock solid on an HEq5 thats what I use and the scope really shines proving that a solid mojnt is worth an inch of aperture.