Telrad v Rigel Quikfinder

[ramstar]

Pro's & Cons please?

[Moonshane]

broadly :

Telrad better but bigger

Rigel almost as good but smaller.

There's little difference if you get the Rigel with the battery option (essential I feel) but if you have room on your scope a Telrad is what I'd always go for.

[rory]

http://stargazerslou...150p-dobsonian/

heres a thread .

in basic terms they both do a great job. telrad has the extra outer circle (4%) ? cant be sure. where as the rigel has two circles.

smaller footprint for rigel as telrad is rather big,but its light and battery runs for a zillion years.

heres a good comparison

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=821

(mods, is it okay to link another forum like this ?) dont want a cause a scene ?

[RikM]

Almost nothing in it.

Telrad is bigger footprint and low to the scope unless mounted on a riser but has 0.5, 2 and 4° circles.

Rigel is smaller footprint but naturally a convenient height for viewing, only 0.5 and 2° circles.

I use Rigels because my first scope was a tiddler and FLO didn't stock Telrads at that time. I have a couple of them and 4 or 5 bases spread about my telescopes. I switch them about depending on what equipment I am using. I find them very comfortable to use, even the button cell batteries last years so I feel no need to switch to the Telrad.

[ramstar]

My scope is a Dobs200 so I would guess it's big enough to take the larger Telrad? Are they both easy to fit?

[Moonshane]

for that scope the Telrad is perfect I think. I have one on the one I use for my school's space club. both use (very) sticky double sided foam strips and if applied properly and left for 24 hours they never come off.

[rory]

telrad is fine on a 8". very easy fit. double sided tape.

[spaceboy]

I've had a couple telrads but switched over to Rigels as I simply prefer the smaller foot print. Both do a similar job as has been said so it's basically down to personal preference and having a scope big enough for a telrad if that's the way you intend to go. On another note and in my personal opinion I felt the rigel has a more of a feel of quality to it than the telrad.

[Moonshane]

On another note and in my personal opinion I felt the rigel has a more of a feel of quality to it than the telrad.

I feel the complete opposite Nick. vive la difference!! as they say in Denmark.

[ollypenrice]

I have two Telrads in commercial use. The older one is now, I think, twelve years old. It's still perfect. I'd call that quality...

Olly

[spaceboy]

As I said guy it's just my personal opinion and I'm sure there are for and againt both camps. I know what you are saying regards quality and I may have chose my words wrong. My reference was more so to the the feeling you got that first time you laid eyes on the Telrad after you had just parted with £35 ...... that one of is that it ?!?!? The rather oversized black plastic box that looked more suited to coming out of an airfix kit. I don't deny it does it's job very well is durable and intended to last. It should not matter what the package looks like that it comes in but I just felt the Rigel seemed like it has a better overall fit and finish. Not excessively over sized, adjusters neatly situated, OK still the same kind of plastic feel to it but nothing excessive and at least some effort was made at preventing dew.

[ramstar]

Went ahead and bought the Telrad but now I've read that you can get an extension

Piece which sets it off away from the scope -is this correct?

[Moonshane]

sure is http://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/telrad-riser.html

[rory]

i bought a 4" riser plate for the telrad,thought it would make positioning more comfortable when useing it,not sure if it works or not to be honest.

[Lorne]

Never tried the Rigel finder but after using my Telrad, the double sided tape has been superceded by screws to permanently fix it to my scope. Simple concept but so effective