TAL-ly HO!

[Brian Nordstrom]

Hi Brian! Glad you made it alive out of the New Year celebrations. I wish you could bottle up some of that warmth I've been reading about and send it up here. It's f-f-f-f-f-ree-eee---eee-z-z-z-ing here this morning. <teeth chattering>

Yes so much gear to get Brian, and so little time!

Unfortunately, out here in Norway there are next to no TALs - and certainly no stockists, so when going to the UK I'll make every opportunity to take back what I can. After 31st Jan, I don't know when I will next be back, but I will have plenty to keep me going! In any case, smaller items can be posted out to me.

Incidentally, the car sailed through its MOT check yesterday - I normally put aside a few hundred quid for various things that need putting right (I am not a car mechanic in any way shape or form and have to rely on the exhorbitant car service fees - mainly labour charges - when things need putting right) ... so my screwy way of budgeting means I feel I have "gained" some money for other things.

How bad and irresponsible does that sound?

Yea I made it , but hell it took a few days to come right , Canadian Club whiskey does it !!!! .

You need to send some of that BRRRR ! down here , its horribly hot and 95% humidity makes it feel like 50 degrees ,, awful .

Straight thru the MOT , well done mate .

Talk soon .

Brian.

[AndyH]

To continue the general randomness...........

I've done various scribbilings over the months and years. Might be of interest?

If anyone ever fancied machining up a sliding dewshield mod for a Tal 100 frac, these rough drawings might help.

Fancy machining up some fancy, schmancy, aluminium tension/lock knobs, for the Tal MT-1 mounts? Get the knob end knurled for general lovleyness. Excuse the lots of nonsense writings by me. As you can see, not only do I talk to myself in my head, but on paper too

This one is a bit of a reach, but if you fancy making your own Tube cradles, out of 1" thick square alu plate(each box=5mm)..........

All the above are just my thoughts scribbled down, so I haven't checked them for 100% accuracy, but hopefully it might give someone a general idea to go for.

Andy.

[TonyD]

Yummilicious Andy.

We've got to see if we can get a dedicated TAL area.

I can see other bands of stargazers saying " 'ere! What about my Skywatcher?" or "What about my Vixen?".

... but it's just not TAL, is it?

Tony

[AndyH]

A lot of the stuff we talk about and that stuff I just posted could easily be transposed to any other make of scope.

I just love chatting about scopes n stuff. Well it's always cloudy, so what on earth else am I to do ??

[TonyD]

Well it's always cloudy, so what on earth else am I to do ??

Move to the Sahara Desert?

[AndyH]

Move to the Sahara Desert?

Yuch. Too warm and lots of nasty beasties.

I like the dark and cold. I'm weird that way. I despise the summer.

[TonyD]

Autumn is my favourite season. I love the smell of the rotting leaves and mushrooms.

Oh, and the stars start peeking out earlier and earlier when it's not overcast

[TonyD]

This I must add to my collecton :grin:

[Marki]

This I must add to my collecton :grin:

That had me laughing out loud

[nightfisher]

Hi TAL Tony,

In my world if a car sails through it's MOT is money saved.

Saved money = money to spend.

Eye up a TAL 200K. You know you want too........

cheers

Steve

For gods sake dont give Tony idea`s, how will he get 2 Tal 100`s, a telementor and a 200k back with him, :grin:

[Brian Nordstrom]

Why not? I know , I would if I could afford it ..

Brian.

[TonyD]

Why not? I know , I would if I could afford it ..

Brian.

The problem is when you do even if you can't!

Tony

[StarSteve]

Would someone care to explain to me what all the TAL enthusiasm is about?

I look at their scopes and I see an undersized newton, a couple of slow achros with no particular merits and a few grossly overpriced cass.

Obviously you see something different. What exactly?

Steve

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Would someone care to explain to me what all the TAL enthusiasm is about?

I look at their scopes and I see an undersized newton, a couple of slow achros with no particular merits and a few grossly overpriced cass.

Obviously you see something different. What exactly?

Steve

The Klevtsov Cassegrain design is rather special, see review here

These Russian scopes are built like tanks, which is another part of their appeal.

[StarSteve]

The Klevtsov Cassegrain design is rather special, see review here

These Russian scopes are built like tanks, which is another part of their appeal.

Hm... an unusual cass design with different trade-offs and extra heavy(-duty).

Ok, that explains why they exists, doesn't quite explain the waves of enthusiasm

Steve

[TonyD]

Hmmm.

Following on from Michael's post, a three or so more musings from someone who cannot make an informed decision, not having owned anything else and only having spent a short time with a TAL-100R:

1. http://www.lada-owners-club.co.uk/index.html ... maybe not the best comparison, but there is something that attracts people to certain things that leaves other people just scratching their heads. TALs go with my personality

2. Many members of the SGL community who are not particularly TAL-oriented but have owned and evaluated many different scopes often lament about the TAL-100R or RS they got rid of. I wonder why?

3. I may have missed something, but I simply have not read a bad review of a TAL. At worst I have heard that the competition has caught up with TAL in terms of optical quality for equivalent instruments. The only other thing that plagues TALs is the rough finish or poor quality control (eg dusty elements).

4. I am a bit of a klutz and I need to have something that could cope with a bit of banging around (not that I intend to handle my instruments with anything but TLC)

[StarSteve]

Hmmm.

Following on from Michael's post, a three or so more musings from someone who cannot make an informed decision, not having owned anything else and only having spent a short time with a TAL-100R:

1. http://www.lada-owne...o.uk/index.html ... maybe not the best comparison, but there is something that attracts people to certain things that leaves other people just scratching their heads. TALs go with my personality

Funny you should say that because "Lada" was in fact my instinctive thought as I noticed the TAL enthusiasm

Perhaps not a bad analogue at all. People who love their Ladas do so for the feeling of having taken a different path, of refusing the sensible mainstream in favour of the original. Or something like that.

Not a bad reason actually. Astro-gear discussions tend to be too clinical in my opinion. One could argue that emotional reasons are behind most equipment decisions (though they may be rationalised with numbers after the fact) without being far from the truth.

Steve

[Peter Drew]

As another Tal 100RS owner I think I could add that the low price for the high optical quality is another attractive feature.

[StarSteve]

As another Tal 100RS owner I think I could add that the low price for the high optical quality is another attractive feature.

Well, that on the other hand is the sort of argument I don't buy at all.

Low price for high optical quality? Does a 152mm Klevtsov-cass really offer more bang for the buck than a 200mm Schmidt-cass?

Nope. Anyone who wish to argue that would have to provide better evidence than another CN "OMG my new scope is awesome"-review

Steve

[Peter Drew]

Having found the Tal to optically match other 4" refractors that cost a lot more, my comment is certainly valid to me. A gree with your CN comment though.

[StarSteve]

Having found the Tal to optically match other 4" refractors that cost a lot more, my comment is certainly valid to me. A gree with your CN comment though.

Fair enough. If you have compared and found them superior in price and/or performance that is certainly a valid reason for you. Not sure it explains the TAL-enthusiasm in general though

Steve

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The Kletvzov-Cassegrain design needs much less cooling down than the Mak-Cass (or the SCT), due to its open tube. For very large scopes the weight of the corrector plate is reduced, because it does not have to be full aperture. This improves the balance of the scope. You should really compare them to a Vixen VMC, which has a similar design (and a very similar price tag). The price is also similar to many RC designs (some of which are horrendously expensive).

Regarding bang for buck: look at the Intes Maks: they are WAY more expensive than the Skywatcher offerings, but have a loyal following. Why? Optical excellence. While the Skymax line is very good value for money indeed, the Intes offer higher optical quality, at a much higher price. I could still argue the value for money is good (it is just at a different quality point).

Whether you want to pay that is quite another matter.

[TonyD]

I don't know if, apart from being Russian, Lada is the right analogy........ I feel myself from those having used 4" refractors that TALs can hold their own much more against the competition than just being for a group of people investing in a form of romanticism.

But your post seemed to eloquently reflect the sentiments I have for my TALs

Tony

[StarSteve]

Not sure the Intes mak-newtons are a good analogy, as I understand it they are mostly popular with the AP crowd for a flat field and as such they don't compete with pedestrian SW newts. Same with Ritchey-cretien designs. But for general visual use there is a reason that the schmidt-cass is common, I think.

But I don't want to side-track the thread any more than I have and I feel my question has been answered: some consider the refractors good value (let's call that the "Skoda-factor") and some like the style and feel (the "Lada-factor"). That would explain the enthusiasm As for the "this or that exotic design almost nobody use is so superior" argument... I don't know.

Steve

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Intes Mak-Newts are not a good analogy, which is why I spoke of Mak-Cassegrain designs from Intes.