Russian or Chinese?

[UD4L Cheyenne dropship]

(Que the sweet music in the background, mood lighting up) every experience with my TAL has been great lol.

I remember when all the boxes arrived a couple of years back, i opened the box and was greeted with a pristine white rolled steel ota, TAL branding all bright and flash on the side, once i finished gawping i set it all up (mine is on a CG5, not the pillar GEM)

I found myself at that scary point, checking collimation. It was near spot on, even after the journey it had undertaken to get to my lil patch.

I spent the next few nights out in the yard swinging the TAL this way and that way (as you do) every session collimation was checked and nothing had budged at all. Good times.

Then, a heart attack moment, i left the ota in the kitchen whilst i set the mount up out back, a horrid sickening bang i heard from indoors, the boy had knocked the ota over. One was not amused. A quick set up and colli check…… nothing! The only evidence of the knock over, a tiny scratch and the year off my life. In short…… the TAL is a tough cookie that holds collimation very well.

On to views.

First off, the moon.

i was very pleased with what the TAL showed considering it is a widefield scope, it shows high mags very well with great contrast which would be further bumped up if the ota had been flocked (which ive not got around to yet)

Mars was close so i gave that a go with the supplied TAL plossls, a 25mm and a 7.5mm, again, great views. A red/hue with dark markings and polar cap. Fine detail.

Pleades, managed to see faints wisps of nebulosity which was awesome and quite unexpected.

Orion, shocked to get colour! Greeny blue hues.

I could go on and on, needless to say, i am most happy with the 150P. The only time i get aperture fever is when ive not had the TAL out for a couple of weeks. As soon as i do, the burn is gone and im more than content with 150mm.

I am always in awe with what i see through the TAL, even if i have seen it many times before.

The TAL150p is a great deep sky telescope and not shabby on the planets either. In my opinion, it is a great all rounder that is easy to shift around, set ip and use and it will last a lifetime.… what am i saying? Its a TAL! Its designed that way

thanks for the mini review of the tal-150p nick...perhaps you should publish one in the relevent section of this web site???

[UD4L Cheyenne dropship]

relevant......tut spelling..............

[Blazar]

TALs are superb....I too looked at the Skywatcher 200p explorer....had it all planned out, came on here for the first time, and did the usual welcome mail, and somone asked if I had considered a TAL....nope.....then started digging...everyone who has one loves them, I then went down to a local resource center....the owner must have about 4-5 TALs....

Had a look, and my mind was made up....Bought one (RS), it arrived damaged.....vendor sent a second one....arrived fine. In the meantime I had seen a 100R in its box etc with mount....and TonyD talked me into getting it ( thanks Tone)...

Went out first with the R and I was blown away...you can get lost in the craters....Jupiter amazing, and Orion was just stunning...the RS is 'almost as good ;-)....so went for 1 scope, now got two!

I hope you enjoy whatever you decide...clear skies

[cotterless45]

Every Tal that I have looked through has been awesome. The Plossl, Barlow and the finder scope included,

Nick.

[UD4L Cheyenne dropship]

One of the reasons why I keep looking at the 200p dob is because of the 1.25" 2" fittings on the focuser..and its ability to take a t-piece for what ever dslr you own..in my case a pentax kx which is k mount...you dont see much video of photographs being taken using the Tal 150p..and the reviews vary..some say that the tals use unconvential fittings for focuser and ep's...others say the the Tal is supplied with an older type pentax screw fit ring for using with older pentax slr cameras...now dont get me wrong...not looking to do deep space photography here...havent got loads of money...as I suggested at the begining of this thread..my main target is the moon...perhaps have a pop at the gas giants...I know there are limits with a DOB or the TAL..its just not knowing what is compatible with the TAL thats the problem.....somewhere on SGL there is supposed to be a TAL reflector/user group...cant find it...any ideas any one?

[AndyH]

Some of the better Tal 150P pics I've seen on a dealers website here....

http://www.apm-teles...-Telescope.html

Just noticed them last night as I was searching around the web. I don't have anything to do with the above company or anything. Just pure chance tha I read your message #30 and a light clicked on

Hopefully the pics explain what you get.

I'll have a look about for some pics taken through a 150P.

Andy.

ps: Tal moved from 32mm accessories(focusers, eyepieces etc) to standard 1.25"/31.75mm ones, in the mid to late 90's. So as long as the scope isn't really old, there should be no problems.

[UD4L Cheyenne dropship]

with out question the 150p looks like an astounding bit of kit...but the scant amount of pictures on the web of objects imaged through it suggest its a viewing scope not a photography scope..which is fine...not talking myself out of it..havent found one picture of the moon taken through a tal..and that cant be that hard.....its design must be a few decades old...but that is also part of the attraction....yep..my head is a mess!! LOL...thanks for the link to the german site...they have some really nice pictures there of the 150p...have seen it before...when you see the range of scopes that TAL make and the number that uk suppliers stock its seems a great pity that more are not readily available..most of the online suppliers will get you a 150p but it appears its a special order...perhaps the margins they make on the russian scopes is not as great as the far eastern ones??.....

[UD4L Cheyenne dropship]

P.S......looks like you have a bit of a TAL fetish going on the andy...... :-)

[AndyH]

There is a Finnish chap who has used the 150P for astrophotography. I'll have a hunt and try n remember where his page is.

[nicnac]

First images i found, i found when i typed "images with a TAL 150P" in the google search engine (images) there are a few there that lead to sites

[UD4L Cheyenne dropship]

My first experience at a retailers has been something of a let down..really was disappointed at lack of customer service... Not impressed at all... Will do My shopping online from now on.....

[nicnac]

I get most of my gear from first light optics (sponsor of this site) they have a link at the top of the site (desktop version)

[UD4L Cheyenne dropship]

Yes I will have a look nicnak....one thing I did find out..there are only two shipments of tal pet year...there is no confirmed date when next one is...don't know if other stores are in same boat..may be some time before I get the scope I would like....never mind, back to the binoculars....