Telrad Placement on a Dob

[scarp15]

I enjoyed superb conditions last night, experiencing first light with my new dob. For this initial session, I temporarily taped the telrad base plate to the OTA.

On my previous dobsonion, I removed the finder scope bracket and located my telrad in this position. I will not be doing this with the 14", instead combining occasional use of finder, whilst the telrad is my main locator tool. I like to centre the telrad quite close to the focuser for convenience, as it is used quite extensively and frankly, not just for locating, but for continual location checking, mapping a mental picture and if required between changing eyepieces. I use a 4" riser. So I am still to decide whether or not to place the telrad aligned close to the focuser, or to the right of the finder and thus further away.

Out of interest where do you like to best position your telrad?

[arrayschism]

Hello Iain,

Similarly enjoyed excellent conditions last night - I tried a telrad on my new (your old) scope last night, also similarly on a 4" riser.

For now I have decided to mount the telrad right on top of the scope (at 12 o'clock, if you prefer).

This is because I am using the telrad for general placement first, followed by the finder for detailed (and magnified) location second.

Makes sense to me, anyway

[Moonshane]

on all three of my scopes, the Telrad is the other side of the finder. I use mine differently. initial placement only and then I am straight into the finder (RACI) for hopping to the target. my skies are poor at home though so the optical finder is essential.

[scarp15]

Thanks for that Chris and Shane and its good to know that you had excellent conditions to, for your first light.

That's perhaps my point really, in that I have become quite exclusively reliant on telrad coupled with low power wide field finder eyepiece, that the finder scope simply gets ignored. What I might aim to do is to, as you both have mentioned, is to employ an integral function to both finder and telrad.

Typically, I prefer to travel to a dark site rather than set up at home, therefore star hopping is not so bad as the 'finder' stars are perhaps a bit more apparent. Positioning, using the finder scope would be applicable, in particular when searching at a lower elavation if the sky condition is poor. Also it might save time on hard to locate objects in which the finder scope would read a more expansive star pattern than an eyepiece is capable of.

[JamesF]

I have the the telrad on the opposite side of the optical finder from the focuser.  The more accurate I want/need to be, the closer I prefer to be to my normal viewing position.

James

[Lorne]

Mine is where the finder scope bracket was, never once looked through a finder since I got the Telrad.

[TractionMan]

]Like this. Sorry for the somewhat blurry pic.

[swamp thing]

I have mine round the same way as most on here, optical finder closest to the focuser Telrad further away.

Telrad is used for rough aligning but I star hop with my RACI finder.

[RikM]

Same here, and for the same reasons (though I use a Rigel rather than a Telrad)