William Optics Multi-Reticule Red Dot Finder

[m37]

Not had much clear sky to try out my GT-81 properly but I've managed to get the RDF attached and aligned.

First impressions were good. It's very compact but feels good and solid and has a metal feel to it which is much more solid and generally less flexible feeling than other RDFs I have tried.

Price wise it's £59 from FLO so it sits towards the top end of the price range for similar finders, twice as much as the very popular but much larger Telrad which I have been using with great success but mounting it on this scope (very short) would have been tricky without losing the ability to retract the dew shield which is why I went for a smaller design.

The supplied mounting bracket is well made and finished and looks to be well machined with all the holes and slots lined up nicely. The actual finder attaches to a quick release base but I've subsequently removed and replaced it a few times to see if it retains alignment. It does this with surprising accuracy time after time which is handy if you share your RDF over two scopes or if you need to remove it to get it in a case.

Mounting was simple on the GT-81 but only after I emailed Steve at FLO - there were no instrcutions, much like the scope itself. Grrr. The supplied bolts were of excellent quality.

The finder comes with a rubber cover which slips easily over the finder in between targets to keep the dew off. Very useful. Power is from a 3v Lithium 'coin type' battery (supplied) which I imagine will last a very long time.

In use, the finder has 7 brightness settings easily controlled via a wheel with a nice positive click in position. This is also the on/off switch by selecting zero.

There are four different reticules (dot, dot with circle round it, crosshair, crosshair with circle) which are selected by turning a thumb wheel at the back but this one has a little lever on it so it is nice and easy to turn while looking through the finder.

Adjustment is also nicely handled; there are two screws which you can turn with a screwdriver and rather than just turning, they go through a number of very good quality feeling stops. The stops are easy to turn through but also solid enough to be useful. Not sure if having this rather than a wheel is easier, I found the Telrad ones slightly hard to use but I found they adjusted easily and had plenty of travel. You would need a flat screwdriver with you if you took this away from home.

The finder seems less prone to dewing than the Telrad and skywatcher alternatives that I have used although I would need to do a side-by-side comparison to say this definitively. The screen on which the reticule projects is nice and big too, considering the diminutive size of the finder.

I was generally very impressed and would have said this finder is worth the bit extra over other models but I am absolutely baffled as to why William Optics would set the minimum brightness so high. This was the case with the skywatcher one I used to use but that was very cheap indeed. Obviously this is a matter of personal taste but I tend to have my red dots very dim indeed, in even slightly light polluted skies the dimmest setting would still be way too bright in my opinion and as all four reticules have that dot in the centre I found it very difficult to use on stars and even Jupiter. This really lets down an otherwise brilliant and well made product. The advertising blurb says "Seven different brightness adjustments make it suitable for any lighting condition, including daylight." which I struggle to agree with. Certainly daylight would be more than amply covered but are the majority of Telescope users going to be using this in daylight? I mean, if you can't find the sun without a red dot finder... A switch to halve the brightness of all settings would be absolutely fantastic and would make this a perfect product.

Because of the quality, size and solid fit I decided to keep the finder and simply fixed a piece of old negative over the reticule window which has roughly halved the brightness. I am now running it on '2' most of the time and am very happy with it indeed. Shame about the brightness but if this wouldn't bother you then it is otherwise excellent.

Christoph

[John]

Thats an interesting report 

I've owned a few of the WO type RDF finders and agree with you entirely about the LED being too bright, even on the lowest setting. Otherwise they are very good.

[avtaram]

I have one for my ZS71 ed and am really pleased with it. I have only aligned it the once. Every time I put it on the scope the alignment is spot on. I have not found the brightness on the lowest setting too much of a problem though it could do with being a little dimmer.

Avtar