Tasco 80mm F15, well pleased!!

[Rustysplit]

Well after being happy with my little 60mm f15 Prinz 550 for white light solar for the past few months, I had developed a bit of a thing for classic 'fracs   Don't tell the Dob Mob, they will throw me out   I was initially looking at a Tal 100rs for my solar upgrade, but sort of knew that the long focal length of a vintage 'frac would give me bigger image size and  be less demanding on ep's and focus position. I had been keeping an eye out when 2 Tasco 10k's turned up on the 'bay. I missed out the first, and as it happens I am glad I did, as the one I bought is a peach. Entirely complete, well apart from the moon map, and boxed.

Though the ota is marked as a 10K model, the box is marked 15K. This I believe, is because it comes with a clock drive in the box. This is 240v, so not too sure about using it

As they say,  a picture paints....and all that.......

 Some parts had clearly never been used. The motor drive, erecting image diagonal, Sun filter and leg spreader chain are all still in their wrappers, unmarked.

I had a quick go last night on Saturn and was very pleased with the views. A quick star test showed that it is well collimated and seems to have good optics. The double double was an easy split too. To be honest, I will mainly use it for solar and lunar sessions. A brief go this morning with the 60mm solar filter from the Prinz showed real promise. The longer focal length delivers a decent image size, and the optics are clearly sharper than the 550's. On the strength of this, I popped over to TH this afternoon and grabbed a 1.25" Lunt Herschell wedge. Just in time for it too haze over!!!!!

I will let you know how this set up performs when the sun comes out again.

[Fozzie]

Lovely scope... I'd noticed a few recently on eBay and was really tempted by a nice vintage frac.. I bet this will be great for both solar and Luna, and with a wedge too...

You'll have to let us know how it performs.

[Uplooker]

What is the solar 60mm filter, does this fit over the objective. What is it make up?

A brief go this morning with the 60mm solar filter from the Prinz showed real promise.

[Rustysplit]

It is just my homebreww baader solar film filter. A bit of bodging to fit it safely into the dew shield of the 80mm for testing. It normally just slips over the dew shield on the Prinz.

[nightfisher]

Looks a lovely scope, i had an eye on it but to far to go and collect, the OTA is a prinz 660 i think

having a second look more likely a Towa 339

[Uplooker]

Cool, I wasn't sure if it was a glass one that fitted over the objective, that you maybe got with the scope. Enjoy - sounds like you already are

Ian

[Jim Steele]

Looks like a lovely scope, look forward to hearing your first light report

[Rustysplit]

Looks a lovely scope I had an eye on it but to far to go and collect

 To be honest Jules, it was not exactly local to me either   Hey, sometimes things are worth the effort. Yeah, agree on the 339 Towa. The 660 would be a fantastic match to the 550 though. This classic lark is compelling.

Some cracking touches on the old thing, such as the detail on the finder alignment screws......

[nightfisher]

you need to look out for a swift vintage refractor, they are real nice scopes

[Moonshane]

Don't worry about the rest of the dob mob throwing you out as I have heard in the grapevine that another member 'may' have also just bought an 80mm f11 my........ I mean himself

[SimonfromSussex]

Looks really nice matey, very good buy, bet you cannot wait for some clear sky to get that wedge fixed up!

What are the eyepieces like that came with it?

[philj]

Congrats on your Tasco badged Towa 339. I still have mine and have updated it with 2" crayford and bino compatible. The objectives on these are superb once set up correctly. Ive actually had 3 of these over the years they are so good. Due to their age they suffer from past owner finger trouble but once sorted give astounding views.I image the sun and moon through mine and on nights of good seeing regularly get 300x plus. I have fond memories of Mars during the last opposition with this scope.

Neil English got one the other year and had Moonraker put the objective in a new tube because he thought the objective was so good.

If you are thinking of getting a 1.25 ep adapter for it you will have restriction/vignette problems due to the baffle in the long draw tube. Simple remedy is to take a broom handle and knock the baffle out. That will give you full apeture to the ep.

[StarryEyed]

When I saw the wooden legs I remembered the feel of them and the Black bolts instantly got nostalgic for the 60mm I owned as a boy.

Thanks for that it put a smile on my face..

[F15Rules]

Hi Alan,

That's a lovely scope .

Yes, a 339, or sometimes, as one of mine was, badged (Towa) Topic 80mm F1200. They are lovely scopes, but not the same as Prinz Circle T 660's. I felt my 660 had the edge, but that one was a bit of a one off perhaps, the best 3" frac I've ever looked through. As Phil says, they give amazing views of the Moon, planets and double stars. I think for doubles they give a lot of modern F10 4" inch refractors a real run for their money, despite the lesser aperture.

Yours looks in mint condition, congratulations. 

The weak spot in my opinion is the tripod: the legs are too lightweight to give the rigidity this OTA deserves. I got some 77mm rings from Teleskop Service in Germany and mounted mine on my CG5.. this transformed the scope and allowed the objective to give of it's best - right up to x300 on a good night..plus, being able to drive the scope at these powers made it so much more enjoyable.

Enjoy your new scope!

regards

Dave

[Rustysplit]

Thanks Dave, you are so right about the mount. It does wobble about a fair bit. I may look into making up some long ash legs to replace the originals, to try and steady it up a bit. There is a little play in the mount axis as well. Hopefully I may be able to tighten it up a bit.