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Tasco Telescope Catalogue from the 1980s


Matt1979

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I remember around eighteen months ago I mentioned Tasco telescopes on the forum and I commented about the unfair criticism they have had.  I have a small Tasco refractor that gives perfectly good views of Venus's phases, Jupiter and its moons and Saturn's rings.  

I have a 1980s Tasco Catalogue that has a really good range of refractors as well as two reflectors.  Unfortunately, the tube of my Tasco is plastic as well as the focusing knobs and the eyepiece barrel, but back in the 1980s metal was always used and the 1980s Tasco counterparts look so much better and the metal tubes are noticeable in the images.  It is disappointing how plastic is used in small Tasco refractors nowadays, although I think the 2 inch red refractor is the only one that now has a plastic tube.

I have attached three images from the Catalogue.  While every telescope in here is red, most modern-day Tasco telescopes don't have red tubes now.

post-28605-0-90096300-1419367867_thumb.j

post-28605-0-10823900-1419367867_thumb.j

post-28605-0-70481500-1419367868_thumb.j

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My 1st scope was a 1960's Tasco 60mm refractor and I still have it. It's all metal and the optics are pretty good. The mount, tripod and stock eyepieces were not so good though and let these scopes down unfortunately. Put it on a better mount and stick a plossl or an orthoscopic eyepiece in the diagonal and it will perform to the limits of it's aperture.

I see they were listing 525x as a potential magnification with the 60mm !

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I'm part of the Tasco club too.  Mine was a Christmas present, 60mm refractor,  and I remember the moment I unwrapped it like it was yesterday.  To be honest, I never once gave one moment thinking about the quality of it; optics, mount, magnification, resolving power, as an 8 year old it was everything I had hoped it would be.  For me it fired a lifelong passion for science, later on I would go to university to study engineering, joined the Royal Air Force, then mid career change took me to the classroom as a physics teacher.  That telescope played a very big part in my life. :smiley:  I remember the biggest challenge I had  was finding and identifying what I looking at.  The moon was the easiest of targets, if only we had the internet back then , I may have had a chance of knowing what I was doing. :p   Happy days, here's to Tasco.

Jim

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I started off with a Tasco 4ETE (40X) during 1976/77. Wonderful little 'scope. My late grandfather made some longer legs from some aluminium tube and thick plastic tube inserted which the original tripod legs would fit into. We had some 'great' views of the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn & projected Sunspots. Happy days.

I seem to recall they had a 10 year guarantee too! Somehow I damaged the dewshield. I found a retailer in Reading, who sold Tasco equipment and told them of my mishap. They ordered a replacement. When I collected it, they said; "...it was still under guarantee."

Edited by Philip R
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Funnily enough I came across a letter in the December 1997 copy of Astronomy Now in defence of Tasco, which at the time was always subject to ridicule from the Meade and Celestron mob.

My folks bought me a 4.5" Tasco reflector for Christmas back in 1993, back when the Argos catalogue stocked a fast and slow variant. It was a massive sacrifice for them but I think they'd seen how keen I was and it would keep me off the streets during my teenage years. I was so excited and it was a great introduction into "proper" astronomy. It's amazing what I managed to see when I consider that the finder it came with was next to useless. I still have it in my shed - unused and unloved for 15 years since I upgraded after lots of paper rounds to an 8". I keep thinking about cleaning it up and giving it to my lovely 6 year old, but I'm slightly worried that as a newt and also on an equatorial mount it might be a bit tricky for a littl'un to use.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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I remember around eighteen months ago I mentioned Tasco telescopes on the forum and I commented about the unfair criticism they have had.  I have a small Tasco refractor that gives perfectly good views of Venus's phases, Jupiter and its moons and Saturn's rings.  

I have a 1980s Tasco Catalogue that has a really good range of refractors as well as two reflectors.  Unfortunately, the tube of my Tasco is plastic as well as the focusing knobs and the eyepiece barrel, but back in the 1980s metal was always used and the 1980s Tasco counterparts look so much better and the metal tubes are noticeable in the images.  It is disappointing how plastic is used in small Tasco refractors nowadays, although I think the 2 inch red refractor is the only one that now has a plastic tube.

I have attached three images from the Catalogue.  While every telescope in here is red, most modern-day Tasco telescopes don't have red tubes now.

[attachment=145505:Tasco1.JPG

attachicon.gifTasco2.JPG

attachicon.gifTasco3.JPG

Hi John, I have read that Tasco telescopes were much better made in the 1960s.  While the mounting on my 2 inch/50mm isn't the best (it is on a table tripod), the views are perfectly acceptable and I have also had a good view of the Orion Nebula with the Tasco.  I always wanted a Tasco refractor for Christmas as a child so I wanted to get one in recent years and I haven't been disappointed.  Very sadly, I didn't have a proper telescope as a child (I won't go into details on the awful "toy" telescope that almost put me off astronomy...).

I can imagine there have been many astronomers who started with a Tasco and it is disappointing that Tasco telescopes aren't as widely available now.  I know Argos haven't had them for years.

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My first telescope was probably a 66TR , it was relatively expensive back then (late 80,s) too, it worked ok for a while then i threaded one of the two bolts on the yolk and could never lock the elevation properly after that. Good introduction to the world of telescopes though.

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If anyone enjoys reading and looking through the old catalogs of Tasco, and many others, you'll get a smile from this:

http://geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/classics/

Enjoy!

Dave

Thanks.  I have looked through the catalogues and found them very interesting.  I noticed how Tasco's telescopes always had white tubes in the late 1960s and it is disappointing that they aren't as well made nowadays.

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I had a 5" reflector back in the late 1970s that looked a little like Tascos 16T - it was super deluxe and even had a clock drive.  Ok it was wind up and only ran for about 15 minutes but back then  it was the bomb and VERY expensive.  The clock drive had a teeny chime in it so when it was getting low on wind up power is would go 'ding-ding' to alert you to wind it back up :) 

No idea who the manufacturer was - I think it was marketed as 'Helios' but it came out of Japan it didn't have any manufacturers labels on it except at the back end it said something like 'Superiorr Japanese Astro Scope' and some Japanese markings, serial number etc  and unfortunately I have no pictures of it at all now but it was probably the prettiest scope I ever owned.  All white tube, black fittings and wooden legs.  I daresay if I had one like it today I would probably be horrified at how mushy the views, how duff the focuser was and the constant 'ding-ding' from the chimes and having to wind it up every 10 minutes would drive me nuts  but back then it was my pride and joy.

Amazing what you can get these days - that old scope probably cost about what a car would have cost back then :)

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I had a 5" reflector back in the late 1970s that looked a little like Tascos 16T - it was super deluxe and even had a clock drive.  Ok it was wind up and only ran for about 15 minutes but back then  it was the bomb and VERY expensive.  The clock drive had a teeny chime in it so when it was getting low on wind up power is would go 'ding-ding' to alert you to wind it back up :)

No idea who the manufacturer was - I think it was marketed as 'Helios' but it came out of Japan it didn't have any manufacturers labels on it except at the back end it said something like 'Superiorr Japanese Astro Scope' and some Japanese markings, serial number etc  and unfortunately I have no pictures of it at all now but it was probably the prettiest scope I ever owned.  All white tube, black fittings and wooden legs.  I daresay if I had one like it today I would probably be horrified at how mushy the views, how duff the focuser was and the constant 'ding-ding' from the chimes and having to wind it up every 10 minutes would drive me nuts  but back then it was my pride and joy.

Amazing what you can get these days - that old scope probably cost about what a car would have cost back then :)

When I first heard the term 'clock drive' when I started astronomy, it is exactly as I imagined them... you wound them up!

Now days 'we' amatuer astronomers get wound up by streetlighting and light pollution! 

Edited by Philip R
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My first serious telescope was a 76mm Tasco 10te refractor, circa 1970, this was really well made, all metal and wood with very littke plastic. I dont recall the manufacturers mark (I didnt know the relevance then) but I wouldnt be surprised if it wasnt Towa, circle T it was a superb performer. But then Tasco started to cost cut and the influx of plastic telescopes under their name did nothing to help their reputation in the 80s.

Tasco sold some great gear over the years but also some poor gear as well

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I worked for Tasco between 1981 and 1987 when it was a family run firm based in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, with the distribution centred in Newbury.  The higher end scopes like the 11TR etc had reasonably good optics, but rather flimsy mounts.  The clock drives for the 11TR were mains driven, which given the amount of dew that forms on equipment is quite scary !!

The thing was that Tasco started to cater for all markets, including the toy market, and then got a reputation for making poor scopes with plastic lenses, or cheap glass lenses that required a baffle and thus effectively reduced the aperture by 50%.  Where Tasco succeeded though was that these scopes introduced kids to telescopes and the basics of astronomy, and once they started looking up would move on to the 3TR or 11TR, both of which were good optically for a commercially mass produced scope

However Tasco were producing expensive amateur scopes with apertures of 8" and above, and on suitable driven mounts, and I did try and persuade management to import a few of these scope for the serious astronomer, but it never happened.  

I have fond memories of my time working in the small offices in Welwyn, and was (and still am) proud of my association with Tasco.  It's also nice to know that all these decades on, other SGL members recall good experiences with tasco scopes too.

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Ah, Tasco! Memories of the late 'sixties flood back!

I had a 60mm frac, which gave excellent views, as I recall, and had glass optics and a sturdy metal tube (don't know if it was steel or aluminium - certainly had a 'solid' feel to it). Only problem was the flimsy wooden tripod, which wobbled about at the slightest touch or breath of wind.

I wonder how many people found the unsteadiness of the image in these due to the poor mounting so off putting that they gave up after a short time?

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My old 60mm Tasco (and me some 25 years ago!)

TELESCOPE_004.jpg

An impressive looking Telescope.  My Tasco is smaller and has a 50mm/2 inch lens.  The 1980s version of my telescope had much more metal and much less plastic!  Still, the bright planets and Orion Nebula show up well with the Tasco and I am pleased that I bought a version of the telescope i always wanted when i was younger.

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I worked for Tasco between 1981 and 1987 when it was a family run firm based in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, with the distribution centred in Newbury.  The higher end scopes like the 11TR etc had reasonably good optics, but rather flimsy mounts.  The clock drives for the 11TR were mains driven, which given the amount of dew that forms on equipment is quite scary !!

The thing was that Tasco started to cater for all markets, including the toy market, and then got a reputation for making poor scopes with plastic lenses, or cheap glass lenses that required a baffle and thus effectively reduced the aperture by 50%.  Where Tasco succeeded though was that these scopes introduced kids to telescopes and the basics of astronomy, and once they started looking up would move on to the 3TR or 11TR, both of which were good optically for a commercially mass produced scope

However Tasco were producing expensive amateur scopes with apertures of 8" and above, and on suitable driven mounts, and I did try and persuade management to import a few of these scope for the serious astronomer, but it never happened.  

I have fond memories of my time working in the small offices in Welwyn, and was (and still am) proud of my association with Tasco.  It's also nice to know that all these decades on, other SGL members recall good experiences with tasco scopes too.

Hi Malcolm, your post is very interesting.  Were the poor scopes you mention the 40x40 ones with the push and pull focus?  There is a photo of one of these in my 1980s catalogue.  I have heard that some kids were actually put off my the cheap telescopes with stopped-down apertures.  This happened to me - my parents bought me a cheap refractor with a push and pull focus (not a Tasco) that was bright blue and what I didn't know at the time was that it contained a baffle.  As my parents didn't know about telescopes they would never have known that they had bought rubbish and not quality.  Jupiter through this toy telescope was just a blurry point of light.

When would Tasco have started making the poor quality toy telescopes?

Matt

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Matt,

It's difficult to say when, basically because tasco were a group of companies, one of which was toys and hobbies.  So there was an overlap between the toy scope with plastic lenses and push pull focusing, that would still give you an image of the moon, and then the general telescopes which whilst featuring glass lenses, came on the same flimsy table top mount and required a baffle behind the lens to reduce the aberration.  I ended up being the Product manager (more in title than having any clout) and spent many an hour replying to letters where folk had purchased a toy scope and expected it to perform line an EDS80 !

When you moved up to the 3TR, 11TR and 9T these scopes performed optically very well, although they were let down by their eyepieces.  I borrowed an 11TR from the showroom one weekend, and was loaned a decent 20mm eyepiece.  The views I had of Saturn were fantastic, until you breathed near the tube and the mount would wobble !

One of the thing you need to take into consideration was back in the late 70's and early 80's there was no real alternative.  You either purchased a celestron, vixen or had someone like superscopes make a scope to your own specification, all of which were outside the realms of a christmas pressy for the kids.  I later purchased a Vixen 102 non fluorite and had the battery driven RA axis - cost in 1986 - £1200.  In todays money that's like spending £4K on an LX10 or SW Esprit.  At the time the 11TR retailed for around the £250 - £350 mark if I recall  (given it was some time ago :) )

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Matt,

It's difficult to say when, basically because tasco were a group of companies, one of which was toys and hobbies.  So there was an overlap between the toy scope with plastic lenses and push pull focusing, that would still give you an image of the moon, and then the general telescopes which whilst featuring glass lenses, came on the same flimsy table top mount and required a baffle behind the lens to reduce the aberration.  I ended up being the Product manager (more in title than having any clout) and spent many an hour replying to letters where folk had purchased a toy scope and expected it to perform line an EDS80 !

When you moved up to the 3TR, 11TR and 9T these scopes performed optically very well, although they were let down by their eyepieces.  I borrowed an 11TR from the showroom one weekend, and was loaned a decent 20mm eyepiece.  The views I had of Saturn were fantastic, until you breathed near the tube and the mount would wobble !

One of the thing you need to take into consideration was back in the late 70's and early 80's there was no real alternative.  You either purchased a celestron, vixen or had someone like superscopes make a scope to your own specification, all of which were outside the realms of a christmas pressy for the kids.  I later purchased a Vixen 102 non fluorite and had the battery driven RA axis - cost in 1986 - £1200.  In todays money that's like spending £4K on an LX10 or SW Esprit.  At the time the 11TR retailed for around the £250 - £350 mark if I recall  (given it was some time ago :) )

Hi Malcolm, your comments are very interesting.  I knew Tasco had become a group of companies at one point and I didn't realise that more than one kind of the toy telescopes had poor optics.  I know what you mean about how Celestron and Vixen would have been outside Christmas present realm.  

All the Argos catalogues used to have were Tascos, but i remember most of these were "proper" refractors and were in the camera and binoculars section.  I think my 5TN is a more modern equivalent of these telescopes.  Sadly, mine is on a tabletop mount (I couldn't  get one on a proper tripod) and while the optics don't match my Celestron, the views of the planets are still fairly good - Saturn is recognisable.  I know Tasco eyepieces don;t have a good reputation and mine is much narrower than other refractor eyepieces.

I never knew Tasco used plastic for the lenses of the cheapest telescopes.  

Matt

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...One of the thing you need to take into consideration was back in the late 70's and early 80's there was no real alternative.  You either purchased a celestron, vixen or had someone like superscopes make a scope to your own specification, all of which were outside the realms of a christmas pressy for the kids.  I later purchased a Vixen 102 non fluorite and had the battery driven RA axis - cost in 1986 - £1200.  In todays money that's like spending £4K on an LX10 or SW Esprit.  At the time the 11TR retailed for around the £250 - £350 mark if I recall  (given it was some time ago :) )

Thats pretty much how I found things back then Malcolm. My first scope was a Tasco 11TR 60mm F/13.3 alt-azimuth mounted refractor purchased used for £45 and housed in a nice wooden case. It dated from the 1960's. My 2nd scope was an Astro Systems (Luton) 6" F/6 newtonian which I purchased new as a tube and built my own dobsonian-type mount for. I really pushed the boat out for my 3rd scope and bought a used Vixen SP102M with the original SkySensor GOTO controller for around £650.

We have so much more choice available today and the prices are relatively less too I reckon :smiley:

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Thank's for the link Dave. I have just book marked this, for further reading, during non observing cloudy nights.

Geoff,

you can download those goodies, too. I have them in my files. Makes for good light reading when I'm bored! :p  I was a kid who drooled over the old Unitron refractors. Which would have cost me the same as a car (or house in some states) back then for a 6-inch achromat! :eek:

Got To Love It!

Dave

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