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Telrad

bish

By bish
in Member Equipment Reviews

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bish

bish

Posted
Posted

My first telescope as a kid had no finder. My next telescope had a 6x30 straight through. It was better than nothing but still not great. When I later got my 9x50 right angled I thought there was no need for anything else, it was much easier to use. Then I read about Telrads. After a few years of consideration I decided to get one. Although the sky was terrible tonight my initial impression of the Telrad is it is an excellent piece of kit. I think I could have probably saved hours cumulatively over the years  star hopping. Especially from a dark site with no real landmarks to work from.  It's also much lighter than expected. I'm sure that I had read somewhere it was heavier than similar finders, so was surprised how light it is.

Combined with my 9x50 it's a real winner. Money well spent.

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Charic

Charic

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 I bought one and sold on to an SGL member, as I had difficulty in seeing the 'Bulls-eye' without wearing the prescriptions?

The Telrad was duly received and quickly 'chopped' to some extent to make the unit even smaller/lighter! Looks very good too.

After selling the Telrad,  I just felt something was missing, so bought another one.

It still gets used less than my 9x50 straight, but from darker skies, when the 9x50s reticule is non visible? the Telrad shines, literally?

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John

John

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They are good :smiley:

One of the great things about the Telrads and the Rigel Quikfinders is that you can dim them right down. Many other RDF's and multi-reticule finders are too bright for DSO hunting even on their lowest setting :rolleyes2:

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bish

bish

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They are good :smiley:

One of the great things about the Telrads and the Rigel Quikfinders is that you can dim them right down. Many other RDF's and multi-reticule finders are too bright for DSO hunting even on their lowest setting :rolleyes2:

I agree John that the ability to dim them down is a great advantage. Tonight there was a thin cloud, combined with light pollution, and on full brightness anything but the brightest stars would have been drowned out.

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PeterW

PeterW

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:-) I am going to give my 20+yr old one some more exercise soon. Hold it on with some gaffer tape. I have a dew shield I picked up on mine. The quick finder has pulsing, but not sure you need it. I tried a red dot finder once but found it much harder to use. My usual system is a laser and then RACI, nail anything.

Cheers

Peter

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niallk

niallk

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Hard to beat the Telrad for a cheap bit of kit that makes such a dramatic difference - at least it did for me! I heard they've been around 30+yrs? A good design stands up over time!!

Even useful for initial alignment with DSCs :)

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PeterW

PeterW

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Ooh.. If I had a DOB that nexus looks interesting. DSC have been overpriced and underpowered for years. still prefer the manual option under good skies as I have had my fair share of Not-Gone-to, and it can be very frustrating when you know where it needs to go and it doesn't.

Cheers

PEterW

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faulksy

faulksy

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Ooh.. If I had a DOB that nexus looks interesting. DSC have been overpriced and underpowered for years. still prefer the manual option under good skies as I have had my fair share of Not-Gone-to, and it can be very frustrating when you know where it needs to go and it doesn't.

Cheers

PEterW

over priced , no way.http://www.astrodevices.com/products/Nexus/Nexus.html. around 400 quid delivered

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jabeoo1

jabeoo1

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Easily the best invention since sliced bread, wouldn't be without one!

A right angled finder and a telrad make a great combination, make star hopping a lot easier.

Avtar

As above, you honestly can't go wrong.  I recently grabbed a Telrad after going from a straight through to right angled finder, its simplicity is genius.  It does exactly what it was intended and very well too.  

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bish

bish

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Out again last night.  It's good not having to start my star hope from a chimney or part of the neighbours house etc. Straight on target and then use the 9x50 if needed.  DSO's that used to take a while of messing about are much much quicker. It's quicker than setting up my mak GOTO.

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MattJenko

MattJenko

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Yet another endorsement from me. Best thing I did for my 250px dob was to festoon it with a Telrad. So good it's almost cheating. Only thing against it is it's quite phenomenal ability to seek out dew. I have a fold over dew cover, but it only puts off the inevitable. It still works when dewed up to an extent though. Excellent value for the results it provides in a not very cheap hobby.


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Alma

Alma

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Sorry to demur, but I'm not a great Telrad fan (well someone's got to add some balance here!). 

Don't get me wrong; the concentric circle bullseye concept is just fine and works a treat with a good star atlas, but this thing was designed back in the 70's for large dobs and newts - then it was somewhat revolutionary, but it hasn't been updated at all since .... same cheap old ugly plastic casing, absolutely no protection from dew without an after-market flippy dew shield thingy, and from my experience, not reliable (I got through 2 of the things before giving up).  

Plus, why on earth not re-design it to fit modern mounting systems instead of those wretched sticky pads ?  

Put a Telrad bullseye in a modern casing design and I'd pay decent money for it.   But I fancy that ain't going to happen any time soon.

My 10 cents (which is quite possibly the  manufacturing cost of a Telrad).

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bish

bish

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It is a bit of a dew magnet, but the plastic casing etc doesn't bother me. Initially I thought I would like to be able to mount it on the existing finder mount - but as it's so light, having next to the 9x50 right angled works perfectly for me.

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Charic

Charic

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They say  "if it aint broke....don't fix it?"

I bought and sold one ( due to my eyes not focusing on the Bulls-Eye without  wearing prescriptions! ) The new owner put a hacksaw to it, and shortened it considerably, so  they can be modified.

I  missed its presence, so bought another. It has its use over the basic 9x50 finder at darker locations, albeit I have to wear my glasses to sight correctly.

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faulksy

faulksy

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I thought all you dob dudes were about avoiding tech  :evil:  :p

i like to find things, then the others say wow whats that, then i tell them, or when they say weres that i will show them :grin: wait for it

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Scott

Scott

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i like to find things, then the others say wow whats that, then i tell them, or when they say weres that i will show them :grin: wait for it

Is that the pitter patter of a lynch mobs feet I hear? Here lies M Faulks. found dangling from his feathertouch by an electrical cable :evil:

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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i like to find things, then the others say wow whats that, then i tell them, or when they say weres that i will show them :grin: wait for it

Where's that "tosh" button again?  :grin:

All you look at is M57 and occasionally the dumbbell   :p  :grin:  :grin:

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