Info on Telrads

[daaveyboy]

A few questions on Telrads please

1. Will a Telrad replace my finders scope (I am thinking of getting a Skywatcher 9X 50 90 deg scope)

2. Is a Telrad easy to set up (any links showing this would be great)

3. Is there anything else similar to a Telrad that would give the same results.

4. Do you have to stand exactly behind a Telrad with your eye close to the viewer to get it I lined up with the object you need to view (the same way as you use a finder scope)

Sorry this seems long winded any answers would be greatly appreciated.

I am sill a novice in this area so simplified answers please.

[Charic]

The Telrad is a fine piece of Kit.

You can opt to replace any original finder scope and just make use of the Telrad.

It has sticky adhesive pads to hold the base to the outside of the OTA ( optical tube assembly ) I have tie wrapped mine for added security.

The Telrad is very easy to set-up.

The Rigel system is similar and smaller.

You dont need your eye right up to the Telrad, you just need to be behind it. Its akin to looking through a head-up display when its in use. The end result is to see a Bull's eye reticule on the night sky.

I need to wear prescription glasses to get the best results from my Telrad.

The system is easy to use, look in a Star map or book or Stellarium ( Stellarium has reticules too )  and then just aim at the same bit of the sky, to find your target. The red reticule is dimmable to almost overly bright?

I still find the original 9x50 straight through scope a joy to work with, I keep both eyes open, seeing the result makes  common sense?  some folk have more than one finder attached, namely the RACI (Right Angle Correct Image) which allows you to see the image as you would see with just your eyes alone, without  being inverted/reversed.

http://recon.dozuki.com/Guide/STEP+1%3A+How+to+Mount+the+Telrad+Shoe+to+the+Telescope/1

Even though it says the attachment is permanent, you can dissolve the sticky pads off, but they stick well, and any slight mis-alignment can be written out by the adjusters on the back of the Telrad.

Copy paste the following link into your browser...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH33pXGkNF8

[Paul73]

+1 for the Telrad. Best Astro £30 ever spent!

1/ My TelRad has replaced my 9x50 RACI. This only works if you have reasonable levels of LP as you have to be able to see the stars with the naked eye to aim. I may attach my finder as well at some stage to cover all of the bases. I have been saying that for a while. I just use my wide angle low mag eyepieces for the fine star hopping.

2/ Very very simple. Two peal off sticky strips. 2 min job!

3/ not sure - my cheap Red Dot Finder is not as good.

4/ Yes - some people add a 2" riser (FLO sell them for about £10) to ease the contortions.

Paul

[Tinker1947]

This picture doesn't show the Telrad its self as its covered by some cell foam to stop it dewing up, but you get the base included, then there are 2  extra's a 2" stand off and a 4" stand off so it moves the Telrad away from the Tube......

[laudropb]

Although I do not have a Telrad, I have a Rigel finder. I works in much the same way and is a bit less bulky. It is great for finding the general area you are interested in. My garden suffers from light pollution and for finer work I use a 9x50 Raci Finder. It is the only way I can see the dimmer stars for star hopping. I have found this combination works very well.

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

The Telrad is a nice bit of kit.

 I fitted mine to my 130p Reflector,using two bits of wide elastic and some hooks (explaining what I wanted , and why ,in the draper's was a hoot!).This allows me to position the Telrad as I see fit,rather than committing myself to a fixed position on the Scope.

 I also made a dew shield similar to Tinkers (plans are on a DIY Astronomer website,somewhere).

 I'm very pleased with the Telrad,and use it in conjunction with the Red Dot Finder.

 I haven't tried it on my TAL100rs as yet.

 Quite a large bit of kit to sit on my comparitively small scopes-Perhaps a Rigel finder(which works on the same principle,as far as I know) might have been a smaller ,and lighter option.

 Anyway,in practice the Telrad works really well,and is well worth the £35 or so that I paid for it.

[Chris Hopson]

I had a telrad, which I bought for my 8" dob. It was brilliant. I put it on a telrad riser block, which I found made it more comfortable to use, and it was all stuck down with the included double sided tape.

I also download & laminated these maps, http://www.atmob.org/library/member/skymaps_jsmall.html, to use with it.

Although I have a straight through and RACI Finder, in the end i found I only needed the telrad.

These days I have a Rigel Quick finder, which doesn't require a riser, has a smaller foot print and secures to my C8 on the finder scope shoe, with a shoe adaptor.(Bought separately).

I still use the same maps, but ignore outer rings, as the Rigel has a narrower FOV which is approximately the inner ring shown on the maps.

Lastly, I found with both, I still have to get my eye in the right position to see the finders red rings.

Both are excellent in my opinion.

Chris

[Stu]

Some great advice there. I would just add that I find the combination of a TelRad and a 9x50 RACI or similar very useful. The TelRad gets you in the right area and the RACI might show you the object, or at least more of the stars in the area to pin it down exactly.

[Charic]

I know size means everything to some folk, so  take a look at what can be done with a hacksaw and a Telrad?

It's still possible to further modify, possibly  inserting a Cell (Watch  battery )  instead.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/207665-telrad-v-rigel-advice-please/#entry2216473

[tomato]

The Telrad is a good piece of kit, I really like the way you can move directly to the naked eye view and then duck behind the Telrad to get the bullseye target on the same region of sky.

Only disadvantage so far is the how quickly the glass dews up though you can get a dew heater for it, I've no experience of this though.

[BritAngler]

As a better looking alternative to the Telrad, there's the Celestron StarPointer Pro. Does the same at the Telrad, but doesn't look like a brick stuck to your 'scope.

[daaveyboy]

As a better looking alternative to the Telrad, there's the Celestron StarPointer Pro. Does the same at the Telrad, but doesn't look like a brick stuck to your 'scope.

Thanks for the info it looks better that a oblong box,

[D4N]

4. Being a reflex sight you can view it from slightly to one side without effecting the accuracy very much. This is where an RDF causes so much trouble as with those if you are even slightly to one side you will be pointing the wrong way.

The Rigel Quickfinder has a plastic view screen so is less prone to dewing, saying that mine did get covered in frost last night!

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[daaveyboy]

anybody got any feedback using a "Celestron StarPointer Pro" finder scope

[John]

anybody got any feedback using a "Celestron StarPointer Pro" finder scope

I've not used one but looking at it's specficiation:

- Celestron don't specify the apparent diameter of the concentric circles that the Starpointer pro projects on the sky. This is important for star hopping and the Rigel Quikfinder and Telrad circles are a given apparent diameter. You can get overlays for them on popular star maps and planetarium software as well.

- The blub actually says "Brighter LED for easy visibility during the day". Many of these finders are too bright even on their minimum settings to be useful when looking for fainter deep sky targets. The Telrad and Quikfinder can be dimmed down to virtually nothing, which is what astronomers want.

Here is some feedback on another forum that mentions similar issues:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/511778-celestron-starpointer-pro/

[brantuk]

One of the good things about a Telrad is that you can use them with both eye's open. I find it very useful cos you can have one eye on the sky and the other looking through the Telrad giving a more natural natural fix on where it's pointing. Saves on eye strain as well. Good bit of kit especially for a large'ish dob (say 8"+).

[Charic]

One of the good things about a Telrad is that you can use them with both eye's open. I find it very useful cos you can have one eye on the sky and the other looking through the Telrad giving a more natural natural fix on where it's pointing. Saves on eye strain as well. Good bit of kit especially for a large'ish dob (say 8"+).

This was also recommended to me when using a straight through 9x50 finder scope, and works just the same. You have to try it  to experience the result. The image sort of 'lines up' when on target.

[Stu]

anybody got any feedback using a "Celestron StarPointer Pro" finder scope

Fozzie didn't think that much of it...... Perhaps a bit of style over substance. The TelRad may not look pretty but it's highly effective

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php?/topic/252982-Celstron-StarPointer-Pro---first-impressions

[BritAngler]

The rings in the Celestron are only just visible (at night) when set to its dimmest, and very visible (during the day) when set to brightest. During the day, the dimmest settings are not visible. I'm not sure about the diameter of the rings, been looking for info on that too, but I'm going to a local astro club meeting tonight and hopefully there will be a telrad there to compare it against.

It comes with a range of mounting things, meaning you can slip it  on in place of your finderscope or screw/bolt/bluetack another mounting plate onto your OTA. It's recommended that you leave a gap of between 9" and 12" between your eye and the glass onto which the circles are projected onto. After first fitting it, it is easy to align by two knobs, obviously done during the day.

Not used it in anger yet, but will review it properly when I finally do get a good nights viewing

John

[daaveyboy]

The rings in the Celestron are only just visible (at night) when set to its dimmest, and very visible (during the day) when set to brightest. During the day, the dimmest settings are not visible. I'm not sure about the diameter of the rings, been looking for info on that too, but I'm going to a local astro club meeting tonight and hopefully there will be a telrad there to compare it against.

It comes with a range of mounting things, meaning you can slip it  on in place of your finderscope or screw/bolt/bluetack another mounting plate onto your OTA. It's recommended that you leave a gap of between 9" and 12" between your eye and the glass onto which the circles are projected onto. After first fitting it, it is easy to align by two knobs, obviously done during the day.

Not used it in anger yet, but will review it properly when I finally do get a good nights viewing

John

Many thanks for your reply it is very interesting.

[BritAngler]

Unfortunately no one at the meeting last night had a Telrad I could compare the Celestron against, but the opinion of those who have Telrads is that the rings are smaller in the Celestron*. However, they were impressed with the design, size and ease-of-use of the Celestron, with one of them saying that he'd buy one after learning the price (less than £30). One of them also mentioned how tricky it is to change the batteries in the Telrad and get the cover back on again afterwards; whether this is typical or him just being cack-handed is unknown

* According to those-who-know, your little finger at arms length covers 1 degree of the sky; if that is true, the circles in the Celestron show 1/2 and 1 degree, so it should be easy enough to do your star-hopping using star charts.

[Tinker1947]

If changing the batteries maybe every 3 years is a effort some of the other stuff required by Astronomy will give you nightmares, my Telrad battery compartment cover come off ok 3-4 years ago, can't remember how though.....

[Charic]

.........4°, 2° and 1/2° for the rings, and publications use the same format which makes Star hopping easier. http://www.atmob.org/library/member/skymaps_jsmall.html

Battery changing is a non-issue, just slide the cover off and replace the batteries. Vaseline would make the draw slide easier  for some folk and also add additional water proofing against dew/moisture, although nothing that I have witnessed  inside the Telrad.

[D Wright]

After weeks of not knowing where I was pointing my 10" newt I bought a Telrad. It's the best £35 I have spent. It makes finding things so easy. I did have problems with dew but have fitted three 9v battery powered resistors to the underside of the screen. I havn't had a chance to try it yet but it should work as the resistors were warming up nicely. The 9v battery fits inside the Telrad so no wires dangling. I may change the screen to a piece of acrylic to cut down on dew even more. Also the circles on stellarium are representative of the Telrad. The Telrad also has infinitely adjustable brightness from nothing to really bright that you can see in daylight. I haven't used any of the other mentioned finders so can't comment on them so this is just my opinion.

[PeejaySTB]

Btw, the supplied glue strips are pretty permanent once fitted, but fortunately you can buy the base seperately for about £7 if you want to take the Telrad to another scope.