telrad finder fitting question

[iwols]

hi just trying to fit a telrad finder to my ed80 but it is too long to go anywhere on the scope am i ok fitting it to the dew shield as picture below shows as dont know how else it will fit

[brantuk]

Dew shields often slip - only slightly - but enough to throw any finder out. The finder needs to be fixed rigid to the scope or scope rings. You have camera mountings on the top of your scope rings - you could drill two holes in the Telrad base and screw it down onto the camera screws. But imho I think your finder scope ought to be enough - unless there's a specific reason for adding the Telrad. Hth

[laudropb]

The Telrad has a very large foot print and is difficult to mount on a frac. It is not advisable to mount it on the dew shield as  Brantuk has pointed out. If you must have a second finder it would be better to use a Rigel finder which has a much smaller foot print.

[iwols]

48 minutes ago, brantuk said:

Dew shields often slip - only slightly - but enough to throw any finder out. The finder needs to be fixed rigid to the scope or scope rings. You have camera mountings on the top of your scope rings - you could drill two holes in the Telrad base and screw it down onto the camera screws. But imho I think your finder scope ought to be enough - unless there's a specific reason for adding the Telrad. Hth

thanks for that its just that im using the finder scope as a guide scope with a qhy5lii  attached

[iwols]

42 minutes ago, laudropb said:

The Telrad has a very large foot print and is difficult to mount on a frac. It is not advisable to mount it on the dew shield as  Brantuk has pointed out. If you must have a second finder it would be better to use a Rigel finder which has a much smaller foot print.

just looked at the rigel and that looks a better option

[brantuk]

1 minute ago, iwols said:

thanks for that its just that im using the finder scope as a guide scope with a qhy5lii  attached

Ahhh... yes that makes sense - keeping the weight down. You could attach the Telrad to a second dovetail and fit the dovetail to the camera mountings (to avoid drilling the Telrad) if you prefer. The Rigel finder is similar to the Telrad as mentioned by Laudropb and would be easier to fit - another equally good solution.

[Charic]

33 minutes ago, iwols said:

just looked at the rigel and that looks a better option

I sold a Telrad and it got chopped? I think the result is very good, https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/207665-telrad-v-rigel-advice-please/#entry2216473 maybe Telrad should/could produce a shorter version! 
 

[iPeace]

The Rigel is such a nifty little alternative to the Telrad; you can always find a way to stick it on even the most compact of scopes. You can use the double sided sticky tape supplied to attach the base, or if there's a single small threaded hole such as one for a finder shoe, you can use that:

Alternatively, if you don't want to attach it to a single scope you can knock up something like this:

And then hang it on any bit of excess dovetail bar as there may be:

And use it on multiple scopes:

A similar solution will work for the Telrad, with some added bulk:

(The wooden block has been painted black, with apologies to Jagger.)

This also features a riser for the base which helps me not having to crouch as far down.

Naturally, this kind of solution won't suit everyone; if you don't want any extra dovetail anywhere then this is not for you. I also realize that it is particularly suited to an alt-az configuration such as I use.

So, as always, for what it's worth.