What telescope is this ?

[barkis]

It looks nice, but I fear that's where the plusses end.
I think if you budget permits you only about £55, then I suggest you spend it on a
pair of Binoculars, they will give you less hassle than that telescope.
I had a friend who bought one of those artificially extended focal length reflectors,
he's been weeping ever since.
Sorry, but I could not endorse it.

 

[Charic]

49 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

It is not a Danubia Saturn 50. The Danubia Saturn 50 is a 114/900 Newtonian, The Towa telescope in the photograph is a 114/1000 Jones-Bird design.

Jenn82  says its a Danubia. We just need to find out which model, the Saturn 50 was as close as I could find at the time.
Like I said earlier, someone will know, sooner or later.

Jenn82.you stated its a Danubia, are there any other markings on a sticky label or plate to give us any other clues?

[Cornelius Varley]

Towa probably made it and was sold under various names including Danubia Ret 50 and Revue. The Saturn 50 looks more like a Skywatcher/Celestron 114/900 Newtonian. The Towa design is Jones-Bird 114/1000 and has a couple of unusual features.  an optical window supporting the secondary mirror instead of spider vanes and a built in finderscope.

[Putaendo Patrick]

The modern, slightly different, version of this is the Danubia Delta 20. See: http://www.harrisoncameras.co.uk/pd/Danubia-Delta-20-Catadioptric-Reflector-Astro-Telescope_566032.htm

The pdf English instruction manual for the current range is available here .

Cornelius is correct, however, the original version was the Danubia RET50.

The Japanese telescope industry used to be a bit like the old Swiss watch industry, with a lot of small companies fulfilling specialised functions. Some made parts, others assembled telescopes, and others did the marketing and export. A government body, the Japanese Telescopes Inspection Institute (JTII) oversaw quality control and often marked approved telescopes with a small sticker. For the JTII to know who actually made the optics, I suspect there was a requirement to identify the maker of the lenses or mirrors. This was usually a very small symbol - in the case of Towa, a letter T inside a circle. Sometimes, however, identical models of a telescope (for example Tasco in the US) have different symbols - suggesting that the optical components came from different sources. Towa were quite a large company and may have produced Danubia telescopes from start to finish, but they also provided parts to other companies. Terribly confusing, at least to me .

 

[Jenn82]

So it is a RET 50!! Now just to set it up! Wish me luck and thanks again. 

[Putaendo Patrick]

I said it before, but as your photo shows an old sun filter, I'll say it again - DO NOT USE IT.

I suspect these filters were never that good to start, but age has perhaps caused them to deteriorate. With the intensely focused sunlight, these get very, very hot and have a tendency to crack or shatter. If you're observing when this happens and you get a flash of intense magnified sunlight through the scope, you could so easily be blinded instantly and permanently.

[Charic]

....was on the box all this time,  well done Cornelius Varley.

[Cornelius Varley]

21 minutes ago, Charic said:

....was on the box all this time,  well done Cornelius Varley.

I recognised it from a similar post

 

[Scubabob]

It's a Towa. I own one. Good 6 inch scope. I've upped mine by replacing the finder with a telrad but a solid scope. The mount is a bear to carry. I missed out on buying probably the last motor kit for it 20 years ago at Efston Science.

 My scope, originally came from Khan Scope, Toronto. I'm 2nd owner.

 No, I'll never sell it. :)