Heads Up: TAL 100RS on Astroboot

[dweller25]

25 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Sounds like a telescope worth just doing a little fettle to sort out if you are going to keep and enjoy it. The price was probably good for such aperture and you read only good things about them.

Yes you are spot on.

[dweller25]

I have decided to make no changes and not glue or file the lens cell.

Collimation appears to be very good using the laser and cheshire, I have just been looking at a bolt on a distant antenna at x438, it was dim but still sharp - I think that bodes well for the optics. The focuser on this scope is really good - I had no jiggles and got a good focus point at very high power!!

I thought the CA at x438 would be really bad, but it wasn't.

So I will leave it as is with just the two securing screws in place and star test before making a decision........

[wookie1965]

On 12/20/2017 at 19:22, nightfisher said:

If you get a chance take a look at Saturn with it, (not sure if its still in our night sky) but i remember viewing Saturn with my old Tal rs and was simply blown away with the detail

I am waiting get a look at Saturn,Jupiter and Mars in the new year sorry Jules I hope I am blown away.

[F15Rules]

David,

How was the scope described when on Astroboot? ( I didn't see the original advert)..

It the description differs in any way from the condition as received you can ask for a refund. Or, as I did, simply explain how disappointed you are in the issues, especially the lens cell issue, and invite James's response, perhaps suggest a part refund - I really doubt they will want the expense of picking it up for return..

To be fair to ABoot, James was quite helpful when I had my problem.

This whole affair does well illustrate the perils of buying used or returned goods from retailers whom you might reasonably expect to QC items before dispatch and also offer a 3 month warranty to build confidence.

I hope you get this RS100s sorted to your satisfaction David. When they are on song, the Tals are up their with the very best F10 achromats...so John, you should NOT regret flagging up the sale at all??.

Dave

 

[F15Rules]

On 22/12/2017 at 16:45, Charic said:

looks stunning, proof will be at first light 

Did you ever come across this review..  http://www.astro-baby.com/reviews/TAL 100RS/TAL 100RS Review.htm

That review was done by Mel after she bought the scope from myself, complete with TAL EQ mount and accessories.

Mel is very demanding of her equipment and really knows her stuff..her review was absolutely in line with my experience of the scope (and mount). As I recall £185 changed hands on that sale around 6-7 years ago, and included the mount. Last time I heard she still had it - one of the first Crayford equipped RS100s in the UK I think..

Dave

[Charic]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

How was the scope described when on Astroboot? ( I didn't see the original advert)..

..sure it read A1, As New!

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, Charic said:

..sure it read A1, As New!

So, it clearly wasn't as described..bang to rights!

Dave

[wookie1965]

I always have a nightmare aligning the finder with there being adjustments at the front and back. 

 

[happy-kat]

12 hours ago, F15Rules said:

So, it clearly wasn't as described..bang to rights!

Dave

Not necessarily, it could have left the factory like that

[John]

11 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Not necessarily, it could have left the factory like that

The vendor is still responsible though.

[Paul M]

Everytime one of these comes to light I wish I had one!

Such simple elegance. Quite deservedly it would seem, they are becoming collectors pieces. 

 

[Charic]

I've had issues in the past but never really  any serious issues that could not be solved, just annoying when they arrive, but when it comes to buying, you still have consumer rights  that support your case. Not only that, its on the vendor to describe as accurately as possible what their selling. If Astroboot believe their getting quality goods in from a supplier, then without first checking themselves,  they could leave themselves wide open if something arrives less than perfect, and if  a vendor does check/open packaging, you could even  believe, depending on how their re-wrapped, that the goods were seconds ? the vendor can't win, but still has responsibility to the retailer. Astroboot has a scale, a reference to the quality of their merchandise, A1 being as new!
This scope was manufactured 2011, how many times has it been examined over the Years, maybe even used, who knows?
Is there a fine line between a vendors description and what you perceive  to be  A1 - As new........... No not really, I'd expect nothing less than perfect for something in A1 condition, but then I would also think, hang-on! A1! could this be a second? For example Argos rate none of the stock as A1, so buyer beware.

Two past contenders for me (1st- Optical Vision) My Skyliners tube was not cylindrical when it first arrived? there was the smallest of gap between the end cap fitting that holds the secondary in place and the white surface, the body of the OTA. A Simple rotation of the end cap fixed the situation, which prevented the need to return, but  should I have had to carry out any mod in the first place. The tube in my estimation was somehow 'knocked' out of shape, prior to assembly, as there was no other sign of damage ( that I recall). The second contender (astroboot) Helios Apollo, fully refunded.

The TAL100RS was one of two scopes I considered, until it was recommended to me, that for my use/needs, and from feedback/experience of other  more experienced folk than I, back then, (they still are!!)  the 8" 200P would be the winner. I was so close to buying one of these TAL's ( you know - just to try it out - as their so darned likeable and elusive for many folk!). If  after first light it was inferior, I would have sold it, superior, kept it.

Sending this TAL back, for a replacement is unlikely, as their all gone, and sourcing another could be fruitless, as in the case of my Apollo's. Return/refund leaves you where you started!  and for £160 could you even find another  TAL100RS ? 

Only you can decide whats best, but here's  hoping you make the right decision, for yourself, and/or  discover a suitable solution with the vendor maybe!

[Peter Drew]

@dweller25.

David, I've just received a s/h Vixen 4" F10 OTA, another well thought of refractor, if you fancy a "shoot-out" some time, bring yours over.  

[nightfisher]

2 hours ago, Charic said:

 

Sending this TAL back, for a replacement is unlikely, as their all gone, and sourcing another could be fruitless, as in the case of my Apollo's. Return/refund leaves you where you started!  and for £160 could you even find another  TAL100RS ? 

 

I really dont think there is any question of Dweller having to return it at any time, as i am prepared to have it for what he paid for it, BTW i had the same problem with the 2 holes/screws that hold the lens cell to the tube being out a little

[Paul M]

12 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

I really dont think there is any question of Dweller having to return it at any time, as i am prepared to have it for what he paid for it, ..

I think there is a queue forming

[Charic]

15 minutes ago, Paul M said:

I think there is a queue forming

.........competition!

I've not heard a bad word yet about the TAL, but I'd still like to  compare aside the Skyliner. 
I bought the Skyliner on a recommendation, what if it was wrong the wrong decision! I might never know, at least for a while longer yet..

[dweller25]

1 hour ago, Peter Drew said:

@dweller25.

David, I've just received a s/h Vixen 4" F10 OTA, another well thought of refractor, if you fancy a "shoot-out" some time, bring yours over.  

Hello Peter, thought you would be in Tenerife getting some sunshine

Yes I will bring it over for a shoot-out

[John]

I don't think I'd risk the TAL Apolar 125 that they also have listed

[dweller25]

Hello all,

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

It looks like it might be clear Wednesday so I will hopefully get the scope under the stars to see how she performs

 

[dweller25]

1 minute ago, John said:

I don't think I'd risk the TAL Apolar 125 that they also have listed

Given the feedback I have received about varying quality control and manufacturing accuracy issues I would tend to agree.

[dweller25]

** First light **

As luck would have it the skies have cleared so I have been out checking the Tal 100RS.

Over the past few days I have squared the focuser to point straight to the middle of the optics and taken the tilt out of the lens cell due to one of the securing holes being drilled in the wrong place ! the lens cell is now held by only two screws which is not ideal but works for now.

The finder bracket does not fit so I had to use a 40mm eyepiece in the OTA to hunt around for targets but x25 is still too much, I have flagged this up to James at Astroboot who is trying to sort it. Shame I could not use the 6x30 finder - it's a beauty.

I am using a prism with a glass path corrector which brings the focal length up to 1190mm.

First target was the Moon

It was super sharp at x134 with a very small amount of CA on the lunar limb.

Bumping the power upto x238 the Moon was still sharp with a very distinct snap to focus, a little CA was just evident in the crater shadows now but again in my opinion not worth correcting with filters.

The Crayford focuser is VERY good, smooth, precise and rotates too.

Then I moved onto the star test.......

Scanning around I eventually found a bright star but it was a double - I just looked it up and it was Almach - it looked stunning, really sharp at x238, very vivid colours with tiny diffraction rings around each star.

After finding a single star as high as possible I realised straight away that I got lucky with my adjustments to the focuser and lens cell as collimation at x238 was absolutely spot on. I saw a really tight star that was perfectly central to two thin diffraction rings. As I moved intrafocal the diffraction rings increased in size with the star staying central, the outer ring was brighter. The extrafocal image showed the same diffraction ring spacing as the intrafocal did.

Here is how it looked - image taken off the internet :-

This according to telescopeoptics.net is spherical aberration.

I saw no coma, astigmatism or pinched optics.

I was very pleased with the optical performance from this Fraunhofer design.

Popped in the Tal 25mm eyepiece and had a look at the pleiades at x47, again a very nice sharp view with a precise focus point.

Final target for the evening was Uranus which took a while to find - having no finder I resorted to just slowly scanning to the point where I thought it was - fortunately it was close to the Moon so I was able to find it in a few minutes.

I looked at x150 and x238 and it both cases it's disk was obvious - blue/grey in colour but no surface markings could be seen, again the focus point was easily found.

In summary after a disappointing start in terms of mechanical build quality, the quality of the optics has won me over and I will be keeping the scope with a view to hopefully improving the lens cell situation. The Tal is a perfect match for my Vixen GP equatorial mount and the whole setup can be moved in one go if required.

I am going to try and look at Jupiter and Mars soon ........

 

 

[dweller25]

** Second light **

Got up at 5:30am to try and catch Mars and Jupiter - according to the weather forcast it was about to snow !!

Watched both until 7:15am, seeing III at best usually IV, jetstream present - both planets were quite low but it didn't snow

Mars - x150 - very small, obvious orange/red colour, slight phase showing - not truly round as Uranus was last night, bright central area compared to planet limb, no dark surface detail, polar caps not seen.

Jupiter - x150 - a contrast test for the optics - both polar regions seen, both equatorial belts easily seen which both showed some irregularity but no other detail. What appeared to be 4 moons to the side of Jupiter were actually 3 as one was a star, Io was in transit and I spotted it at 7:05 coming off the limb.

ISS passed north of Jupiter and Mars at 7:15am

The views this morning were definitely limited by the atmosphere, I got very fleeting glimpses of extra detail when the seeing settled down and as Jupiter climbed into the sky so I know there is more to come......

I took the scope out of the house which was at 17'C to -1'C outside, left it for 30 minutes whilst I had some coffee and it had cooled down -  amazing

Optically the scope is performing well, it's very light, cools down quickly and collimation is spot on. The Crayford focuser is really great too.

And it's the right colour

 

[nightfisher]

Darn it, looks like you have a keeper, the finder issue is easy to cure, put a £5 skywatcher finder foot on the OTA and use a 9x50 on it,  regards the lens cell, if you are happy with the position its fixed at, you could run a very thin bead of hot glue round where the cell meets the ota, this would be easy to remove if ever needed but would make sure there was no movement with just 2 screws, or rotate the cell and redrill all three holes............and yes a white scope just looks right

[dweller25]

30 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

Darn it, looks like you have a keeper, the finder issue is easy to cure, put a £5 skywatcher finder foot on the OTA and use a 9x50 on it,  regards the lens cell, if you are happy with the position its fixed at, you could run a very thin bead of hot glue round where the cell meets the ota, this would be easy to remove if ever needed but would make sure there was no movement with just 2 screws, or rotate the cell and redrill all three holes............and yes a white scope just looks right

Hello Jules,

Yes sorry but I will be keeping it and will try to resolve the mechanical issues.

Thanks for the tips

 

[Fozzie]

That Tal Apolar 125 is now £579.20 with a 10% off still running...... you know just saying.