Got my hands on a Tal 100R?

[emadmoussa]

Long story short, I bought a Meade LX90 8", but to my surprise, the accessories that came with it, turned out to be a lot more than accessories. I mean, A LOT more. Basically, I ended up with 3 scopes: LX90, ETX90, many super and normal Plossls (you could probably see in the background), and what I think is a 4"  Tal refractor (Will show the kit in a later post). Everything belonged to a gentleman who passed away 8 years ago and his wife wanted a good home for all of his equipment. 

So...the refractor. It was very dusty and the primary lens was dirty. Turns out, it was only dust. I cleaned everything up and now I have a scope you can use. I never used a Tal. In fact, I thought it was an Orion frac. I had a brief moment of clear sky yesterday and the scope is good indeed. Much better than I expected. It was only a 10-min session, so at least I know the scope works just fine. I do like it.

But because I suddenly ended up with a ton of equipment and this scope is fairly big, I might end up putting it up for sale. Just want to show the scope and see what you guys think...I'm not 100% it's a Tal, but it looks like one and diagonal is one. 

 

 

[emadmoussa]

Also, assuming I want to sell it. How much do you think it's worth? 

[Stu]

@nightfisher might bite your hand off for that, unless his budget is blown on drones

 

[emadmoussa]

FYI, I managed to remove the sticker marks on the side. It looks squeaky clean and shiny now

[John]

Lovely 1st generation TAL 100. They are not actually worth that much (I bought one for £120 a few years ago) but they are well engineered and optically very good.

This was mine:

[emadmoussa]

1 minute ago, John said:

Lovely 1st generation TAL 100. They are not actually worth that much (I bought one for £120 a few years ago) but they are well engineered and optically very good.

This was mine:

The optics are indeed good and the build is very solid. I'd like a wooden tripod to make it look classy.  

[nightfisher]

9 hours ago, Stu said:

@nightfisher might bite your hand off for that, unless his budget is blown on drones

 

Ha ha, drones are so yesterdays news, its 150mph flying wings now, though i am building a 600 quadcopter, just because i can, but back to topic nice scope but as John pointed out its a Mk1 100r, the only Tal i would buy is the Mk1 100RS with 2" R&P focuser, like the one Shane did the HA mod on but thanks for the heads up

[Stu]

5 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

Ha ha, drones are so yesterdays news, its 150mph flying wings now, though i am building a 600 quadcopter, just because i can, but back to topic nice scope but as John pointed out its a Mk1 100r, the only Tal i would buy is the Mk1 100RS with 2" R&P focuser, like the one Shane did the HA mod on but thanks for the heads up

Tee hee!

Ah, ok. I wondered if this was one of the ones with purple coatings which you preferred?

[John]

They do have the purple coatings but the weakness of the 1st gen / Mk 1 TAL 100's was the focuser which was 1.25" only and has quite limited travel.

 

 

[emadmoussa]

2 minutes ago, John said:

They do have the purple coatings but the weakness of the 1st gen / Mk 1 TAL 100's was the focuser which was 1.25" only and has quite limited travel.

 

 

Yep, that I noticed. I think mine - if I'm not mistaken is the 1999 model? And the optics are indeed purple. 

[John]

2 minutes ago, emadmoussa said:

Yep, that I noticed. I think mine - if I'm not mistaken is the 1999 model? And the optics are indeed purple. 

I bought one of the 1999 ones brand new when they 1st started to come to the UK. I thought it a bargain for £249.00 delivered complete with a substantial ash wood trunk. It was delivered direct from Siberia where they are made.

 

[Roy Challen]

My Dad sold his 100R recently, got £180 for it although that included the mount, tripod and crate. It's a nice scope, I'd keep it unless you're desperate for the money. 

[Joves]

I agree... unless i was desperate for the money, I’d be keeping it.

Sounds like a great deal you got with that SCT!!

[emadmoussa]

I'd probably keep it, but I have my eye on an 80-120ED. I love the Skywatcher ED fracs. 

[dweller25]

The Tal 100's are well built and very sharp but do show chromaric aberration so you may prefer an ED scope. But I would give it a chance as you may like it enough to keep it.

Here is the 100RS I used to own ....

[Caldwell-14]

On 08/12/2018 at 21:49, John said:

Lovely 1st generation TAL 100. They are not actually worth that much (I bought one for £120 a few years ago) but they are well engineered and optically very good.

This was mine:

120 quid is spot on I would say. I had one, cracking scope with a semi apo filter.