Tasco 304 Refractor

[LDW1]

I was lucky enough to find a 60mm Tasco 304 incl. the wooden case all in mint condition for $150 C here in Ontario ! Does anyone in the forum have any experience with one of these older scopes from 59-61 that they can pass on to me and also where I can pick up the older ep’s for it !

[MarsG76]

Reminds me of my first scope..... ah the memories

 

[vlaiv]

Don't know anything about that scope, but you might find this interesting read:

https://www.scopereviews.com/Tasco1.html

If scope has .965" focuser, then here is something that can help with that:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p283_TS-Optics-Adaptor-for-1-25--eyepieces-to-24-5-mm---0-965--focuser.html

This will help you use 1.25" diagonal and eyepieces in .965" focuser

[mikeDnight]

That's a nice find! Some of those vintage Japanese refractors were really very nice scopes. Mine was a 60mm Astral, which cost me £110 (down from £130) in the January sale of 1980. It may have been small but it was enough to ignite a fire that's been burning ever since!

Your scope probably takes 0.96 eyepieces. Did you get a prism star diagonal with your Tasco scope?

[mikeDnight]

Here's my .965" eyepiece collection. Despite the narrow field, some of these eyepieces are still quite nice to use and give some nice views.

 

[LDW1]

I have 8 other scopes of various types but I have been watching for / researching these older scopes for some time, I can’t believe this one came up on Kijiji in this condition, apparently its been stored away for quite a while ! Its in shipment as we speak, can hardly wait to try it but it may be a while yet too many nights of haze and ice crystals, lol 

[LDW1]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

That's a nice find! Some of those vintage Japanese refractors were really very nice scopes. Mine was a 60mm Astral, which cost me £110 (down from £130) in the January sale of 1980. It may have been small but it was enough to ignite a fire that's been burning ever since!

Your scope probably takes 0.96 eyepieces. Did you get a prism star diagonal with your Tasco scope?

It is still in transit, it comes with a couple of eps, a barlow and a diagonal, mirror or star, I am not sure which ?

[KP82]

It is very likely the telescope would not be able to come into focus when using a 1.25 to .965 adapter together with a 1.25 diagonal. I tried the combination on my Tasco 60mm 302675 and was not able to make the scope focus to infinity (it could focus to closer distances).

The solutions would be to either get some .965 eyepieces (difficult to find quality ones) or replace the focuser with a 1.25 inch unit. I personally went for the latter. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CSO-The-60mm-aperture-refraction-astronomical-telescope-plastics-focus-seat-DIY-special-1-25-inch-interface/32864719803.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.12eb4c4d5oaMbI

I also bought two series 500 plossls, 25mm and 12.5mm from sky's unlimited as well as a Celestron RDF from harrisons. These together make a very nice lightweight inexpensive moon/planet/doubles kit for my little boy.

[LDW1]

1 hour ago, KP82 said:

It is very likely the telescope would not be able to come into focus when using a 1.25 to .965 adapter together with a 1.25 diagonal. I tried the combination on my Tasco 60mm 302675 and was not able to make the scope focus to infinity (it could focus to closer distances).

The solutions would be to either get some .965 eyepieces (difficult to find quality ones) or replace the focuser with a 1.25 inch unit. I personally went for the latter. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CSO-The-60mm-aperture-refraction-astronomical-telescope-plastics-focus-seat-DIY-special-1-25-inch-interface/32864719803.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.12eb4c4d5oaMbI

I also bought two series 500 plossls, 25mm and 12.5mm from sky's unlimited as well as a Celestron RDF from harrisons. These together make a very nice lightweight inexpensive moon/planet/doubles kit for my little boy.

So it fit your Tasco without any problems, the screw holes lined up okay ? For the low price it is solidly built ?

[KP82]

6 hours ago, LDW1 said:

So it fit your Tasco without any problems, the screw holes lined up okay ? For the low price it is solidly built ?

Yep. The screw holes did line up with the holes in the OTA. They were maybe about 0.5 to 1mm off the centre towards the back of the OTA, but the holes in the OTA were sufficiently large to allow such smsall errors. In fact the holes in the stock focuser are slightly off too.

Compared to the stock focuser the build quality is about the same. They are both made in plastics. The new focuser holds a Celestron prism diagonal (heavier than cheap 1.25 mirror diagonal) + a series 500 25mm plossl nicely without any movement. I've also test it with my heavier BST 12mm and it passed with no tilt/slip. I've got even heavier eyepieces such as my Delos 6mm and 4.5mm, but I didn't bother with them as I suspect those would exceed the payload of the focuser (I didn't want to break it).

I will take a couple of pictures of my Tasco installed with the new focuser and upload here tomorrow.

[SIDO]

Telescope-Warehouse in the States still sells .965 eye pieces although not as abundant on the site as in previous years Bill can be phoned or emailed and does have more available than just what's on his website. I have a couple of these old 60's era's fracs my self but have chosen to keep them in the .965 format.

Bill Vorce https://telescope-warehouse.com/

Delivery to Canada is available,

                     Freddie ?

[KP82]

As promised, here are a few pictures of the 1.25 focuser that I bought on Aliexpress.

[LDW1]

I must have missed something, I didn’t realize it was a Tasco focuser, I thought it was a third party named focuser ! My finder fits on the focuser not the tube so I would have to figure that one out or just eliminate the finder altogether as I don’t usually use one, just point and view !

[KP82]

Nah, it's a 3rd party one. The Tasco label was peeled off the original unit and stuck onto the new one. For the finder you could either drill two M4 holes on the OTA or use a telrad like sticking pad.