Renewed membership of the TAL brigade

[Alfian]

Some time ago I owned a Tal 1 reflector which I liked very much but was passed on after I bought an ED100 refractor. It  now seems a little perverse that in selling the Ed100 I have now acquired a Tal100r. It wasn't quite what I originally had in mind when I put the ED100 up for sale but its funny how things work out sometimes. Somewhere in the back of my mind I've always wondered what the Tal100r/rs mystique was about and having a soft spot for the Tal way of doing things, as part of the deal with the ED100, I succumbed. Thanks Emad it was an interesting time and it was good to meet you. [Its worth saying that  Emad had  acquired the Tal as a surprise bonus part of buying his LX90]  Given my inclination to tinker I've done a little work on the 'scope, I  fitted a standard finder shoe and replaced the excellent Tal finder with an even better Ascension 8x50 finder which I just happened to have. The grub screw that held the dew shield  in place was missing and a previous owner had put a couple of unobtrusive clear sticky pads to stop the shield from sliding back. I found a suitable screw but the threads on the screw hole in the shield were stripped. I was able to tap some new threads and fit a screw and restore it back to something nearer original condition. With the dew shield off  I could inspect the objective more closely and I could see there was some dust on the inside of the inner lens so with thoughts of maybe flocking the top part of the tube in the process, with some trepidation I unscrewed the lens cell. The lens was carefully cleaned and I noticed that between the lenses was what looked like a few very small fungal spores. Given that the scope is twenty years old perhaps that is no great surprise. I didn't have much of an appetite for taking a lens out so I have given it, hopefully, a fatal dose of UV light.  Looking at the inside of the tube I was pleased with the matt black coating which was much better than the semi-matt grey-black paint that has adorned some tubes I've seen so I shelved the idea of flocking for the time being. All put back together, now so how is it performing?  One of the things that didn't exactly worry me but knew may be a limiting issue was the focuser. The Tal 1 reflector had a focuser that looked very similar and not only did it have a short movement but it was also quite stiff. The first issue meant that  I could only get a plossl type EP to come to focus which was OK but limiting. Regarding the latter issue,  no matter how I adjusted it or fiddled with  it, I couldn't get it much better. However, the Tal100r focuser is by contrast much smoother  with a nice feel to it and although the travel is indeed limited, to my utter astonishment and pleasure it  took just about every eyepiece I had. Plossls, Orthos, ES Maxvisions, 7mm Nirvana, 5mm Starguider all came to focus and it would even focus EPs with my Baader Q barlow. The only EP that wouldn't come to focus was my Altair zoom which I'm guessing needed just a couple of mm more infocus travel. Opportunities to get out have been fleeting but under the stars with passing patches of moderate to good seeing I have been really pleased. This scope takes magnification so well. With a mind to keeping to reasonable exit pupils I'm not given to pushing magnification much but I found I was popping the 5mm Starguider at 200x more than I could believe with impressive lunar views. Having said that the Trapezium (ABCD) was easily discerned at 80x (12.5mm). The one thing I notice  is the warmish hue, almost like having a very pale yellow filter. Its only really noticeable on the moon and I'll probably get used to it but CA although there on the Luna limb, its minimal and not worth fretting about.   So - am I pleased? Yes, very much so. Is the Tal100r as good as the ED100?  No not quite but  nor would I expect it to be,  I  have it because I like the idea of owning a little bit of history, and for a 20 year old chunk of  Russian engineering it is still impressive.

[dweller25]

Nice ????

[John]

Very nice !

One of the originals and possibly the best optically

[henry b]

Excellent!   Henry b.

[Saganite]

41 minutes ago, Alfian said:

Some time ago I owned a Tal 1 reflector which I liked very much but was passed on after I bought an ED100 refractor. It  now seems a little perverse that in selling the Ed100 I have now acquired a Tal100r. It wasn't quite what I originally had in mind when I put the ED100 up for sale but its funny how things work out sometimes. Somewhere in the back of my mind I've always wondered what the Tal100r/rs mystique was about and having a soft spot for the Tal way of doing things, as part of the deal with the ED100, I succumbed. Thanks Emad it was an interesting time and it was good to meet you. [Its worth saying that  Emad had  acquired the Tal as a surprise bonus part of buying his LX90]  Given my inclination to tinker I've done a little work on the 'scope, I  fitted a standard finder shoe and replaced the excellent Tal finder with an even better Ascension 8x50 finder which I just happened to have. The grub screw that held the dew shield  in place was missing and a previous owner had put a couple of unobtrusive clear sticky pads to stop the shield from sliding back. I found a suitable screw but the threads on the screw hole in the shield were stripped. I was able to tap some new threads and fit a screw and restore it back to something nearer original condition. With the dew shield off  I could inspect the objective more closely and I could see there was some dust on the inside of the inner lens so with thoughts of maybe flocking the top part of the tube in the process, with some trepidation I unscrewed the lens cell. The lens was carefully cleaned and I noticed that between the lenses was what looked like a few very small fungal spores. Given that the scope is twenty years old perhaps that is no great surprise. I didn't have much of an appetite for taking a lens out so I have given it, hopefully, a fatal dose of UV light.  Looking at the inside of the tube I was pleased with the matt black coating which was much better than the semi-matt grey-black paint that has adorned some tubes I've seen so I shelved the idea of flocking for the time being. All put back together, now so how is it performing?  One of the things that didn't exactly worry me but knew may be a limiting issue was the focuser. The Tal 1 reflector had a focuser that looked very similar and not only did it have a short movement but it was also quite stiff. The first issue meant that  I could only get a plossl type EP to come to focus which was OK but limiting. Regarding the latter issue,  no matter how I adjusted it or fiddled with  it, I couldn't get it much better. However, the Tal100r focuser is by contrast much smoother  with a nice feel to it and although the travel is indeed limited, to my utter astonishment and pleasure it  took just about every eyepiece I had. Plossls, Orthos, ES Maxvisions, 7mm Nirvana, 5mm Starguider all came to focus and it would even focus EPs with my Baader Q barlow. The only EP that wouldn't come to focus was my Altair zoom which I'm guessing needed just a couple of mm more infocus travel. Opportunities to get out have been fleeting but under the stars with passing patches of moderate to good seeing I have been really pleased. This scope takes magnification so well. With a mind to keeping to reasonable exit pupils I'm not given to pushing magnification much but I found I was popping the 5mm Starguider at 200x more than I could believe with impressive lunar views. Having said that the Trapezium (ABCD) was easily discerned at 80x (12.5mm). The one thing I notice  is the warmish hue, almost like having a very pale yellow filter. Its only really noticeable on the moon and I'll probably get used to it but CA although there on the Luna limb, its minimal and not worth fretting about.   So - am I pleased? Yes, very much so. Is the Tal100r as good as the ED100?  No not quite but  nor would I expect it to be,  I  have it because I like the idea of owning a little bit of history, and for a 20 year old chunk of  Russian engineering it is still impressive.

And why not Ian, they do the job well and they are lovely to look at.Hang on to it.

[mikeDnight]

A lovely classic achromat, and definitely a fine catch! They were unbelievably cheap when they were available new, and perhaps a little utilitarian,  but that's the beauty of them. And that objective will run rings around the SW achromat. 

[nightfisher]

Still has to be the finest 4" F10 achro, when you can find one. My original 100RS never failed to impress me, always giving wonderful views.

Nice little write up Ian, hang onto this classic

[sloz1664]

Hi Ian and welcome back to the "TAL club." Great write up on what is a classic scope. In the past I hankered for a TAL 100, but as the imaging bug has took over and as the observing side of me has diminished, so as the TAL 100 dreams. You've just woken me up again. Maybe on the look out for a TAL 100.......

Steve

[DaveGibbons]

On 02/02/2019 at 05:56, nightfisher said:

Still has to be the finest 4" F10 achro, when you can find one. My original 100RS never failed to impress me, always giving wonderful views.

Nice little write up Ian, hang onto this classic

Jules you are spot on with those comments. The F10 4" Tal  are superb achromats . Great buy Ian!

cheers

Dave