Tal 1 added motor

[Trevor PC]

Hi 

I am new to the lounge and wonder have any one fitted a clock drive to a none motorised TAL 1?

[markse68]

Hi Trevor, I’m sure it would be possible but a lot easier to wait for a Tal-1m to turn up? Having said that the Tal-1m motors are old now and many have problems but you should check that with the seller. The worm drive engineering is nice and can be retrofitted with stepper or servo drive if the synchronous motor has issues. 

Mark

[Trevor PC]

Mark 

Thanks for the advice, my new problem is the lady I am buying the Tal 1 off has informed me that it  has the old 32mm push fit eyepieces, and not the advertised 1.25",  any idea where I might get some from?

Many thanks

 

Trevor

 

[markse68]

Ebay, ABS, ENS optical and here get Tal bits from time to time- keep an eye out for them. Doesn't she have the ones that would have come with the scope?

Mark

Edited April 23, 2022 by markse68

[Trevor PC]

Mark 

Yes she does, I see Tal  did make a 2 X Barlow would this be ok in a 32mm focuser. 

The reason for asking is that I understand  if correct that the more powerful the Barlow the more light it cuts out, and I would still like to use the Baader eyepieces you suggested.

Many thanks

Trevor

 

[markse68]

So she has the 3x push-fit standard barlow? great. You should try the standard eyepieces before rushing into buying others if i were you- they’re pretty good. If you use a 1.25” barlow and ep you’ll likely not reach focus without shifting the primary up the tube 20mm or so. But then the standard eps won’t reach focus…

Barlows increase the effective focal length of the scope thus increasing magnification of the eyepiece. You end up focusing on a smaller part of the image captured by the primary so yes the image gets dimmer.

Mark

[Trevor PC]

Morning Mark

I trust you are well, I have found a blue TAL 1m for sale, condition was said to be working 6 months ago. I believe this will be from around the mid 90's, would this be worth buying unseen and what problems should I expect with the  motor  drive, and more importantly how much should I pay for it. 

Side note it is I believe the 32mm version. 

 

Many thanks 

 

Trevor 

[markse68]

Hi Trevor, what happened to the 1.25” one?!?

The blue ones are early ones. The motor will either work or it won’t- they have nylon bearings that wear out eventually- someone on here replaced his- you can search and find his account of it. 

Going by ebay prices i’d  say £40-100 

Mark

[Trevor PC]

Mark 

I still have got the Tal-1, which  I won't get rid of,  saw this and thought it might be worth buying, If I could get it for about £30 to £40. 

Saw a review on a gear box rebuild, which did seem to be quite a difficult task, just a shame you can't get parts.

If there were the original engineering drawings it would I believe  be possible to get them 3d printed.

 

I hate to see well made equipment go to waste, must be my age !!!