How to avoid a junk telescope

[DaveS]

I just saw this from Ed Ting.

I'm putting this here, hoping the Mods will move it to somewhere they consider more appropriate.

[MarsG76]

I only half agree with his analysis of that TASCO refractor... when I was a kid, I had the TASCO 49TE... similar to the one he talked about, except red not white and 900mm focal length... advertised to have 320X magnifications.
I remember seeing the moon through it, few clusters, nebulae, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus etc.. and they were all exciting to me.... even when pushing that refractor to the max magnification of 320X!!! Yes the views of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn were dim and blurry... Jupiter no more than a yellow fuzz ball, but I could make out craters and the large rings of Saturn quickly rifting through the FOV. Even though looking at all of those objects looked better at 64X, much brighter and sharper, to the young me it was the thrill of seeing a huge Saturn, and was sort of like a challenge. I was most definitely NOT a hobby killer for me.... quite the contrary... actually the reason why to date a small fortune was spent of the gear and I have a small observatory...

I'm not saying that I'd recommend this telescope to anyone, just that it's not a hobby killer for someone who is young, starting out and doesn't have unrealistic expectation... but I do have fond memories of spending nights outside with that TASCO even though compared to what I'm seeing now through the eyepiece, the views were quite rubbish at anything more than 64X mag.

Edited June 6, 2023 by MarsG76

[Peter_D]

Yes, I agree that he should have differentiated between new 60mm refractors and vintage 60mm refractors. I've had several 60/700 or 60/900 refractors from the 1970s and they've been good performers on the Moon, double stars  and brighter DSOs. 

[russ]

My little 60mm Tasco was what got me hooked on the hobby in 1982. My parents initially followed that age old advice of buy a good pair of binoculars instead of a cheaper telescope. So I started with a pair of Swift 7x50. They ended my interest instantly. Then I got the Tasco and hooked. I'm sure going back to it now it would be horrendous but I thought it was the business at the time and it wiped the floor with any pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binos regardless of brand or price. That part I would still stand by now. 

[Naughty Neal]

My similar 60m  refractor is a japanese Janik brand circle T excatly the same type of mount on a wooden tripod and with much the same accessories, the difference is an aluminium ota . 

Used it for white light on the sol and can see some of the  heat spots .

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Naughty Neal

[MarsG76]

5 hours ago, Peter_D said:

Yes, I agree that he should have differentiated between new 60mm refractors and vintage 60mm refractors. I've had several 60/700 or 60/900 refractors from the 1970s and they've been good performers on the Moon, double stars  and brighter DSOs. 

So you think that the TASCO 49TE 60mm frac was with better optics and built than the white 60mm TASCO reviewed by Ed?

[MarsG76]

3 hours ago, russ said:

My little 60mm Tasco was what got me hooked on the hobby in 1982. My parents initially followed that age old advice of buy a good pair of binoculars instead of a cheaper telescope. So I started with a pair of Swift 7x50. They ended my interest instantly. Then I got the Tasco and hooked. I'm sure going back to it now it would be horrendous but I thought it was the business at the time and it wiped the floor with any pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binos regardless of brand or price. That part I would still stand by now. 

I agree that there is more to be seen in the 60mm scope than binos, but there is still something great about the wide views in my Olympus DPS-1 on a clear night, something about looking through two eyes make the views very glassy or crystal clear and contrasty under my bortle 4 skies. 

[The Lapwing]

6 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

I only half agree with his analysis of that TASCO refractor... when I was a kid, I had the TASCO 49TE... similar to the one he talked about, except red not white and 900mm focal length... advertised to have 320X magnifications.
I remember seeing the moon through it, few clusters, nebulae, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus etc.. and they were all exciting to me.... even when pushing that refractor to the max magnification of 320X!!! Yes the views of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn were dim and blurry... Jupiter no more than a yellow fuzz ball, but I could make out craters and the large rings of Saturn quickly rifting through the FOV. Even though looking at all of those objects looked better at 64X, much brighter and sharper, to the young me it was the thrill of seeing a huge Saturn, and was sort of like a challenge. I was most definitely NOT a hobby killer for me.... quite the contrary... actually the reason why to date a small fortune was spent of the gear and I have a small observatory...

I'm not saying that I'd recommend this telescope to anyone, just that it's not a hobby killer for someone who is young, starting out and doesn't have unrealistic expectation... but I do have fond memories of spending nights outside with that TASCO even though compared to what I'm seeing now through the eyepiece, the views were quite rubbish at anything more than 64X mag.

TASCO made good scopes, or rather Circle T made good scopes for TASCO, was a very long time ago mind.

[Gonariu]

I read that vintage 60 mm are better than those made in China tuday, I had a Konus 60/700, bought in 1983, which was nice for seeing sun and moon. Last year I have bought a Bresser vintage 60/900  which I liked looking at Moon and alpha Geminorum.

[Peter_D]

1 hour ago, MarsG76 said:

So you think that the TASCO 49TE 60mm frac was with better optics and built than the white 60mm TASCO reviewed by Ed?

I'm not sure about this 60mm red Tasco refractor. The only 60mm red Tasco refractor that I have experience with is the 9VR that has excellent Vixen made optics.

[russ]

1 hour ago, MarsG76 said:

I agree that there is more to be seen in the 60mm scope than binos, but there is still something great about the wide views in my Olympus DPS-1 on a clear night, something about looking through two eyes make the views very glassy or crystal clear and contrasty under my bortle 4 skies. 

I still have those Swift 7x50. It took time but I came to appreciate their quality. I also realised the main drawback at the time was the badly light polluted skies of Portsmouth meant that trawling the night sky with the binos was not a pleasurable experience. However, when we went on holiday to Cornwall under much better skies those bins came into their own. 

My Tasco was the 49TR. Bought new in 1984. 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by russ

[John]

I'm another observer who got hooked by using a 1960's Tasco 60mm refractor. While it had quite a few drawbacks (notably the wobbly mount and .965 inch eyepieces) it did work quite well and showed me my first Saturn, first double star, first galaxies etc, etc. 

I bought mine used for the princely sum of £45.00. 

Back then a decent scope such as a 3 inch Vixen refractor cost about 10 times as much as that at least and well beyond my disposable income back when we were saving for the deposit on a house and to get married. 

I did go into ownership of the Tasco with "my eyes open" though. My friend had lent me his to observe Jupiter the year before so I knew roughly what to expect.

A few years later I was able to afford a 6 inch F/6 Astro Systems newtonian and that was in a completely different league of course !

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by John

[L8-Nite]

Th the best of my recollection, I started out with either a 50 or 60mm cheap used refractor when I was a child. It was a return that had parts missing, which my Dad bought for me at a Sears parking lot sale in 1965. Unlike in the past few decades, I don't think there were cheap "junk" scopes back then, as products were built to last in those days. As the saying goes, even a cheap scope is better than no scope, and anyone with common sense will do a bit of research before they spend their money. 

Even though I have acquired some fabulous optics over the years, I still enjoy viewing through my 63mm refractor's the most. 🙂 Guess part of it is nostalgia, taking me back to the early days in this wonderful hobby.

. 

[DaveS]

I started out with a little Dixon's "Prinz" 60 mm 'frac, but it looks to be of a better quality than the Tasco specimen in the video. I will agree about the mount, pretty rubbish, but just needs putting on something a bit more stable.

It got me into serious astronomy and didn't put me off, even with the Huygeniun EPs 

[Franklin]

I had a Dixon's special as well, a Prinz 60mm refractor that had a built in barlow lens, so it had a variable power from x15 to x60. I was only about 10 years old and it was my first scope but it showed me  craters and mountains on the Moon, the phases of Venus, the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, not to mention a host of double stars and some of the brighter Messier objects. It was well made and the optics were from Japan, the wooden tripod worked but there was no kind of slow motion control on the fork mount. It certainly didn't put me off astro as a kid because 45 years later here I am still looking up at the heavens and still using Japanese optics!

[Franklin]

Some of the early Tasco scopes were actually made by Vixen of Japan.

[Franklin]

That pair of Zeiss Telementors look fantastic.

[bosun21]

I agree that not all Tasco refractors are made equal. But the modern plastic ones are as bad as Ed described unfortunately. Gone are the days of Vixen made Tascos.

[JeremyS]

Not sure what the problem is here. Years ago Tasco was great. The 60mm was my first scope. But They don’t seem to be any more - like most 60mm department store scopes. Ed Ting is talking about today.