Antique Shop Telescope

[Sunshine]

Help me identify! It is In wonderful condition and the mount works well. Has accessories, diagonal amd what seems like a very heavy barlow.

Edited February 19 by Sunshine

[DirkSteele]

I believe it is this company.  https://www.goto.co.jp/english/about/

and https://www.goto.co.jp/english/about/history/

The logo is certainly the same.  I recognised it immediately as I know them for their products in planetarium space.  Did not know they were (are) in the business of making scopes as well.

Does not tell us too much more unfortunately.

Edited February 19 by DirkSteele

[Kon]

According to my Japanese wife the label translates as Go To light research facility. 

Same link as above post.

[Franklin]

Wayback Machine (archive.org)

This is the catalogue for the GOTO 3" refractor, yours looks like the 60mm version. It should have nice Japanese optics at around F15, good find.

Edited February 19 by Franklin

[Roy Challen]

They're well spoken of in the classic refractors section on the other forum.

[dweller25]

They are nice scopes 👍

[F15Rules]

They seem highly regarded over the pond...and that tripod looks very robust!

Dave

[davidc135]

Very nice find. Highly respected manufacturers. Look forward to hearing how it performs.  David

[Peter Drew]

Many years ago I spotted an antique telescope in the window of a "junk" shop.  It was a 3" all brass refractor about f14 mounted on a pillar and claw stand.  The price tag was £250, I had always wanted one of these so thought if I could get it for £200 I would buy it.  I went in and examined it, the engraving confirmed that it was by Davis of Cheltenham which dated it to the mid 1800's.  The focuser was jammed and the objective had a small scuff mark at its centre and the whole thing needed a good clean.  I told them that I was interested and being a telescope maker I could probably sort the problems out, to which they said that being in the trade I could have it for £150.  SOLD!

It didn't take much effort to free the focuser and the small scuff mark was due to the objective lenses being assembled incorrectly at some point and the centres had rubbed together.   Once sorted the telescope gives very good views with hardly any CA terrestrially, I have to confess that I've never got round to trying it astronomically, the mount isn't very encouraging.  Looks nice as a display piece which is what I wanted.     🙂 

[Gonariu]

It looks like a 60/900 achromatic to me too; , I think it must be from the 70s (I'm not an expert), it certainly gives some nice images of the sun, moon and double stars. I bought a vintage Bresser one which gives beautiful views of the moon at 225X (a few days before the first quarter of this month, with a 4mm SR eyepiece I had a splendid view of our satellite which surprised me).

[dweller25]

@Sunshine Did you buy it ?

[JeremyS]

Does it have GOTO or just push to? 🤔

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, dweller25 said:

@Sunshine Did you buy it ?

I did not, issue is I already have three scopes and they’re encroaching on space we have earmarked for a home theatre. Also, I just spent CAD $300 on a statue of Galileo looking through his telescope, I may have to settle for watching him look through his telescope, for a while.

Edited February 24 by Sunshine

[The60mmKid]

4 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

I did not, issue is I already have three scopes and they’re encroaching on space we have earmarked for a home theatre, but who knows I may just grab it next weekend when I pass the shop again. 🤣

You might be sparing yourself a headache! I've owned a few 60mm refractors of this ilk. When they work, they're fun. But some of them had lenses that, over time (I assume), became astigmatic and, thus, the telescopes weren't good for much.

Is there a shop return policy in case you don't get one of the good ones?

Also, it's worth noting that it'll require an adapter to use 1.25" accessories. Those are obtainable on eBay.

[Sunshine]

3 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

You might be sparing yourself a headache! I've owned a few 60mm refractors of this ilk. When they work, they're fun. But some of them had lenses that, over time (I assume), became astigmatic and, thus, the telescopes weren't good for much.

Is there a shop return policy in case you don't get one of the good ones?

Also, it's worth noting that it'll require an adapter to use 1.25" accessories. Those are obtainable on eBay.

Final sale, I doubt I’ll be getting it, If I’m goint to own a classic frac I would rather it be a Unitron.

[dweller25]

You already own a classic frac 👍🙂

[Mumia]

beautiful refractor, such old long tubes can show really wonderful views. It's a pity that achromats with F>12 are not produced on such a scale nowadays. Even though these are not APO designs, they can correct chromatic aberration very nicely. I personally have a Zeiss Jena from DDR 63/840 f/13.3. I admit that when used with the Zeiss O-10 they provide crystalline views of the moon, as clear and clean from AC as modern good designs. Below I will include an interesting table showing how the F ratio to the lens diameter affects the visible chromatism.

[Sunshine]

Patiently waiting for Tak to make a dob.

[The60mmKid]

10 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Patiently waiting for Tak to make a dob.

Sort of like waiting for the clouds over Britain to clear...