Finder choice

[FPM]

Hello

Choosing an upgrade to the finder that came with a Skyeatcher 6" Dob. 

I'm leaning towards a RACI finder. I see that some have illuminated cross-hairs. Is that worth having?

Thanks.

[wookie1965]

A Telrad brilliant piece of kit. 

[Pixies]

Telrad/Quikfinder/reflex RDF plus a RACI is a good combination. A few threads about that.

I have an illuminated crosshair and have probably only used it once. 

[Spile]

The RACI is great but many people (myself included) need a straight through finder (like a Telrad) to align the RACI. Strange I know.

[Elp]

Quikfinder I prefer as you can switch to looking at the sky with your own eyes and back instantly, and even with both eyes open if you learn how to do it, far more comfortable, the two angular distance circles are also genuinely useful.

[Ratlet]

I used only a quickfinder for ages.  Use the quickfinder to get close enough and then a low power eyepiece to starhop.  That was with a 650mm scope though 

Edited May 27 by Ratlet

[apaulo]

For me its a baader sky surfer rdf and a right angled finder scope to get in closer if needed.  I stated the type of rdf for the simple reason i find the sky surfer  easier to find and see the red dot when targets are higher in the sky. As for illuminated cross hairs, ive never found a need to have them. 

[NGC 1502]

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

I used only a quickfinder for ages.  Use the quickfinder to get close enough and then a low power eyepiece to starhop.  That was with a 650mm scope though 

Works for me too, and for a 1200mm focal length scope.

[John]

I use mostly right angle, correct image optical finders currently, either in the 30mm or 50mm aperture. When I had a 12 inch dobsonian I used an RACI 9x50 finder alongside a Rigel Quikfinder and it proved a very effective combination. Sometimes I found the illuminated reticule of the 50mm finder useful, sometimes I didn't bother with it.

[Louis D]

If you have light polluted skies, there's no real reason for an illuminated reticle.  The black lines of a non-illuminated reticle are super easy to see against the background skyglow.

[jjohnson3803]

Never owned a Telrad, but I did have a Celestron pseudo-Telrad with concentric circles that looked like a Star Trek phaser (don't recall the product name).  It was ok, but it was hard to get the circles dim enough to be useful on anything but the brightest stars in my light-polluted skies.

I don't like doing mental or physical contortions, so I use RACIs without illuminated reticles.  My 6x30s have surprisingly sharp optics.  I also have an 8x50 on my ST102.

 

[Mr Spock]

I dumped the Telrad as it kept falling off. I have this now:

RDF and a RACI is ideal.

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

I dumped the Telrad as it kept falling off. I have this now:

RDF and a RACI is ideal.

I used to have the same problem with a Rigel Quickfinder. It would fall off with monotonous regularity, usually in the middle of the night..... didn't matter which stickies I used. A RACI is much more substantial.

[John]

My Quikfinder came off the scope once in the 10 years that I owned it. I must have been using stickier pads !

Maybe Orion Optics tubes take the pads better ?

Who knows !

 

[bosun21]

32 minutes ago, John said:

My Quikfinder came off the scope once in the 10 years that I owned it. I must have been using stickier pads !

Maybe Orion Optics tubes take the pads better ?

Who knows !

 

Sticky pads are most definitely not created equally.

[PeterStudz]

2 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

I dumped the Telrad as it kept falling off. I have this now:

RDF and a RACI is ideal.

IMHO the SkySurfer III is one of the best RDF’s. I hate sticky pads anywhere near the OTA. If I need to attached something I get a power tool and drill a hole then bolt it down 😀

[Mr Spock]

30 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

If I need to attached something I get a power tool and drill a hole then bolt it down

That's what I did. Couple of holes and a finder shoe, and job's a good un.

[John]

The Telrad and the Quikfinder do have holes in their bases for tube attachment with screws if desired.

Plus they have defined true field reticule circles which can be very useful for star hopping 🙂

The Skysurfer III is quite good too though, I seem to recall from way back when I had one.

 

 

[Ratlet]

Find the quickfinder is a game thst loses its charm very quickly.

I printed up one of these:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4316834

So I can just mount it to a finder shoe.

[John]

9 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

Find the quickfinder is a game thst loses its charm very quickly.

I printed up one of these:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4316834

So I can just mount it to a finder shoe.

Good idea.

If a finder keeps falling off I can understand that it would become unloved quickly whatever it's other virtues are !

Those defined true field reticules are worth having if you can devise a way to fix the thing to the scope reliably though. IMHO of course.

 

Edited June 3 by John

[Spile]

It’s easy to make an adapter and it also means the non magnifying finder is better positioned 

[Louis D]

My finder arrangement with RACI, GLP, and QuikFinder:

My finder arrangement with RACI, SkEye, QuikFinder:

[Vroobel]

I just tried a new for me RACI finderscope with 102ED F/11. The scope has two Vixen/SW shoes so I can use the finderscope and an RDF for a rough aiming. 

 

 

 

Edited June 3 by Vroobel