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TAL 125r Refractor

DaveGibbons

By DaveGibbons
in Member Equipment Reviews

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F15Rules

F15Rules

Posted
Posted

Wow! The thought of an apo and/or 6" Tal is exciting:hello2:...

If my Tal 125R achro is anything to go by, the sooner our Siberian friends bring them to the UK, the better.

I've posted a couple of pics of my 125R over on Dave Gibbons' "with Brass knobs on" thread, but if you are interested I have attached a couple of pics here too.

This scope was previously owned by Dweller 25, Moondog and Dave Gibbons, and I have to say that the condition of what is now almost a 5 year old scope does them all credit.

I think each of the previous owners will remember this one fondly, and I certainly don't intend to part with it. I haven't seen another one in the UK as yet and if there is anyone else out there I would love to hear from them.

One of the pics below shows my Tal 100RS, another fabulous performer - I paid £189 for this a year ago from Ace Cameras in Bristol and its got the much improved, very smooth 2" focusser..if you are in the market for a great performing 4" refractor that won't break the bank, then at around £249 now (thanks to the falling £), they still represent great value: what's more, they come with one of the best 6x30 finders on the market, and a superb 25mm Plossl eyepiece. Why buy Chinese mass production when you can get Russki quality that will probably last longer than the owner??

:headbang::hello2:Let's start a petition for Tal to bring their apos into production and into the UK:hello2::D

cheers

Dave

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AndyH

AndyH

Posted
Posted

Hell, that's nice, Dave !!!!!!

Those knobs really finish that awesome scope off to perfection.

Don't you just hate taking pics of the scope lenses (coatings especially)? Never does them justice.

Our Southern Siberian friends sure do make stunning optics(mirrors and lenses), and you gotta love the traditional black and white colour schemes.

I don't make any bones about it, I'm a Tal nut. Have a few. 200K, Tal 1, 2M, Alcor and M. Had a stunning 100rs, now sold.

What has always surprised me is why they don't do at least an 8" newt.

If I ever see a 250K for sale I'll bite the sellers hand off. Very rare I think over here and not kept in stock by the importers so FLO told me :-(

Once my replacement Tal MT-3S motor comes in from the Motherland(Thanks Mr Elovenko!!), I'm going to enquire about the availability of the 125apo. If it's about the same price with delivery, import fees etc, as the 200K OTA gets sold for over here, I MAY be tempted.

Cheers,

Andy.

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F15Rules

F15Rules

Posted
Posted

Sorry folks, I said one of the pics included my Tal 100RS and then didn't upload it! So here are a couple of my 100RS in the foreground with the 125, and also a couple of daytime shots of my venerable 100R with the gorgeous purple lens..

all we need now is for the clouds to finally clear...would you believe it was clear last night for a while and I had commitments which meant I couldn't get outside:icon_confused:...someone up there has a cruel sense of humour:iamwithstupid:

cheers

Dave

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TheThing

TheThing

Posted
Posted

Yep, them Tal's are gorgeous! I had a 2M for a while which was a lovely scope. I've now just got a 2M pier and mount which I use to mount my 6" Soligor on for some (very poor) CCD imaging - poor because of my inability, not the mount!

My next scope to add to the list will be another Tal, either a Newt or a Mak I think. One day...

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  • 5 years later...
dweller25

dweller25

Posted
Posted

The Tal 125r was an excellent scope with just one thing I did not like - Chromatic Abberation. But the build quality, sharpness and contrast were great and it was reasonably priced. It was replaced with a Skywatcher 120ED.

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John

John

Posted
Posted

Funny how a few of us have drooled over these lovely rare scopes and then finally owned one, only to sell them on again when it should be a keeper for life

Most of the ones I've read about (presumably David's was an exception) have had an optical issue that needed sorting out, sometimes needing specialist help. TAL seemed to be able to get the 100's right most of the time. I could never understand why a flagship scope such as the 125R, even though a little faster than the 100R, could not be made to a more consistent quality :icon_scratch:

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nightfisher

nightfisher

Posted
Posted

Most of the ones I've read about (presumably David's was an exception) have had an optical issue that needed sorting out, sometimes needing specialist help. TAL seemed to be able to get the 100's right most of the time. I could never understand why a flagship scope such as the 125R, even though a little faster than the 100R, could not be made to a more consistent quality :icon_scratch:

I have to say the optics in the one i owned were good, Marki who had a few problems had a look through mine and rated the optics pretty good

If i were going for a larger frac now i would with out doubt go for a 120ED skywatcher

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  • 1 month later...
Marki

Marki

Posted
Posted

I have to say the optics in the one i owned were good, Marki who had a few problems had a look through mine and rated the optics pretty good

If i were going for a larger frac now i would with out doubt go for a 120ED skywatcher

Aye, your 125 was better corrected than mine, Jules. Mine was subsequently improved after I got ES to look at it and sort some of the spherical aberation it exhibited.

I think I'd agree with you on the 120ED though.

Having said that, this thread has prompted me to go dig out my 125 again. Looking like some clear sky later ( or at least tomorrow)!

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nightfisher

nightfisher

Posted
Posted

Aye, your 125 was better corrected than mine, Jules. Mine was subsequently improved after I got ES to look at it and sort some of the spherical aberation it exhibited.

I think I'd agree with you on the 120ED though.

Having said that, this thread has prompted me to go dig out my 125 again. Looking like some clear sky later ( or at least tomorrow)!

Nice one marki, i rather hope you bring the 125r to ingleton star party

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DaveGibbons

DaveGibbons

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Ah,

The TAL 125.....How I miss it!  a beautiful bit of kit.  Not posted for a while so Hi to my old SGL buddies been messing round with motorbikes for a  year or two -looking skywards again.

regards

Dave

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nightfisher

nightfisher

Posted
Posted

Ah,

The TAL 125.....How I miss it!  a beautiful bit of kit.  Not posted for a while so Hi to my old SGL buddies been messing round with motorbikes for a  year or two -looking skywards again.

regards

Dave

Hey there, welcome back, lets hope you stick around a bit this time

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