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Review – Rigel Quickfinder


Moonshane

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I have often found that the straight through finder on my refractor was quite difficult to use and often did not live up to its name. For very bright objects like Mars or the Orion Nebula it is fine but when you have to ‘star hop’ the reversed (both ways) image was difficult for my relatively small brain to decipher and I regularly went in the completely wrong direction. Also, before I made my taller wooden tripod I often had to kneel or even lay flat to see through the finder. The Rigel could be an answer for that too if fitted on the tube.

Reading various reviews, I came to the conclusion that the red dot finder was a way to improve this process and enable more time viewing and less time finding (or not).

I liked the circular ‘target’ of the Telrad type of ‘reflex’ finder which has zero magnification and is the right way up. You are basically using the site as you use your eyes; the name ‘reflex’ finder seems very appropriate.

The intention was to place it on my focuser and I did not really wish to drill the tube so both of these pretty much ruled out the larger Telrad. The Rigel unit uses self-adhesive strips to fit the base plate and as it has a footprint of only a couple of inches square and is very light it can be fitted anywhere on the scope without damage or upsetting the balance of your scope (you may possibly need to rebalance your scope if you use the optional AA battery adapter). The Rigel also sits a little higher than the Telrad although I have never seen the latter.

There’s not much in price between the basic Telrad and the Rigel but the latter comes ready to go with battery, two bases (so it can be used on different scopes), and has the blinking target as standard. I have no ties with the forum’s sponsor First Light Optics but got mine from there – for convenience, I direct you to here for specifications etc. Finders - Rigel QuikFinder Compact Reflex Sight

The target covers half a degree and two degrees with two concentric circles and is easy to use. Fit the base plate and then the unit to the scope. Turn on the unit and the same knob provides for variable brightness on the small screen. I have quite poor skies in terms of light pollution and found the dimmer settings the more useable. I don’t like the blinking as it drives me a little crazy – this is down to personal preference and maybe I’ll like it more in time. This is adjusted with a small white knob. Alignment is easy with the three small white knobs being used to align in the same manner as the set screws on a normal finder. It took about 10 seconds.

Once you have it all lined up and a nice cool scope, clear skies etc, you are ready to go. My method was to point the scope at the right area of sky, look through the Rigel from about 6 inches away and with my right eye and look at the sky with my left eye. It sounds difficult but comes naturally in a very short space of time. Get the scope to where you want it with the guide stars in the right positions and then lock off the scope. Go to the normal telescopic finder and then use this to locate the actual object(s) you want and hey presto it is in the scope eyepiece on low power. It makes it so much easier to be in the right sort of area before you look through the main finder; eventually I may not even need the other finder but reckon the best of both worlds is the right way to go for now.

There are many useful maps with Telrad targets see http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/96603-messier-targets.html and although the Rigel unit has just the two inner rings and not the outer 4 degree ring, these maps are still usable of course.

I hope others find this useful and please free to PM me any questions or post comments to the thread.

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A truly excellent review Shane. And of great interest to me as i'm in a dilemma choosing between the Telrad, Rigel Quickfinder and the Rigel MRF.

Good to hear no drilling required with this one, so that's a major plus point. And the 0.5 and 2 deg circles sound very useful too. How do the self adhesive pads hold up? I had some of those with an RDF some years ago and they were fine for two sessions and then the RDF fell off the scope.

I must admit i did have the Telrad in last place as it's so large and so fugly (i know that shouldn't be a factor). And the Rigel MRF was leading the way because it simply slides in the current finder shoe and looks sleek (i know, looks again). The only thing that was holding the Quickfinder back was the dimensions (standing 4.5" tall). Sounds a little top heavy for those pads or could easily be swiped by accident. What do you think?

Russ

Edited by russ
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nice review, i'm trying to make my mind up over a second finder aswell

re double sided tape, try the rolls of double sided number plate tape that halfords sell, it's very strong. in fact at times it's almost too strong, i wanted to hold a cordles number pad on the centre of my logitech wheel and used some of this tape as i was out of velcro. when i came to replace it with velcro i had a hell of a job getting the numberpad off the wheel

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Just a small correction: The telrad also haves tape on the base so no need for drilling.

The telrad is plastic and pretty light too, but it's big and the look through glass stays less elevated from the OTA. It comes with the extra 4 degree ring which is precious to find those objects further away from bright stars.

Both are excellent. I think the choice boils down to whether you prefer a smaller finder or the extra 4 degree ring.

Edited by pvaz
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How do the self adhesive pads hold up? I had some of those with an RDF some years ago and they were fine for two sessions and then the RDF fell off the scope.

Russ

I've had the Rigel for a little while now, the pads seems good so far, the unit is very light and it feels very solidly stuck to the scope.

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Great review of a great finder Shane !.

I've owned both a Telrad and a Quikfinder and liked them both. Because of it's small footprint I think the Quickfinder is suitable for a wider range of scopes. It's lens is slightly less prone to dewing than the Telrad as well I found. Both great finders though.

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I still don't understand how the quikfinder works. The further I go from it, the larger the ring gets, so it always covers the same amount of sky.

I guess it's done by magical pixie dust again.

Good question. I discussed it with a friend and we came to the conclusion that the circles are projected up onto the window from below in a diverging beam of light. They reflect off the angled window towards your eye, but they are still diverging... so the further back you are the further apart the rays are and the larger the circles look.

If the circles were a constant size then the finder would only work (cover 2 degrees) at a fixed distance from your eye.

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hi all

cheers for the feedback!

re the tape as supplied, I have found it is extremely sticky and you are unlikely to displace the finder even with a decent knock - it's as light as a feather and Steve at FLO described it as being like a toy in a cheap cracker - true but it's more robust than it looks. it does stand quite tall though (about the same height as a normal finder). I put it on temporarily to try it out on a newt that I then sold and if you carefully prize it off, the residue comes off readily with lighter fluid and a cloth. I'd recommend you fit the bracket one day and use the next but this is probably not essential and just me being careful.

thanks for the correction pvaz - I have never seen a telrad in the flesh although my dob comes with one on it so I will be able to compare the two.

whichever one you choose it's an amazing tool as far as I am concerned.

don't forget to turn it off though when you put it away.

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Great write up of the Quickfinder Shane, thanks a lot. I just received mine from FLO today (great service again as I only ordered it yesterday afternoon!), and I am glad I seem to have made the good choice for a second finder.

I stuck it on the tube right next the regular finder and it is so light I didn't need to rebalance the scope at all. Had about an hour out tonight with it, between breaks in the clouds, and it was such a great help. I love it.

Rik

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  • 12 years later...

 

I too am looking at a second finder and was thinking of getting one of those multi finder mounts, I already have a 9x50 right angled finder and thought a red dot would also be beneficial. Reading about the telrad and the Rigel it seem they don't fit into the mount shoe is this correct? Don't like the idea of sticking or using cable ties to mount a finder 

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6 hours ago, Jimmy Rocket said:

 

I too am looking at a second finder and was thinking of getting one of those multi finder mounts, I already have a 9x50 right angled finder and thought a red dot would also be beneficial. Reading about the telrad and the Rigel it seem they don't fit into the mount shoe is this correct? Don't like the idea of sticking or using cable ties to mount a finder 

You can get a shoe mount adapter for the Telrad but the double sided tape it comes with works fine for me.

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On 19/02/2010 at 12:04, mint_mark said:

Good question. I discussed it with a friend and we came to the conclusion that the circles are projected up onto the window from below in a diverging beam of light. They reflect off the angled window towards your eye, but they are still diverging... so the further back you are the further apart the rays are and the larger the circles look.

If the circles were a constant size then the finder would only work (cover 2 degrees) at a fixed distance from your eye.

Roughly speaking, the circle is projected, so it appears to float at infinity to avoid parallax issues.  The Telrad actually achieves this while the QuikFinder falls a bit short of infinity projection and has a bit of parallax if you shift your head off center.  Said another way, the red circles don't stay perfectly positioned on the sky like in the Telrad.

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6 hours ago, Jimmy Rocket said:

 

I too am looking at a second finder and was thinking of getting one of those multi finder mounts, I already have a 9x50 right angled finder and thought a red dot would also be beneficial. Reading about the telrad and the Rigel it seem they don't fit into the mount shoe is this correct? Don't like the idea of sticking or using cable ties to mount a finder 

I have this system: the double mount with a RACI in one side. You're right - the RQ doesn't fit on a normal finder mount though I suppose if you're clever you could adapt it. It would make the finder very high on the scope, though. I use a Baader Skysurfer RDF on the other fork, as it's now high enough not to have to contort yourself so much. I hardly ever switch mine on as using it as a 'gunsight' is usually enough to locate the target in the RACI.

IMG_20221101_162829.thumb.jpg.79ebeb5072e934aa16d8ec58e1a48f5c.jpg

Edited by cajen2
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@cajen2’s set up here is hard to beat, and it’s a coincidence I was just thinking about optimal finder set ups this evening researching the twin mount approach shown there. I’m  currently using an RQ as I think it provides an excellent star hopping experience - but rather than permanently attaching to the OTA via screws or adhesive strips  I use strong bar magnets adhesively attached to the Rigel, and protected by some left over flocking material to provide some cushioning - so as not to scratch the OTA.  Some have reported that the Rigel slips over time using a similar arrangement but I’ve not found this. It can be knocked if not careful so requires a quick on the fly check and adjustment when outside, but it’s a workable (if not perfect) set up and as a minimum can help establish the most convenient position for the Rigel. 
 

C1C0F299-E16A-40E1-9FA0-DEE62CA2FBF8.thumb.jpeg.b3d3a4af3b5ebb97364bd9169c8bb0fd.jpeg

 

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Personally I prefer a RDF plus RACI over a Telrad/Quikfinder. Some of that might be due to living in a light polluted area. I can’t star hop without magnification. I’m also not keen on mounting things with tape.

For my 200p I made a simple bracket out of scraps found down my shed, but it would cost pennies to make. And mounted it with bolts to the side of the RACI pillar so that both finders are as close together as possible, can’t be knocked/moved and I don’t need to move my head very far from one to the other. It’s also very light in weight. 

EED07BBC-7BCB-4C4C-B021-B836BC83693D.jpeg

6A6F40EF-42FB-4250-98B4-EBEA6990D255.jpeg

8785CC1B-BB82-4966-B224-7CE8EBF7FE5D.jpeg

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47 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

Personally I prefer a RDF plus RACI over a Telrad/Quikfinder. Some of that might be due to living in a light polluted area. I can’t star hop without magnification. I’m also not keen on mounting things with tape.

For my 200p I made a simple bracket out of scraps found down my shed, but it would cost pennies to make. And mounted it with bolts to the side of the RACI pillar so that both finders are as close together as possible, can’t be knocked/moved and I don’t need to move my head very far from one to the other. It’s also very light in weight. 

EED07BBC-7BCB-4C4C-B021-B836BC83693D.jpeg

6A6F40EF-42FB-4250-98B4-EBEA6990D255.jpeg

8785CC1B-BB82-4966-B224-7CE8EBF7FE5D.jpeg

That looks ingenious, and very neat. The sort of thing that could be 3D printed very easily I should think. Nice one.

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