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Hello from Manchester

Hoolsy

By Hoolsy
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Hoolsy

Hoolsy

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Hi,

I`m fairly new to astronomy, I got the Starry Night software about 4 years ago and looked around for a scope, never got round to getting one and so went on to other things.About 2 weeks ago got the bug again and began looking around in earnest, saw a TAL 1 on ebay, put a bid in, but lost it. I`ve been trawling the internet ever since, jumping from one scope to another until finally deciding on a new Meade ETX90PE. My original choice of the TAL was still in my mind because the reviews were so good, built like a tank, great optics etc.,price ok at £189, but still I kept going higher and higher, `cos this scope had something better than the last and so on!! Next thing I know, I`m up to £500, then on Sunday last, I fell upon, should we say a divine bit of intervention, I was on google for the umpteenth time but instead of starting at page 1 and visiting the same sites, I decided to go to page 9 and then 19, and by some quirk of fate, I happened upon a TAL 2, only trouble was it was in N.Ireland or so I thought (pick up only as usual), but on closer inspection, looking at the small map in the loot ad, I saw it was in Irlam Manchester, which is about 4 miles from me! Ah but surely its been sold, no the guy said , come round and have a look. Sure enough there it was, what a beast, I snapped his hand off and home I came with this lump of Soviet tank parts. It was and is in excellent condition and it truly is built...well! I couldn`t believe my luck and hope it lives up to the great reviews I have read. At the moment it is just sat there, my pride and joy, having not ventured outside due to cloud filled skies!!!! The eyepiece that came with it is a 20mm Plossl and a rather battered 2x barlow lens, could anybody suggest any good to very good quality ep`s to compliment this scope. I don`t want to buy cheap, I`d rather pay a decent price for a decent ep. Also what is meant by eye relief?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance. I`m pleased to be on board.

Regards,

Dave.

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Dave and welcome to the forum.

I'm glad that destiny played a generous hand in your quest for astronomy kit. There exists a Tal sub group on this forum I will defer to their experience on what eyepieces to buy, though eyepiece selection can be subjective. I wonder what mount you have to go with the Russian 'rocket launcher' or is that something else that you are searching for?

If you want to do some reading up, there is an article on Cloudy Nights by Neil English in which he compares the new Tal with the earlier version - makes very interesting reading. I'll see if I can find a link for you.

Clear skies

James

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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TAL -2 should be marvelous. There is a TAL user group on here - click on 'community' at the top of the page to see the groups.

Eyepieces - well depends on how much you want to spend. The TAL 2 is a slow focal ratio scope so even low cost eyepieces will work well in it.

Eye relief....its the distance from the top of the eyepiece to your eyeball - in short how close you eyeball has to be to the eyepiece. Its basically about comfort for viewing. Too close and its like looking through a keyhole, too long and its like trying to look down the end of a ballpoint pen from 10' away.

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Hoolsy

Hoolsy

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Hi,

Thanks for the warm welcome fellas, didn`t expect that, I`m sure I will have a good time on this forum and I look forward to picking up some tips and exchanging some views. Thanks for the eye relief info, thought it might have been the eyepiece morphing into some gorgeous blonde massaging my eyes, (sorry wrong forum!!! haha), and to Keith, I think, I`ll certainly visit the Astronomy Centre in the near future, not that far away, maybe I could bring the missus, anyway thanks again for that. By the way since I bought my scope, I think it`s rained ever since, typical!

Regards,

Dave.

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