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First Light - TAL 100RS


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After several months of deciding on my first scope I went for the TAL 100RS on EQ5 mount. Reasons, I can take it outside on a whim maintain interest for a newbie like my self and in the future when I buy that big dob it would complement it.

The scope as being reviewd before is a lovelly thing not a defect or mark. The mount didn't come with the instructuions but, you can easily get hold of them.

Seeing Jupiter and being able to see very clearly the bands was phenominal, the TAL Plossl was clear and sharp. I had a brief look at the moon, again seeing features that close felt as though I was coming into land.

I am delighted with the scope. Highly recommended. Just need to get the finder scope aligned. I have not had chance yet.

I'm sure I'll have more questions on Ep's in the coming months;)

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Congratulations Graham !

They are great scopes - I had a very early one back in 1999 and it's one of those scopes that I really wish I still owned. I true "classic" that will last a lifetime IMHO.

There great thing is as the scope works at F/10 you don't need to spend a fortune on eyepieces to get really good performance - classic orthoscopics (the "volcano top" ones) work superbly with it for planetary / lunar / double star viewing.

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Only problem with the TAL 100RS as a first scope is probably everything else won't seem as good or you'll have to spend loads more to get a al improvement.

A big dob will complement it well though for deep sky. Congrats on your new baby though.

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Glad to see someone else has discovered the Tal 100RS!! What a scope for the money, like Astro Baby says, it can compete with far more expensive scopes. I have a SkyWatcher Mak 180 Pro, which cost nearly three times as much as the Tal and for looking at planets and the Moon i'm finding myself preferring to use the Tal most of the time......Hmmmmm!!!

Doc

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Amazing how many people get new scopes and get blown away by Jupiter. Quite right too. That TAL is a cracker and will give long service. They are solid, with good optics and good value for the £ spent. Keep on Jupiter, I remember seeing it for the first time aged 10 and that got me interested in astronomy. That was over 40 years ago

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Welcome and well done. I love refractors ad only wish it were possible to get REALLY BIG ones,

Olly

How large would you like to go Olly? I seem to have read on Cloudy Nights about some 8" APO and I think one was for sale on Astro/Buysell recently, around £30.000, will just be able to make that out of next weeks pension lol.:)

Sorry for hijacking the thread,

John.

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I've been thinking about this scope too and have only heard good things about it. I've already got a 6" f/5 reflector but wanted something which will give sharper views on planets and the moon. I was thinking of getting a £200 planetry eyepiece but for £224 I could get this scope as an OTA - would this be a better idea?

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Monty,

Go for it..your only risk is that they have been selling the latest batch so fast that they may run out soon:p!

I've had 5 Tals and each of them was a cracker...a couple of years ago I bought 3 100R's in six months...didn't need them all, just loved the optics, the "look", and two of them had the beautiful Tal wooden tripods.

I eventually managed to get the very rare (in the UK) Tal 125R 5" version, which was truly (until my Lomo 6" Mak, also Russian;)) the best scope I've ever owned. Like an idiot I sold it due to aperture fever, got a 6" F12 frac then promptly found I had a double hernia!! (Seriously!)..so that had to go and now the Lomo has replaced it.

I couldn't be without a Tal for long though, so I bought a new RS100 OTA 3 months ago and am still waiting for a proper first light. The build is fabulous, the 2" Crayford focuser is superb, and the 30mm finder is the best of its size on the market. Add to that the brilliant 25mm Plossl and a half decent 6.3mm as well, and an excellent diagonal and you truly have the best bang for your buck that you could wish for.

Sorry to rave on, but if you've used a Tal frac you'll know why I do:D.

Graham, congratulations. It's great that you like the scope so much and your mount is the perfect compliment for it. Mine is on a Bresser Mon2 (very similar to the Eq5/CG5 and very smooth tracking with the supplied motors. Enjoy your new toy. Look at the Double Cluster, it is stunning through this scope.

Clear skies...well, we now have some, if you can stand the cold:p

cheers

Dave

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PS...ref the Televue Plossls..they are worth waiting for and starting a collection..I now have 7.3mm, 11mm and 32mm versions and they are just great all round workhorse eypieces..they often come up for sale here and on UKBS for around £40-£50 and will last forever.

hth

Dave

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Nightfisher,

Sorry, I'm a visual man myself, but the scopes often come with a camera adapter, which suggests they can work for astro photography. Certainly I'd expect it to work well for Photos of the Moon.

why not search the web to see what you can find?

HTH

Dave

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