I've brought my first Telescope!!

[Matt123]

Hi All

Well after a load of reading reviews, looking on websites, asking a few questions on here and doing a fair bit of research, I had a couple of scopes in mind so started shopping round, Then Suddenly found one on ebay last night and for a laugh had a bid and ended up winning it, It turns out to be a Tasco 11TE-5, (300 power D=4 1/2 F=900mm)

Just picked it up 2nite and put it together, (but can't use as loads of clouds everywhere d'oh)...

Comes complete with a H20mm, H6mm and a 2 x Barlow????

Are these any good or do I need any upgrades etc....

Previous owner said It is probably in the region of 30-40 years old!!!

Does this mean it is worth any money, or is it just old!!!???

Does anyone else own or had one, and any advise, comments etc

[John]

Congratulations !

It is an old scope - those have been around for around 40 years !.

Don't take too much notice of the 300 power bit - around 150x would be the practical maximum.

Usually with these, the optics are OK but the mount and eyepieces let them down. But have a go and see what you think. A couple of decent replacement eyepieces could cost you as much as the scope did which might defeat the point of a bargain !.

My suggestion is to use the just H20 eyepiece to start with. Try it on the moon to get the hang of how the scope works. the H6 eyepiece will give more magnification but also more wobbles and frustration until you are used to things.

Have fun with it !.

[malc-c]

LOL - The 11T was the first scope I used when I worked for Tasco in their sales office back in early '80s.

As John has stated, the optics can be good, but the standard eyepieces and the wobbly mount lets them down. The H20 would give you the optimum power, and forget about the barlow lens.... If I remember correctly there was an option fit a drive motor to the RA axis, but this was un-reliable and operated at main voltage... not what you want around a damp metal bodied telescope !

Oh, as it's of that age, if it's been sitting around you may find that the mirror may need re-coating or chemically cleaning. Hopefully the skies will clear and you'll be able to see how well it performs. If it's not a rude question, how much was your winning bid ?

[Matt123]

Cheers for replys fellas, Didn't think it would be up to much, but for £50 I don't think it was that bad!!

Its got wooden legged tripod, (how old is that!!) seems sturdy enough though. Had a quick look down the thing and the mirror looked prefect!

Once it clears i'll check out the moon and see what it can do...

Is there any lenses /eye pieces (better higher magnification ones) that I could always keep, for when I get the next one??

[John]

The wooden tripods can be better at stopping vibrations than the metal ones. Tighten up all the bolts and screws on the mount to make it as solid as possible. The views will be upside down - so be ready for that ! - it's normal for astro scopes. Your eyepieces are probably the .96" size which are difficult to find these days - 1.25" is the standard now. If that is the case you will need an adaptor to fit 1.25" eyepieces. The choice of these (eyepieces) is staggering - priced from £20 to several hundred £'s each !.

If you get another scope it will almost certainly use 1.25" eyepieces so don't waste money on the .956" ones - there is no future in them !.

[malc-c]

John's comments was spot on... £50 is fair price, but for a scope that was circa 30 years old, and 30 year technology don't expect too much.

You can get diagonal prisms that allow you to use 1.25" eyepieces

The closes equivelent I could find is a Skyhawk 114 at £121, so seems you got a bargain

[Matt123]

Cheers Again for the advise fellas, Malc, if I was to get one of those diagonal prism would that fit the 0.96 eyepiece allowing me to use the 1.25" ones And if so where can I get one from???, and would it also turn the image upwards (ie real life what you see with the eye image)??

[John]

Unfortunately you can't use a diagonal in your scope because it is a newtonian reflector - they don't have enough travel in the focuser to use one.

These people do a straight .96" - 1.25" adaptor:

ScopeTeknix ScopeTeknix 0.965" to 1.25" eyepiece adaptor

The upside down image is to avoid putting any extra lenses in the light path - light is very precious in astronomy !.

[Matt123]

Ok, I've found and ordered a 0.96 - 1.25 adapter a bit pricey for a small piece of plastic but worth getting...

So a little off topic but what eyepieces would you reccommend I get in 1.25" now???,

I would like to see as much and as far as is possible with the antique, But would be buying eyepiece for the future aswell so they wouldn't be wasted!

Then at least I could sell the scope with the adapter, might make it a bit more sellable!!

[John]

I think you will find that the adaptor is machined alloy, if it's the one I provided the link to.

Your scope has a focal length of 900mm so 3 useful eyepiece focal lengths would be something like (in low to high power order) 25mm, 12.5mm and 6.3mm. If you buy the plossl type (that's an eyepiece design rather than a brand) you can get those for around £60 - £70 in total. Less if you can find them used - try the UK Astro Buy & Sell website for that.

[malc-c]

Doh! - yes the prism would be useless - it was late put it down to being tiered !

Celsetron do an eyepiece kit, which is around £120 from FLO (site sponsor) at the moment - contains around 5 or 6 plossle eyepieces which should work out cheaper then individual ones

[todd8137]

hi matt sounds like first good starter scope try the eps you have for a month or so and get used to the scope first ,has a upgrade may well be on the cards if you get in to it but for £50 its not that badwatch out for wood worm lol

[swamp thing]

Hi Matt

I had that scope and used it happily for a good few years.

My advice would be to throw the H6 and the barlow over the nearest fence as they are utter litter.

The H20 is the only one worth using.

Go with the 1 1/4" adapter you won't regret it.

I used to hang a 5kg weight off the underside of the mount to stop it shaking and wobbling about.

Also if it still has the original finderscope on it. If you unscrew the objective lens there is an aperture stop in there (disc with small hole in) take it out and throw it with the H6 and the barlow.

The view through it will be brighter and you might have half a chance of finding something with it.

With a few tweaks here and there you'll have a blast with it.

happy hunting and clear skies

Steve

[Matt123]

Checked for wood worm looks ok!!!

Cheers for ya advice John, Ordered that adapter and looked into the plossl eyepieces, I can get those 3 you recommended for about £60 with postage,

Steve don't quite understand what bit you want me to chuck oot with the barlow and H6 EP! and yes I still do have the original finderscope on it..

Still cloudy skies D'oh!!

[kharga]

Enjoy your new toy! We are still researching scopes for our first purchase!

[swamp thing]

Hi Matt

What it is, is they put a plastic disc with a small hole in it behind the objective lens in the finder.

It helps to stop false colour from being seen, but it takes the aperture of the finder down from 24mm to about 8mm.

So if you remove it there will be more chance that the finder could find things. It will see fainter stuff, although admittedly with some false colour.

To remove it you unscrew the finders objective end. Then you will see the disc in question. Behind where the primary lens was.

Although it may already have been done in a scope this old.

Good hunting and clear skies:)

Steve