Telrad Vs Orion Finder - EZ II

[AstroBug]

Hi all, I am becoming fairly comfortable starhopping with my Dob but find the hardest part being the initial starting point, particularly in a field of stars with similar magnitude. I am considering purchasing a Telrad or an Orion EZ finder. Does anybody have experience using one or both of these? I have not had the opportunity to look through either. The Telrad seems it might be better to look through but the Orion looks lighter from a balancing perspective. Any comments would be appreciated.

[wavelandscott]

I have a telrad and find it a very good and helpful tool...I like it a lot and would recommend it to others!

I find the red ring (bullseye) helpful in "estimating" position from known stars.

Do be aware that it does have a tendency to "dew" so you will need to make (or buy) some kind of dew shield (or similar) for it.

I do not have any experience with the Orion...

[janoskiss]

Don't forget the Rigel Quickfinder!

[Adrian-H]

get the telrad! , i had heard so many good comments about it i had alook at one today and bought one tried it out tonight on my 12" dob (saturn looked great), i am so pleased at how easy it makes starhopping compared to any other finder, keeping my 8 x50mm croshair finder on the dob allso, its nice if you want to get a closer look that is probly the only drawback of the telrad but put it with a finderscope with some mag and its one hell of a starhopping system.

[Hammerman]

Telrad! Don't worry about the weight issue. I use my Telrad and a 9x50 RA finder and a heavy ep with no problems. Nice thing the Telrad has over the EZ finder is the concentric circles. Some sky maps (SkyAtlas 2000.0 for instance) have clear overlays of the Telrad circles to make starhopping even easier yet.

[Starkler]

Another vote for the Rigel.

Telrads are heavier and along with the weight of the optical finder it may cause your scope to nosedive. Those living in rural skies can dispense with the optical and run with a telrad alone, but with suburban light polution you will want to keep it.

Another thing in favour of the rigel is that it comes with a spare base to fit a smaller diameter tube like a refractor. Try mounting a telrad on a small refractor :shrug:

[acropolite]

Neither, get a green laser and mount on your dob, then you can aim without moving far from the EP. I have seen this in operation on Photon's dob and it works extremely well. There may however be issues with green lasers and gatherings where astrophotographers are working, so maybe the Rigel and a green laser.

[ving]

gee i cant get the hang of any of them :(

[JoeBlow]

Has anyone had any experience with Andrews Saxon Red dot finder scopes?

The 25mm is for $39 and the 30mm for $49.

[stringscope]

Brett,

For your 10" dob, I would recommend a Telrad, if you can cope with the $/size/weight issues. Otherwise a Rigel QuikFinder.

I have a Telrad on a 8" solid tube dob. It is really nice to use, isn't fussy about eye position and the 3 ring/4 degree reticle is excellent for a light polluted environment.

The Rigel QuikFinder is much lighter and smaller then the Telrad. I find it is more critical for eye position and the reticle is only 2 ring/2 degree which is not as helpful in the more barren areas of the sky. I have one of these on my 8" stringscope dob and I am happy with it.

Until recently I had a red dot finder (Andrews 25mm) on a 70mm F5 refractor. It was quite satisfactory for general pointing. The dim seting was too bright for DSO work at a dark site but fine for casual suburban use. I had to modify the mount as it was too flexible. For commonality reasons I have now replaced this with another Rigel QuikFinder.

Cheers,

[AstroBug]

Thanks all for the helpful feedback. The Telrad is looking good. I also came across a comparison of the Telrad and the Rigel on CN. The Rigel wins on weight but the Telrad rates a little better on build and ease of use. Haven't found out too much on the EZ Finder apart from that it's good for pointing your scope in the right direction, but not as easy for starhopping as the other two. If anybody has one of these I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. Cost wise there appears not too much difference between all.

[Miaplacidus]

For your 10 inch, use a Telrad rather than the Orion EZ. Avoid the Saxon like the plague (small, tinted window, just plain yuk to use). For once I know what I'm talking about because I've used them all. I now use a green laser. I'm never going back.

[Hammerman]

I should of added this to my post yesterday Brett. Wasn't thinking.:P

I have a section of my web site that breifly talks about my experience with the Telrad on my dob. Here's the link in case you want to take a quick peak:
http://home.comcast.net/~astrohammer/tipstelrad.htm (http://home.comcast.net/%7Eastrohammer/tipstelrad.htm)

Bit of a mini review if you scroll down the page here:
http://home.comcast.net/~astrohammer/tipstelrad.htm (http://home.comcast.net/%7Eastrohammer/tipstelrad.htm)