[John0z (John)]

This Tasco 10TE is my very first telescope. Bought secondhand in the mid 1980's from a colleague who was returning to the states. He intended to buy another telescope over there, but many years later, I heard that he never did buy another.

This is a 76.2mm (3 inch) with a focal length of 1200mm - made in Japan in 1969. The little Tasco 5VTE OTA is shown sitting underneath for comparison. The 10TE is shown set up for solar projection, however due to the rain - I doubt that I could see anything for the next few days. Those with sharp eyes will spot the metal lens cover and finder cover sitting on the tripod spreader. This 10TE used the 0.965" eyepieces. The RA axis is quite stiff for some reason, maybe from hardening of the grease due to storage, and also there is some play in the Dec axis. The Dec axis is a tangent arm arrangement.