Derivious
24-11-2015, 12:12 PM
Hi there I'm quite new to astronomy and when I started I knew virtually nothing. I have always wanted a scope but the whole funds/ what one do you get saga combined with life always stopped me from finding time to get one.
One day I was on gumtree and saw this ad marked telescope. It had no details at all and all the pictures were of some big dusty "cobwebby" red tube. It was $20 and not to far away. I rang the the number and asked the guy seriously only twenty bucks, does it still work? I'll never forget his response. In an instant loud and almost furious tone he said " of course it works, it's a telescope how could it possibly not work?! So I went for a drive and picked it up. I got it home and began trying to set it up. I had never seen a netonian reflector before and had only ever used a few refractors when I was young. I cleaned it up and did some research on it. I ironically found a thread in iceinspace that helped me learn what it was. (Thanks again guys) my first focused shot of the moon (20mm lens) took my breath away it was way better than any refractor I had ever used. I then played around with the other lenses and the barlow and quickly fell in love with this tasco. After a few months I had gotten quite used to the adjustments and decided to go planet hunting.
If you all recall, last year jupiter and venus were sort of lining up thus even a newbie such as my self could hit them easily. I have always loved jupiter and seeing it for the first time with it's moons and cloud bands (no gws sadly) made me realise what this scope could do.
Then it broke.
The vertical fine tuning thread had stripped, my scope sat away for a few months after this. My mate who is a fitter/turner showed me what i needed to repair it and told me me was quite easy to, hilariously enough the kit i needed i actually sold at my own work, doh! After about ten minutes of threading it was now fixed and ten times stronger than before.
At this stage only saturn was visible but it did not disapoint, you may have seen my images or videos.
After more research i decided i needed to begin getting more eyepieces. I bought a nice 9mm plossle but shortly discovered my scope is the old 0.965. I soon ordered an adapter but soon realised why optical stores don't stock them. It was impossible to focus, i assume the travel is to short to get it's position. I have now ordered a new focuser and look forward to when it arrives. Sadly all my old 0.965 pieces will be useless so i may have to order the reverse of the adapter i foolishly bought. In the meanwhile i have taken off most of it's rust, lubricated it's gearing and have painted all it's legs and stuff.
I look forward to when it's fully complete and working to it's full potential.
It's a happy tale of an old scope finding a new home.
It's my tale of the tasco 11t
One day I was on gumtree and saw this ad marked telescope. It had no details at all and all the pictures were of some big dusty "cobwebby" red tube. It was $20 and not to far away. I rang the the number and asked the guy seriously only twenty bucks, does it still work? I'll never forget his response. In an instant loud and almost furious tone he said " of course it works, it's a telescope how could it possibly not work?! So I went for a drive and picked it up. I got it home and began trying to set it up. I had never seen a netonian reflector before and had only ever used a few refractors when I was young. I cleaned it up and did some research on it. I ironically found a thread in iceinspace that helped me learn what it was. (Thanks again guys) my first focused shot of the moon (20mm lens) took my breath away it was way better than any refractor I had ever used. I then played around with the other lenses and the barlow and quickly fell in love with this tasco. After a few months I had gotten quite used to the adjustments and decided to go planet hunting.
If you all recall, last year jupiter and venus were sort of lining up thus even a newbie such as my self could hit them easily. I have always loved jupiter and seeing it for the first time with it's moons and cloud bands (no gws sadly) made me realise what this scope could do.
Then it broke.
The vertical fine tuning thread had stripped, my scope sat away for a few months after this. My mate who is a fitter/turner showed me what i needed to repair it and told me me was quite easy to, hilariously enough the kit i needed i actually sold at my own work, doh! After about ten minutes of threading it was now fixed and ten times stronger than before.
At this stage only saturn was visible but it did not disapoint, you may have seen my images or videos.
After more research i decided i needed to begin getting more eyepieces. I bought a nice 9mm plossle but shortly discovered my scope is the old 0.965. I soon ordered an adapter but soon realised why optical stores don't stock them. It was impossible to focus, i assume the travel is to short to get it's position. I have now ordered a new focuser and look forward to when it arrives. Sadly all my old 0.965 pieces will be useless so i may have to order the reverse of the adapter i foolishly bought. In the meanwhile i have taken off most of it's rust, lubricated it's gearing and have painted all it's legs and stuff.
I look forward to when it's fully complete and working to it's full potential.
It's a happy tale of an old scope finding a new home.
It's my tale of the tasco 11t