Purchased Telrad

[Tamtarn]

Went shopping at Bintel Melb. yesterday and bought our Telrad with Dew Shield Plus and Heater ( no 10% discount in Melbourne ) .
We need them because of the heavy dew out here

Waiting to try the Telrad also our new Pentax 10mm XW
Our Dob and Accessories are just sitting here waiting to go out

We need clear dark skies. WILL WE EVER SEE THEM AGAIN IN MELBOURNE
SO FRUSTRATING

Barb & David

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Sorry that you are experiencing the dreaded curse brought about by purchasing new equipment...cloudy nights will occur in proportion to the amount of money that you spent

I am afraid that the only cure is to give your new gear away...I think it is a Karma kind of thing...you know what goes around comes around...I can send you my address to off load some of your gear (and bring about clear skies for you)...just trying to be helpful!

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

Telrad arh .. very useful equipment indeed. I was going to say, if you had brought a more expensive equipment from Bintel (to save on shipping cost) you can order one from the Sydney branch for 10% off then get them to post it down here. It is still cheaper

I am hanging with frustration to get a clear night for only 1 hour. Just got myself a new scope and camera and am dying to test these out. pleeeaseee sky, pleaseee.

[Tamtarn]

Originally Posted by wavelandscott

Sorry that you are experiencing the dreaded curse brought about by purchasing new equipment...cloudy nights will occur in proportion to the amount of money that you spent

I am afraid that the only cure is to give your new gear away...I think it is a Karma kind of thing...you know what goes around comes around...I can send you my address to off load some of your gear (and bring about clear skies for you)...just trying to be helpful!

Well Scott we must be getting a Big Payback.

This all must have started with the purchase of our very first scope in July 2005 a Skywatcher ...then in December 2005 an ETX125 ...then our GSO Dob a few weeks ago ...and heaps of other accessories during this time.

Now we know why we're having such terrible sky conditions...THE CURSE OF PURCHASING NEW EQUIPMENT That's it no more spending for at least 6 months. WOW ! IMAGINE CLEAR SKIES FOR 6 MONTHS


We're newcomers to this great hobby and so far IT'S COSTING A FORTUNE !
HOW DO WE STOP ............... IT'S AN ADDICTION

By the way Scott we really appreciate your kind offer to offload our gear to you so we can see clear skies again. Such a thoughtful gesture

Barb & David

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I was also thinking of the people of Sydney...we need to get more rain into the catchment area...

[Hammerman]

You are going to love the Telrad. Did you get enough bases to use on all your scopes? I have one Telrad and two scopes. I was looking to buy a second base when I bought a second telescope... when a friend (ChrisG, who signed up to IIS today) said he had an extra one he wasn't using, and sent it my way. With two bases it only takes seconds to switch the Telrad from one scope to the other. This is one of the most usful accessories you can buy. Congrats on the purchase!

[Tamtarn]

Hi Gary

We're really happy with our Telrad used for the first time on Mon & Tues evening.
Last night we had really clear dark skies and we were able to pinpoint a lot of our favourites. The Telrad was fantastic.
We purchased Sky Spot Telrad Finder Books and they have made pinpointing our targets even easier.
In answer to your question re bases. We have a Red Dot Finder on our ETX which has Autostar and we will be selling our Skywatcher soon.

You're right, a Telrad is a must as far as accessories go.

Barb & David

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Hi B&D,
A Telrad is next on my wish list - I've owned 2 in the past. They're a must for large Dobs as you have just found out!!!!
Keep the posts coming.
Cheers
Doug

[Tamtarn]

Hi Doug
Our wish list keeps growing out of control. But after seeing other posts, including yours this seems to be natural.
How is you Panoptic 22mm going ?
Biggest question is what is in your glass ?

B&D

[MakMan]

Hi Barb and David
Now that you experienced different types of finders for your scopes, I would be interested in your comments on the "smart finder" on your ETX.
BTW nice collection of equipment you have built up in a relatively short time. I'm impressed.

[Tamtarn]

Thanks for your comments Mal.

In our experience the Smart Finder is great to use with the ETX125PE. Having Autostar you really only need to use the Smart Finder when doing your initial two star alignment for each observing session. If your Smart Finder is aligned to your Scope whenever you do a Go To the subject should be in the FOV. The only problem with our finder is that it sometimes fogs over because of the extreme cold where we live. In our opinion we don't think you can improve on the Smart Finder on the ETX.

The Telrad in our opinion is a must for the novice Dob owner THAT'S US !!!

We have found it so easy for us to find objects after having been used to the Meade. But as you would know a Go To scope introduces you to many objects that would take years to find otherwise so the experience with the ETX has helped us to find objects much easier with the Dob.

Barb & David

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Originally Posted by Tamtarn

We purchased Sky Spot Telrad Finder Books and they have made pinpointing our targets even easier.

Hi,
Where did you get the above chart and how much$$??
Cheers
Doug

[Tamtarn]

Originally Posted by dugnsuz

Hi,
Where did you get the above chart and how much$$??
Cheers
Doug

There is another thread we posted "Compact Size Finder Charts For Telrad" with more info on it if you want to check it out

The books cost $35.99 US for the Messier M1-110 two volume set. Shipping $10.00 US.
The Website is www.sky-spot.com

We have found that the books working with the Telrad are fantastic for us as newbies with a Dob





Just a couple of shots of the books to give an idea of size with a Barlow EP

Barb

[MakMan]

Hi again Barb and Dave. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Smart Finder.

As my alignment stars are always way off, I would prefer a finder with greater accurracy even though it is really only needed for the initial setup.

However, I won't let this minor complaint detract from the enjoyment of using the ETX; it is a great little scope!

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Sorry for the long time in replying - Too many posts to keep a track on!!
Thanks for the info' re the charts - I've just returned a crappy GSO barlow in exchange for a Telrad which should arrive next week.

The 22mm Pano is excellent. Lovely wide field views at 68x mag.
I've found the images a little soft at times but not worryingly - probably down to seeing and imprecise collimation too though. I haven't touched the 4 plossls I bought the week before getting it!!!!

The glass is filled with a nice SA or Mgt River Chardo' if my fuzzy memory serves me.
Cheers
Doug