I would have thought that for $85 it is a great scope for a young person,
it can be used to show how eq mounts work and will give quite reasonable views for the $85 outlay.
Not everyone wants to lug 8" dobs around and kids don't care about aberrations they usually just want to see the moon, Jupiter and Saturn.
I have owned an incarnation of this scope, "Focal" branded (or something like that). It was free, on the side of the road. I took it home, and cleaned it up. Mirror, even though subjected to salt water river spray for probably 20 years, had only one MINOR spot. The tube was a little rusty, so I cleaned and repainted (in classic Celestron Orange of all things!).
I was not expecting much out of it visually, but I was STUNNED by actually how good it was!!! Yes, the mount is nothing much at all, but the optics, being Toya, are VERY VERY good (except the finder, which like most of its genre, are garbage).
I sold it at a garage sale for $40. Kind of regret it, as it surely gave sharper images than most cheap Chinese Dobs I have looked through.
$85 is highish in my opinion on it, but considering the optical quality, maybe not so bad. Be nice to make it into a Dobsonian with one of Alex's mounts.
We are a small hobby and quite frankly cannot afford to be putting off beginners. The biggest point I am would like to make is that this scope is advertised on eBay with no information about the state of the optics, it's condition or it's background. I have seen scopes on eBay that turned out to not even have mirrors installed!! For all we know this has been advertised by someone with zero knowledge of scopes who found it while clearing out grandpas garage and it is actually unuseable.
I had a slightly larger version of this scope and I was perfectly happy with the optics. At f8 or there abouts the optics are probably going to be OK anyway, but that doesn't change the fact that an EQ mount is difficult for a beginner to use. I am pleased that Clockdrive has had success with his but all things considered I would be very uncomfortable pointing any new beginners at this sort of scope.
I do not think this is "scope snobbery". Yes I do own a 20" dob but it is not an SDM or Obsession but a 20yo home made that I was lucky enough to obtain and I have a number of smaller scopes that I enjoy using.
I have been down the beginners path as I have stated before and I think I have a fair idea what I am talking about.
My god, I am absolutely flawed by the snobbery happening here. This is a beginners section of the forums, an all you guys can do is post toxic comments without a shred of evidence to back up what you are 'claiming'?
I don't believe it comes down to snobbery. I recently had the experience of comparing my 8 inch SCT (the largest aperture I own BTW) with one of the 130mm Newts, aside from the mount being almost unusable, the difference in image quality and visiblity was huge. Nobody in this age of affordable Dobs should be burdened with 130mm newts on manually driven equatorial mounts. If I had my way, suppliers would be banned from offering 130mm newts on wobbly Eq mounts.
things have changed
bigger and better telescopes have become much more affordable.
because they are made in china and taiwan where labor cost are cheap and plentiful.
Telescope prices have plunged and nosedived compared to yester year.
My astronomy introduction was via this same scope. My father bought it back in the late 70's and still has it today. He used it to show me the moon and jupiter and saturn as a child and it's what sparked my interest today. Sure it sat in the corner some years and only got used twice some other years.
It allowed me to see my first and only so far mercury transition. Showed me mars on it's closest approach however long ago that was.
It did a great job on the moon/jupiter/saturn at the time, trapezium in m42 etc. I never had any trouble with any wobbliness of the timber mount. The standard eyepieces are a bit degraded, but still good enough to show detail on the bright planets. I did buy one of those adapters to step up to 1.25" but the focuser didn't allow enough inwards travel to make any of my modern eyepieces to be useful (25mm-6mm)
I do believe if I could get the newer eyepieces to work in it, it would do the scope more justice than the standard ones. The slow motion control knobs are a must for close planetary viewing on a non tracking scope. Contrary to the popular astronomy grain, I would recommend an EQ mount over a AZ dob for a beginner interested in planetary for the slow motion control to ease the tracking while using higher powered eyepieces. It is true it is not as straight forward to learn how to use. But if you're keen enough on the hobby you'll learn how to use it in no time.
All in all, this scope has sentimental value for me. I do still think it's a great scope, and it still has the capacity to discover the night sky. I wouldn't sell the family one for that reason, but continue to appreciate it for what it is and what it can do given it is an aged scope. But newer beginner scopes nowadays do have the market and are very capable candidates for long term ownership.
Last edited by knightrider; 12-03-2014 at 09:35 PM.
Reason: shocking grammar
I remember seeing some of the Comet Shoe-maker Levy impact sites on Jupiter with one of these scopes, as well as my first views of many galaxies and a lot of dso's. A magical view of the "Leo Trio", even seeing the "fluffy" distorted ends of NGC3628.
Very nice mirror, and big enough to see a lot of stuff.
The eq mount can be a bit frustrating, but if someone points you in the right direction so you learn how to use it properly it does an adequate job, and with proper maintenance is relatively solid. WAY better than the tacky plastic thing I saw recently on a brand-new Celestron scope!
Eyepieces needed upgrades, but they were quite sharp in the centre.
And yes, the finderscope was a bit of a stopped-down joke, but easily replaced with a red-dot finder.
I think the equivalent scopes (Tasco by then?) were about $600 (!!!) around 1990 when I was first looking at telescopes! (That was why I ended up making my own 10" mirror!)
Yes ! , I remember seeing the same black marks Dean in my ,,, ( Holy Dept store scope , Batman ) 1972 Meade 60mm f15 , on the same EQ2 mount and wooden tripod this combo is very sturdy .
I had a 10 inch f10 newt ( that I still have ) set up beside , just to be sure ,,, and yes those black marks were there ,, cool stuff for sure .
I still have both these scope's as well , there is nothing wrong with these small learner scopes , its just ,,,I think we are a little spoilt for choice today and seem to forget the 'Bad Old Days ' .
I pull her out sometimes for some star light and truthfully ,, its optics are as good as my now sold ED80 , just a little dimmer , nutting wrong with that .
Brian.
QUOTE=SkyWatch;1065196]I remember seeing some of the Comet Shoe-maker Levy impact sites on Jupiter with one of these scopes, as well as my first views of many galaxies and a lot of dso's. A magical view of the "Leo Trio", even seeing the "fluffy" distorted ends of NGC3628.
Very nice mirror, and big enough to see a lot of stuff.
The eq mount can be a bit frustrating, but if someone points you in the right direction so you learn how to use it properly it does an adequate job, and with proper maintenance is relatively solid. WAY better than the tacky plastic thing I saw recently on a brand-new Celestron scope!
Eyepieces needed upgrades, but they were quite sharp in the centre.
And yes, the finderscope was a bit of a stopped-down joke, but easily replaced with a red-dot finder.
I think the equivalent scopes (Tasco by then?) were about $600 (!!!) around 1990 when I was first looking at telescopes! (That was why I ended up making my own 10" mirror!)[/QUOTE]
Oh yea mate she is a monster , 2.5 meter focal length , tube 2.8 meters long all in one foul swoop ! ,
' Holy long and shiny , Batman ' ,
, but with her 3/4 inch secondary and mirror made my "Yours truly" it is a planetary beast , easily out performing a C14 on mars and Jupiter .
But ,, the eyepiece is over 6 feet off the ground , but I have a sturdy home made ladder ( by me [ ) for getting up there safely at night .
I have a few photos of both on a hard drive here somewhere and will dig them out and post em .
Just for an appertiser here is the 10 inch , its the 2 piece 12 inch alliminium tube on a super solid Dobsonion ( RIP ) mount with my 5 inch f/13 Newt I made around the same time .. , ED 80 and Chromocorr'd 6 inch f/8 Saxon refractor in my scope room from a few years ago .
Oh yes both the 5 and 10 inch have fully rotating OTA's in their respective mounts .
Man this thread is a real trip down memory lane , thanks .
Brian.
QUOTE=Camelopardalis;1065392]Good optics never go out of fashion
Yikes Brian, 10" f10, that must be hoooooooge [/QUOTE]
Last edited by brian nordstrom; 13-03-2014 at 11:19 PM.
Here is a top of the range tasco scope catalogue circa 1985. Yes we are spoilt these days.
ps I was looking for a scope at that time and was pretty quick with the credit card when a 1970's 8" f6 cave astrola with tube rotation rings and a motorised eq pier mount was put on consignment for $1200 at the local scope and computer shop (I think think they sold amstrad pc's)
I have used both the 16V and a 5" Newt that they used to sell. I don't recall the 5" scope's model name. Anyway, they both had very good
optics indeed, and the 5" was built like a tank; rock solid, made to last.
I remember that the Super Polaris my wife bought for me whilst in the U.K. in 1983 I think it was, cost $1400 plus $600 for the motor drive kit
about 6 months later. I ordered a 6" Newt from the U.K. the following
year for 109 pounds. It served me well until I sold it 4 years ago.
raymo
Here is a top of the range tasco scope catalogue circa 1985. Yes we are spoilt these days.
ps I was looking for a scope at that time and was pretty quick with the credit card when a 1970's 8" f6 cave astrola with tube rotation rings and a motorised eq pier mount was put on consignment for $1200 at the local scope and computer shop (I think think they sold amstrad pc's)
Ric,
I drooled and wrote all over that blue Tasco mini-catalogue for YEARS! I would love a scanned copy if you have one?
I cannot remember which model Tsco called it, but Tasco also marketed the Vixen R200SS back then, with the sliding focuser. That was my dream back then, as well as one of the large refractors. They cost SERIOUS money back then, especially for a 15 year old.
Lewis, I have it packed in a cupboard with some other catalogues (meade and celestron from the same period). I will have a look after work tomorow, I did have an older one but I think that this one is the tasco halleys comet promo catalogue. I will pm you when I find it
Here's an add from the 70's. The 11T, similar to the OP's link is advertised.
My very first telescope was the #5V I got for my birthday when I was 10 years old.
There was another brochure with a big 4" F15 refractor and some dude looking serious in a lab coat next to it. I can't find that one. Or maybe it was a magazine add?
Yes ! , I remember seeing the same black marks Dean in my ,,, ( Holy Dept store scope , Batman 
) 1972 Meade 60mm f15 , on the same EQ2 mount and wooden tripod this combo is very sturdy .
we are a little spoilt for choice today and seem to forget the 'Bad Old Days ' 
.
Oh yea mate she is a monster , 2.5 meter focal length , tube 2.8 meters long all in one foul swoop ! ,
[ ) for getting up there safely at night . 
