Telrad Finder Sight
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About this item
- The easiest way to aim a telescope. The view seen through the window of the Telrad is continuous with the sky around it, not magnified or upside down.
Reviews
★★★★★
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TELRAD telescope finder -- Essential gear for learning astronomy
For learning astronomy this is a great accessory... check that -- essential gear.
Factory supplied finders are often like small 8x50 telescopes, often providing a cross hair reticle for centering on an object, but when used at night it's like looking through a mailing tube for a cat in a coal bin. Or a needle in a hay stack. High-powered binoculars can work better for finding things, but fall short on helping you position your telescope.
The Telrad is square and bulky, it provides NO magnification, it has a goofy dimmer switch for the illuminated reticle. It is not sexy looking taped to your telescope.
But it works fantastically. Reason 1) the unmagnified wide field of view means What You See Is What You Get (wysiwyg). And what you see now makes sense -- it matches your star chart/planisphere. Reason 2) the illuminated reticle (dimmable) enables you to center your telescope on your object easily, quickly.
This finder needs to be aligned just as any finder scope needs to be BEFORE viewing. Unfortunately the illuminated reticle is not visible for daytime alignment, so wait until dusk and pick a known bright star (Polaris, Altair, Vega, etc) or easy to identify object such as the moon, an evening planet, even a distant smokestack with blinking lights.
This Telrad is about the same size as the 8x50 finder on my Celestron C8.
★★★★★
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Spotlight operators friend
I use it for spotlight operations in theatre
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
Don't wait pick up one of these now you won't be disappointed.
As many have stated this is so much better than any other way to find your target. I had replaced the cheep finder scope that came with my telescope with a very nice finder scope the problem I fast realised was it was too nice to many stars now appeared and choose the correct one now became a hit and miss game, very frustrating for me. Now I can zero in with the telrad since it doesn't magnify and you have a good field of view it makes it soooooo much easier to hit your target than use my cross hairs on my finder scope to be right on the mark. Very simple to setup and zero in, choose a target with my finder scope than zeroed in on the same target with the telrad took less than three minutes and alignment was dead on. Now I can align my go to telescope in no time and enjoy the night sky, terrific product wish I had picked on up sooner.
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
A Brilliant Solution
The biggest problem with telescope finderscopes is that you are always trading magnification for field of view. I really did not want to abandon my 9x50 Celestron finder (which is really nice), so I bought the Telrad. Mounting it on a traditional tube should be trivial. In my case, I have a half-Serrurier truss Dobsonian. There is no where to stick it with the enclosed sticky tape. So I machined a base from red oak (yes you read that right, red oak in a CNC mill) that the Telrad's base attaches to with 8-32 machine screws. (Yes, you can tap red oak, but I intend to make one out of acetal, now that the dimensions are properly sorted out.)
Once installed, aligning the red circles with my finderscope and the scope was trivial. This will make finding objects so much easier. Telrad to get in the right part of the sky; finder to get more exact; low power eyepiece in the telescope. Bang!
My only criticisms are that it is much larger than it needs to be. When you install the AAA batteries inside, it is clear that this unit could be made several inches shorter and perhaps an ounce or two lighter. There is a lot of unused space in there.
I may well buy these for my other two scopes, which have conventional tubes and should be just peel and stick.
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
Fantastic finder, long lasting batteries, highly recommend
Love this thing. My initial alignment before goto was a struggle before always wondering if I had the right star in view. Since I do astrophotography there are always lots of stars in view but a very small FOV (field of view) to work with. Since getting this I have gotten my initial alignment time down to as fast as the mount can slew. It’s bright, super easy to use, adjust, and see through. 2 AA batteries last a whole lot longer than the coin batteries most finders use. And the finder although larger is still incredibly light so doesn’t greatly affect the load on my mount. Highly recommend this one over the smaller red dot scopes. Knowing your FOV and what you’ll see in the scope (or in my situation in the cameras FOV) makes all the difference
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
Best there is to find celestial bodies quickly!
Love this scope! Used as a finderscope on my 16” telescope. Once you mount it and dial in the adjustment - and they are literally three little dials - it keeps its alignment, even if you bump it or dismount it from the mounting bracket. When you reinstall, it’s right on the money! SO much better than the ring mount finders that get out of whack if you sneeze on them. Only drawback, if you consider it one - no magnification. Get a ring mounted 9x50 finder as a second sight if you need that. This gets you on target in ten seconds flat.
Only reason I gave it a four is the reflexive target is really hard to see it you try to align on the moon in broad daylight. It dims down nice though, which is is actually preferable when tracking down Dark Sky Objects, like galaxies and nebulas. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this Telrad reflexive finder.
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
Makes finding DSOs so much easier
Easily the best tool for non-GoTo telescopes you can buy. This makes star hopping so much easier than trying to focus on a tiny portion of the sky through a finderscope. Every dobsonian should have one of these. Telrad also makes a set of star charts that show you where to place the bullseye n the sky to see your target.
Battery life is extremely long in this thing. I found out by accident that it will last for at least a week powered on, and when turned off when not in use it'll go for long enough that I've forgotten when I last had to change them.
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
Love it
Replaced the Celestron Red-Dot finder with the Telrad. I can't believe the difference. I found the red-dot finder hard to use and it didn't hold it's alignment well. The Telrad is very easy to align and has held the alignment well. It's also much easier to sight through. As a semi beginner, just getting back into this after 20 years, the Telrad has solved my biggest frustration. I can now easily align my Celestron Nexstar 130 SLT and find what I'm looking for.
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
Why didn't I buy this sooner?
This is an absolutely essential item for any telescope.
I was struggling to find things in my 9x50 upside-down finder. I was actually doing better sighting down the tube. Major frustration! I heard about one of these at a local astronomy club and got one. What a difference! I can now find any naked eye object almost instantly.
It works by projecting circles onto an angled piece of glass. You can only see them if you are lined up correctly with the sight. And if you are lined up correctly with the sight, and you see the object through the sight, you're all set for your eyepiece.
I remove and reattach the sight from the dovetail mount every time I use my scope, and it's holding alignment very well. I remove it because it sticks out and I don't want to accidentally knock it on something, and also because I don't want it to gather dust.
The glass does dim the view a bit, so if an object is averted vision only, you might not find it. Also, at least for my scope, if I am looking at something very near the horizon, it will not be 100% aligned. However, I notice the same thing in my 9x50.
I was really worried when I bought this that I would peel off the sticky tapes and misalign it. But, it turned out to be forgiving. I just lined it up the very best I could visually and stuck it on the tube. The alignment screws have a wide range.
★★★★★
Verified Purchase
Wish I had gotten it sooner.
First things first. This thing is BIG. This is not a compact little sight, it is a monster. Fortunately, it does not look too out of place on my 8" reflector. I rather like the look of it; it's an unusual looking piece of equipment and I think it looks cooler than a finder scope. Mounting on the scope was a piece of cake. I found that the place I wanted it to be was right where my finder scope had been, so I removed the finder scope mount and put this right over where the mount was. Mounting on the scope was very easy with the double sided tape, although the tape is very strong and I'm slightly concerned it may damage the finish of the scope should I ever want to remove it. But after using it this evening, it is so much easier to use than the finder scope that I don't see myself ever wanting to go back. Just a little crouching down to look along the tube, but I can look through it from further back so I don't have to squint through the small finder scope opening. Construction is a little cheap but it is pretty light so it doesn't affect the balance of the scope at all.
Question & Answer
Question :
is this aright angle finder, or will i have to crouch and look along the telescope tube to aim it?
Answer :
Great finder but in the stock configuration you do have to sight through the back so yes you would have to lean over the scope tube. My understanding is that if you add the dew shield with the mirror than you can look straight down onto it to see your object.
Question :
Will this substitute the Celestron 8se finder scope? Any suggestions?
Answer :
Yes, and a lot of people do exactly that. The goal of the first step in the Celestron NexStar alignment process is to get the alignment stars within the eyepiece field. The Telrad has a much wider field than the stock Celestron red dot finder and you will find it far more intuitive to use.
Question :
is it compatible with a celestron lcm 114 reflector telescope
Answer :
Can't say for sure. Ours is a Celestron 127 and it fits fine. I think it is fairly adaptable, fitting a range of sizes.
Question :
Does the telrad come with a mounting base, or do you have to buy one separately?
Answer :
The Telrad includes one base. Additional bases can be purchased separately (Amazon sells them for $9.95). I purchased several additional bases and applied them to all of my scopes. This way I can just move the Telrad to whichever one I want to use quickly and easily.
Question :
Will this fit on celestron 127 eq, without any issues ? need to replace the stock one. would appreciate if anyone can help me
Answer :
It will fit any telescope, because it comes with its own base plate, which can be affixed to the telescope tube either using double sided tape (included) or by bolting it on.
Although the Telrad itself is made entirely out of plastic and very light, it takes two standard AA batteries, which may be enough to throw your scope off balance.
Which is why I ditto the previous poster on affixing it temporarily first (using elastic bands or normal tape), before drilling holes in the tube or using the very strong double sided tape supplied.
Question :
Just bought this - I can see the 🎯 is on but it's not reflecting up to my viewing glass???
Answer :
If you can see the sighting circles in the Telrad, your Telrad is working. Think of it as a gun sight. There is no magnification. It helps if you keep the sighting circle dim; just enough illumination to see your target. Your Telrad should be aligned with your finder scope cross hairs; the moon is a good target to align finder scope and Telrad. After aligning the finder scope and Telrad, rough in the location of your target along the length of telescope. Then look through the Telrad and adjust your telescope position such that your target is in the center of the smallest circle of your Telrad. Then look through your finder scope and put the center of the cross hairs on your target. It takes a little practice, but you will be glad you bought the Telrad.
Question :
Does this finder or any finder work at daytime?
Answer :
Yes, a Telrad works in the daytime. You look DOWN and through it. At night you just look through it.
Question :
Is this compatible with the Orion SpaceProbe 3" Altazimuth Reflector Telescope?
Answer :
It will fit on any telescope. It comes with double sided tape and a mounting bracket.
Question :
Can i buy just the adjustment screws for this?
Answer :
Im not sure this is the answer you are seeking, but I upgraded the adjustment knobs on my Telrad with Bob's Knobs. I highly recommend them.
If you are referring to the actual screws, I do not know the answer to that.
Telrad can be contacted at: 775 423-0747 or telradinc@cccomm.com
Question :
Can this be installed on a square (home made) dobsonian telescope?
Answer :
The included base is for a round tube, but the base of the TelRad has screw holes. I machined an adapter to attach it to the finderscope stalk on mine. There are advantages to having a CNC mill in the garage.
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