🔭 Telrad Finder Scope Review

I replaced the stock red dot viewfinder on my Celestron 8se with this one. Pros: I like seeing at a 90 degree angle so I don't have to kneel and bend down to see anything near the zenith. Large field of view Seems pretty sturdy Batteries last a lot longer than what I replaced Cons: It's practically useless in my backyard for anything other than the moon or Jupiter. I just don't see anything weaker to point this seeker to. Not enough light gets into the eyes. I live in a big city with a school…

Much better than any other way of finding a target, many say. I replaced the cheap finder scope that came with my telescope with a very good one. The problem I quickly realized was that she was too good for many stars that were now appearing and choosing the right one was now a hit and miss game that was very frustrating for me. Now I can aim with the telewheel as it doesn't zoom and you have a good field of view and it's a lot easier to hit the target than hitting the target accurately with…

The biggest problem with telescopic viewfinders is that you always trade magnification for field of view. I really didn't want to part with my Celestron 9x50 viewfinder (which is really good) so I bought the Telrad. Installation on a conventional pipe should be trivial. In my case, I have half a Serrurier-Dobson farm. There is nowhere to stick with the included tape. So I machined a red oak base (yes, you read that right, CNC router red oak) to which the Telrad base attaches with 8-32 machine…

I've owned several of these over the years and use them 90% of the time in place of my 7x50 finderscope (this is for the 5" refractor and 10.2" modified Maksutov). Perks include a wide star jump field and a reticle that shows me a scale in one-degree increments. The zoom viewfinder is still useful when looking for a Messier object that will appear blurry in such a viewfinder. As others have pointed out, it's larger than it should be. If attached to the bottom of the scope in hot climates for an

This is a great accessory for studying astronomy. Try it - essential gear. Factory finders often look like small 8x50 telescopes, often fitted with a reticle to center the object, but when used at night it's like looking through a mail tube for a cat in a coal box. Or a needle in a haystack. Powerful binoculars may be better for finding things, but they won't help you position the telescope. Telrad is square and bulky, it does NOT offer any magnification, it has a dumb dimmer to light the…

This Telrad is probably the most popular viewfinder on the market. In my version, you insert two AA batteries into the battery clip on the long, rectangular front of the scope, then flip the switch on the right about 210 degrees before you start seeing three rings generated by the red LED will. The rings act like the concentric rings on a bull's-eye pattern to place your celestial goal squarely in the center. And the brightness of the rings is regulated by the power knob on the right. You can…