Telrad Red Dot Finder

The Telrad is quite simply the best accessory I’ve got for my recently acquired scope so far. I had to get this, or something like this, because the RDF fitted to my Astromaster 130EQ is, to be blunt, useless. The Telrad on the other hand, is brilliant. Fitting it to the tube with the supplied sticky pads was a piece of cake. Aligning it, in my case with a red light on a phone/radio mast a few miles away, was unbelievably straightforward. Once I had that done, the sky was my oyster – so to speak. Only this morning, I put Jupiter in the centre circle and bam…there it was in the centre of my eyepiece. The same with Mars and M42. Now I can’t wait for my Barlow and the couple of Plossls I’ve ordered so I can make the most of it!Surprisingly, it isn’t as big or bulky as some other reviews had led me to believe it would be, and to be honest I think it looks kinda cool. But the important thing is, it works. One of the best features is the ability to adjust the brightness of the target reticule, which makes finding faint objects much easier. There are also any number of star charts available on-line and free which allow you to find particular objects by aligning the reticule with well-known or particularly bright stars (Google “Telrad finder charts”).Being able to find things in the sky quickly and easily is a major boon for me, as the weather conditions where I live are notoriously fickle and can change in minutes. I have to make the most of the viewing opportunities that I get, and the Telrad lets me do just that.If you haven‘t got a Telrad, get one. It’s that simple.

For more experienced fanatics, finding Andromeda may not be a big deal, but I'm just starting out with amateur astronomy and astrophotography. The problem with the finderscope that came with the telescope is that it magnifies, inverts, reveals more stars, and you only get a very narrow field of view. This is fine with aiming your scope at the likes of Jupiter or even the Orion nebula, but I found the problem when looking for a messier object in or near the plough. Looking through the finderscope, the plough simply disappeared. I'd be looking at one of the stars in the constellation but I couldn't be sure which one due to the narrow field of view. I was totally lost in the night sky.Enter the Telrad. No magnification or inversion, but more importantly you still have the view of the whole night sky whilst looking through the little perspex window with the concentric circles reflected through it, focused at infinity and superimposed on the night sky. The diameters of the concentric circles are of a specific angular displacement (the outer circle is two degrees I think), and with star charts specifically for the Telrad that you can download off the internet, star hopping is made easier. I used mine with the telescope's original finderscope to locate Andromeda for the first time. I wouldn't have managed it without the Telrad. I learnt a little bit more of the night sky in the process as well and now I can find Andromeda quite easily now.Now I'm looking forward to finding more objects in the night sky and the Telrad will help me for sure.

There's not much to say about a Telrad that you don't already know. I spent ages deliberating oer this vs. a Rigel or any number of other finders but in the end I figured that this was the standard and that anything else would be a compromise one way or another.It's BIG- Really big (if you haven't seen one, the pictures don't do it justice) and will dominate a small scope. I have a 200mm (8") f/6 Newtonian which is pretty sizeable so it sits ok but on a smaller scope it will take up a fair amount of space. Despite its size however, it's actually pretty lightweight (plasic construction) and even with the 4" riser (a very sensible addition for Newtonian users - highly recommended) it doesn't really mess with the balance of the mount.It's BRILLIANTIf you've ever spent hours trying to relate 0x magnification start charts or iPad app images to the small, zoomed-in upside down and back to front image in your finderscope and found yourself shouting at the night sky (maybe it's just me...) then this is for you.It's a much more intuitive way to navigate the stars, hopping from one know star to another and measuring the distance by a given number of circles, then peer through a low mag eyepice and there is your target object. I do sometime use it in conjunction with the finder for fine-tuning but I rarely need to.I'm not overstating it to say that this has made astronomy much more enjoyable and less frustrating and I would recommend a Telrad to anyone who hasn't already got one!

This is an excellent and very simple to use finder scope. It is a little bulky but very lightweight; so don't be put off by its size! It allows 90 degree observation so you do not need to 'crane' your neck to use it. It is therefore very comfortable to use. Note: there is a 'pulser' add-on kit available that facilitates locating dimmer objects in the sky. This 'pulser' unit has good reviews world-wide so I am going to order one to try it out. A dew shield is also available.Update: Fitting the 'pulser' unit was very easy! Instead of using the included fittings I decided to solder the wires and use heat-shrink tubing as this provided a more secure and compact installation. The template for the drilling does need some modification but this is easy!Final note: Just see the five star ratings for the Telrad Finderscope! It is superb and easy to use; I do recommend the 'pulser' add-on if you wish to observe feint stars, constellations etc (see below). Spare base-plates for the finderscope are available via the internet so that you can use it on more than one telescopes!Very final update: The sky was clear tonight so I had a chance to test the Telrad with the 'pulser' unit. By pulsing the laser light it was very easy to centralize the image (in my case, Jupiter). I strongly recommend the 'pulser' unit.