Tasco Telescope help!!!

[france113]

hello.
i was just looking around in ebay and saw this Tasco telescope. but no specifications.
http://i18.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/d4/b2/f0b2_1.JPG

can anyone tell me some info about this?

thanks!

[EndeavorRX7]

I've known Tasco to be decent brand. What are the telescope specs. (Aperture, focal length)?

[france113]

i dont really know, i asked the seller for some info.

and i found another Tasco 402
is it good?
http://auctionwagon.s3.amazonaws.com/G2SMf68653da-ab62-4583-bcc6-3d2b68977fef-3802.jpg

[EndeavorRX7]

It depends on what you are going to use it for. For the moon, the 60mm will work fine. If you want to view planets I recommend something at least 114mm (4.5") w/ focal length of 1000+mm.

If you are buying on eBay make sure to ask the condition of the lenses (scratches, stains, etc.). Also be sure that it includes a couple eyepieces. 4mm, 12.5mm and 25mm are the standard sizes.

[france113]

ok thanks :)
heres the 402
http://auctionwagon.s3.amazonaws.com/G2SMf56d355b-5b37-46bd-a984-421b6359c622-3802.jpg

[Kaptain K]

Danger!
Tasco used to make some decent scopes. Those two are (basically) junk! A dead give away is the advertised 402x maximum power of the 60mm refractor. The maximum usable power of a 60mm scope is 120x, or maybe 144x on a good night with a premium scope.

[yuzuha]

Probably a 76mm spherical mirror with a 700mm focal length f/9.2. Looks like it has 3 eyepieces... probably a 20, 12.5 and 5mm. 20mm would give you 35x and the 5 will give you 140x, which is about the maxiumum useful magnification for a scope this size provided it was on a decent mount (looks like they include a wobbly camera tripod). Personally, I'd run away!

[RickJ]

Looking for a kid's scope? If so this isn't it.

This is a typical worthless toy telescope. The Tasco of the 50's and 60's sold some scopes well worth their cost but then it went down hill and into bankruptcy. The remains of the original Tasco were purchased by Bushnell. A company known for poor quality telescopes. All made by that company that have been brought in to us at Hyde Memorial Observatory for help were beyond help. They were all very poor quality. I've never seen anything made by the old Tasco since the mid 70's or the new that was worth looking through.

Though I only saw one like the one you ask about. It had a less than typical quality 3" spherical mirror. Adequate for low power (around 30x) views of a few bright objects like the moon. Also the mirror cell pinched the mirror. No way to fix it other than find or make a new mirror cell. Focuser and finder were very poor. Mount made a quaking aspen leaf look steady. In short, it was junk. Though as I recall they claimed some unreasonable power claim like 450x it was good only to about 30. NO 3" scope of even the highest quality could work well much beyond 150x. When you see such an outlandish power claim you know right off the scope is junk. No need to look further.

If you are looking for a kids scope Orion's Starblast is far far superior. For an adult scope consider their 6" SkyQuest XT6. These are about as cheap as you can go and still have a useful scope.

Rick

[france113]

ah ok, thanks guys!

[france113]

ok here are the specs for the red tasco
35X, 56X, 70X, 112X, 117X, 234X72MM #33TR
6X Finderscope

[redshifter]

Run, don't walk, from those cheap Tasco scopes. I HIGHLY recommend you read the many 'what scope should I buy' threads here, and read this as well:

http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

[RickJ]

ok here are the specs for the red tasco
35X, 56X, 70X, 112X, 117X, 234X72MM #33TR
6X Finderscope

Those aren't useful specs at all. Other than they enforce my opinion this scope is junk same as all other Tasco's I've seen that were made in the last 20 years by them or Bushnell.

Cheap quality scopes like this are the most expensive ones you can buy! Check want ad sites like AstroMart and Cloudy Nights for good buys on used telescopes of reasonable quality. Even there you'll see some junk scopes. Stick to the better brands.

For instance there's a used 4.5" (I'd start at 6" for an adult, 4.5" for a kid) at $90 that would run circles around that Tasco at Cloudy Nights. It's a low power scope but a usable one

I saw several good 6" f/8 Dobs for around $200 as well. Any of them would make a good starting scope for someone at a reasonable price.

Rick

[france113]

just found this one
MEADE EQ-AS 114MM TELESCOPE 4.5" REFLECTOR EQUATORIAL

[EndeavorRX7]

That's a good one. That's pretty much the one I was recommending at the beginning of this thread. It does the job and for a reasonable price. if I'm not mistaken like $180 with the more simpler GoTo version.

[france113]

thanks for the help, i might get the meade one :)
but isnt that for the experts, its an equatorial scope!

[aurora]

Rather than randomly read advertisements, you should look through the other threads here that discussed beginner scopes, and how to select one that is right for you. As well, many of those messages have links to websites that have good articles that specifically address that question.

It is best to do some reading before buying a telescope.

[RickJ]

You don't say the price. New they sell for about $200. If you find it for $90 used or so then its a pretty good deal if in good condition and you'll not lose much if anything when you discover it is no longer the scope for you.

A 4.5" is a good beginner scope for kids but most adults in our club wish they'd gotten a 6" and do within 6 months of attending their first star party where they look through members 6" scopes. They end up selling theirs at half price just to move up. We've come to call this "The V8 Moment." Makes for a good used market in these scopes. So if you find one for $90 or so you'll get your money back when moving up.

Equatorial mounts add a level of complexity many beginners find frustrating and are really extra baggage on a small scope like this (they have to be polar aligned each time you set the scope up or move it -- for visual use this isn't hard, it must be quite precise for deep sky astrophotography however and this mount isn't up to that task except to piggyback a camera). They also aren't as steady as a Dob mount and more expensive when new though depreciate rapidly in the used market. Keep in mind a 4.5" is short and you'll be viewing on your knees a lot. The higher these inexpensive tripods are raised the shakier they become. Another reason they are better suited for kids than adults.

They work fairly well for the moon, Jupiter and Saturn as well as a few dozen bright deep sky objects like M42, M44, M45, the Double Cluster etc. They work poorly for galaxies and globular star clusters as well as most emission nebula other than bright ones like M8, M20 and M42. Galaxies and globulars are just faint fuzz patches with no detail in a scope of this size. You'll see few if any stars making up globular clusters. A 6" will bring other planets into view and add hundreds (thousands from a very dark site) of deep sky objects into view as it has about 33% better resolution (same as going from a 100 pixel computer image to one with 178 pixels) and makes things 78% brighter. This allows you to see stars in many globular clusters, detail in bright galaxies and planetary nebula as well as seeing many more emission nebula and star clusters. Yet a 6" Dob costs only about 15% more than the one you are looking at when new. Plus, the mount is far easier to use and much steadier. A steady mount is very important!

If your skies have light pollution larger aperture becomes even more important as with the added light and magnification you can cut through some of the light pollution. Smaller apertures have little ability to do this compared to larger ones. Kids want to see the moon and maybe a planet or two when they first start so the 4.5" works well for them. You don't say which you are buying for.

Before buying get to a local star party and see what they are using. You'll then get the right scope at the right price and save my fingers and keyboard. They know your skies and what works there and doesn't. You'll know what you'll see and not see in various scopes. Only then can you make an intelligent decision and avoid a costly "V8 Moment".

In the meantime use binoculars and a star chart to start learning your way around the sky. A skill you'll need once you have the scope in order to know where to point it.

Rick

[france113]

thanks!!!
so if that meade one has a small trpiod then i can get this 3" Bushnell 78-9930

[Siguy]

thanks!!!
so if that meade one has a small trpiod then i can get this 3" Bushnell 78-9930

Don't get bushnell, whatever you do, they're almost as bad as Tasco!

Also, NEVER GET TELESCOPES WITH TUBES SHORTER THAN THE FOCAL LENGTH IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE!!! They're very difficult to collimate because of a cheap "corrector" lens built into the focuser which doubles the focal length to disguise spherical aberration.

If you're looking into a 4.5'' reflector, Orion's Starblast EQ and "Mini dobs" are excellent beginner scopes. So is the SkyQuest 4.5. The Meade 114 EQ-AST has a spherical mirror and "correcting" lens, so if you go with Meade, get the EQ-A. The Meade EQ series are good because they're easy to find used. Orion probably has the best starter scopes, though.

You might also still find a really fun Meade Land and Sky Telescope (70mm/600mm refractor) for $25 at walmart. Don't expect it to perform as well as the telescopes above, but I have one and it's a fun toy that can split the Trapezium.

On second thought, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that, it's not an ideal beginners' scope.

[RickJ]

Did you read my first response in this thread? It covered Bushnell, They own Tasco. If they make a decent scope for the price I'm yet to see it. Also you are going backwards. A 3" shows a lot less than a 4.5" Aperture is the key. More shows more and it goes up by the square of the diameter. By 6" you have hundreds of objects to look at. A 3" is limited to the Moon and low power shots of a couple planets. They used to be called Moonscopes for this reason. They are fine for an 8 year old kid. I had one at that age but by 10 I'd far outgrown it and built my own 6". Back then a 6" cost $200, not much less than today but that was a year's paper route income. Today they cost no more than my son made in 1 month so are very inexpensive compared to 60 years ago. I used the 6 until college then moved to a 10". I still have that one as well as the 6" I made. The 3" I sold as compared to the 6" it was poor. Its quality was good, far better than anything Tasco or Bushnell makes today that I've seen but compared to a 6" they are very very limited. 4.5" is better but still something you will outgrow very quickly. If you find a 4.5" and don't mind bending way over a $200 new for $90 would be reasonable as you could likely get much of that $90 back. when you realize you bought too small a scope for your skies.

Get to a star party. THere are several clubs in your area holding them regularly. Then you'll understand you keep going down the wrong path.

Rick

[france113]

k thanks alot :)

[Dave Mitsky]

I also recommend the Orion Starblast and SkyQuest 4.5 but a 6" Dob (i.e., a Dobsonian-mount Newtonian reflector) will be far more satisfying in the long run, as Rick has already mentioned.

If you're interested in doing some further research, you may also want to browse these web sites:

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=ss&id=9

http://skyandtelescope.com/howto/scopes/article_241_1.asp

http://www.floridastars.org/telescop.html

http://www.company7.com/library/begin.html

http://stupendous.rit.edu/richmond/answers/telescope.html

http://www.astronomics.com/main/category.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/How%20to%20pick%20a%20telescope/Page/1

Dave Mitsky

[fagricipni]

I know someone who made the mistake of buying a Tasco scope very similar to that model -- crap, with a capital S-H... . I'd give that scope a value of about $15, and that's generous.