victor bradford Reviews

I have two telrads and two red-dot finders and prefer the telrad. The clearly marked rings greatly help locating objects and help you learn more about sky locations, even if your scope has computerized gadgetry. A set of binoculars also helps locating things even with a telrad, especially if the weather is not-so-great. You can also use a telrad to locate terrestrial objects too. It is also a bit large for my small refractors. This should be a useful item, and still seems the best for general use. One downside is needing to recalibrate if/when you take the telrad off your scope. Oh, and almost forgot -- its easy to forget to turn it off so bring another battery if necessary.

--I have three telrads and have also used a red-dot finder, magnifying finders, and two other reflex finders. All the others pale beside the telrad (especially the red dots, which seem of little use on anything but bright objects). --IMHO this one is still the best by far, and heres why: 1.the circles let you star-hop so easily that I usually prefer it to a computerized setup. 2. it works simply and well, and is reasonably priced. 3. it has little or no parallax so you dont have to find exactly the same position for accuracy. 4.the reticle sight is clear and visible. 5.It can be transferred with a minimum of fuss and adjusts easily (just aim it at a fixed light source that is not very bright). 6. the field of view is right side up and unmagnified. --Drawbacks are few (thats why its a 9 not a 10). 1. Its big and clumsy and unaesthetic, especailly for a small scope like a TV-60 (surely telrad could make it smaller by now). 2. the fastening screws are low quality and are long enough to interfere with the dew shield operation on one of my small scopes (the user should replace or file down the screws). 3.its easy to accidentally turn the switch on or to leave it on during disassembly -- perhaps an automatic turnoff would be nice for telrad to add. --In summary, its still the King (especially when used with a low-power eyepiece to establish the visual field).

-Another five star vote. Ive used this scope for a couple of its intended purposes -- backpacking and lightweight air travel -- where portability is at a premium, and the views with this scope are often worth the few extra pounds for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. This is so much better than lesser refractors or binos. Wish I had had it on many previous trips. Views at all intended powers are superb. Its also a great grab and go for the house. My next plan is a carbon fiber tripod.

I have 2 TV 20mms which I use for binoviewer and monocular viewing and am most happy with them. They obviously offer excellent contrast and are lighter than a wider-angle eyepiece (at the tradeoff of field of view). They are also versatile, and offer a near-ideal exit pupil for many scopes, including mine, and are a great mid-power system for my SCT. Not having the funds to do a side-by-side with similar Plossls, I looked at reviews (see this site and also cloudynights under Planetary Eyepiece Comparison) and found a rare, near-universal appreciation for the TV 20. Its a safe bet you will be happy with this one.

I have two telrads and two red-dot finders and prefer the telrad. The clearly marked rings greatly help locating objects and help you learn more about sky locations, even if your scope has computerized gadgetry. A set of binoculars also helps locating things even with a telrad, especially if the weather is not-so-great. You can also use it to locate terrestrial objects too. It is also a bit large for my small refractors. This should be a useful item, and still seems the best for general use. One downside is needing to recalibrate if/when you take the telrad off your scope. Oh, and almost forgot -- its easy to forget to turn it off so bring another battery if necessary.