Telrad Reflex Finder: £32.29

The best-selling non-magnifying finder

To see objects through a telescope it must be pointed to exactly the right spot. The Telrad Reflex Sight is an instrument for pointing telescopes to that "right spot".

Through a Telrad Reflex Sight you see the real field of view the way the star charts show it, not a small upside-down and magnified portion of it. Another feature is the graduated reticle image in the form of three lighted rings focused at effective infinity and giving the appearance of actually being in the star field. The large ring is four degrees across and outlines the area covered by a finder scope. The medium ring is two degrees across. The small ring is one- half degree across and outlines the area seen in the telescope. The Telrad Reflex Sight also offers much more eye relief than the traditional finder scope.

Select an object on the chart and note its position among the visible stars then set the Telrad rings on that spot in the sky. A quick rough setting will put the object in the field of a finder scope. With no finder, or a faint object that won't show, use a more careful setting to put the object in the field of the telescope. After using the Telrad Reflex Sight most observers find it so easy that they use it exclusively in lieu of a finder scope.

The Telrad Reflex Sight is eight inches long, weighs eleven ounces and mounts on your telescope without drilling holes. It unlocks from its base for separate storage.

The Telrad is the best-selling non-magnifying finder for Dobsonians, equatorial reflectors, refractors, and Schmidt-Cassegrains alike. The Telrad projects a series of concentric red rings (4 degrees, 2 degrees, and one-half degree in diameter) on a tilted clear viewing plate at the top of the finder. These circles make it easy to starhop from object to object. If a galaxy is 10 degrees north of a known star, for example, two 4 degree Telrad jumps and one 2 degree jump from the known star will take you to that galaxy in seconds. The half-degree circle makes it easy to quickly center a computerized scope on guide stars for start-up alignment, and to center on planets, comets, and deep space objects if you’re scanning the sky manually. The red circles can be seen from virtually any distance behind the Telrad, from two inches to two feet, so eyeglass-wearers can easily use the finder.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Collimating knobs at the back of the Telrad allow you to line up the finder with your main scope optics. An on/off switch and integral rotary brightness control allow you to match the finder brightness to your eye’s dark adaptation. The Telrad uses two 1.5V AA batteries