Telrad – RASC Ottawa

This versatile rich field telescope is quick to set up and simple to use.

It is a great first telescope. It has very little chromatic aberration, and its wide field of view is quite crisp and provides fine views of star fields and the moon. It is not quite as well suited for viewing the planets and smaller deep sky objects. It is rather short, which can make viewing of objects which are low in the sky rather awkward. Like all reflectors it can be somewhat counter-intuitive when trying to center the view on an object.

The base has a handle that makes it quite easy to carry. The tube has a handle to make it easy to point.

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The GoTo function can be driven by computer software such as Stellarium. Includes a declination wedge.

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Harvey has been around for many years. This high resolution telescope is quick to set up and simple to use. It has little chromatic aberration, and the quality of its field of view is quite comparable to the larger 8” reflectors in the telescope library. It provides nice views of nebulas, planets, and the moon. It lacks sufficient power for viewing smaller deep sky objects.

It is rather tall, and the tube is quite sturdily constructed. Unfortunately the one-arm Dobsonian mount is a lot shakier than ideal, and has a tendency to spring back when pointing the scope. Like all reflectors it can be somewhat counter-intuitive when trying to center the view on an object.

Comes with a deep sky filter for nebulae and galaxies.

T13 – Harvey, the 6″ Dobsonian Read More »

This is versatile telescope with very little chromatic aberration. Its wide field of view is quite crisp and provides fine views of star fields and the moon. It is not quite as well suited for viewing the planets and smaller deep sky objects. It is rather short, which can make viewing of objects which are low in the sky rather awkward. Like all reflectors it can be somewhat counter-intuitive when trying to center the view on an object.

The base has a handle that makes it quite easy to carry, but it is still large and cumbersome.

T21 – SkyWatcher 8″ Dobsonian Read More »