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View Full Version : Why my telescope is a CTS



Glom
2003-Jun-27, 07:37 PM
It may be sad, but it's great fun spotting CTS (Christmas Trash Scope) evidence in telescopes. I've now turned my eye on my own CTS that I've had for a couple of years.

Tasco Galaxsee 375X
As you can see, it's a Tasco telescope.
It's advertised in terms of magnification.
It's 4½'' which means that its maximum practical magnification is only 225X.
It came with, surprise, H20mm and SR4mm eyepieces, but at least they're 1.25''.
It's mounted on an EQ-1 mount, when according to BAG, anything below an EQ-3 is too flimsy for a 4½''. So it's two levels too light.
It came with an all plastic 3X Barlow lens.
The finder is all plastic and stopped down, probably a 5X24 stopped down to 10mm as mentioned in BAG.

Charlie in Dayton
2003-Jun-27, 09:58 PM
...as mentioned in BAG...

BAG?

Glom
2003-Jun-27, 10:06 PM
BAG?

The Backyard Astronomer's Guide.

Glom
2003-Jul-18, 11:45 PM
Another thing I've just thought of: the focal length is 500mm, which makes the focal ratio f4.3, far too fast to be of any decent quality.

ChesleyFan
2003-Jul-18, 11:54 PM
A lot of telescopes are supplied with EQ-1 mounts, CTS or not. I'd suggest that, unless you're planning to do astrophotography, buy a good alt-az mount instead. They're cheaper and lighter.

skyglow1
2003-Jul-19, 12:06 AM
I've seen a 60mm (2.5 inch) telescope advertrised with 540x magnification!

skyglow1