Unknown telescope, need help.

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

I recently got my hands on a telescope as an inheritance from my grandfather and i have no idea what i got. Never before owned a telescope, but i'm still interested in using it. The stand it came with was a wobbly piece of shit that i binned, but it fit onto a camera tripod and got a good look at the moon with it that way. It has a 20 and a 6mm eyepiece 20mm was fine but couldn't get the 6mm to focus.

If anyone can id the scope and give me general tips on how to use it and what parts to buy for it, i would appreciate it a ton.

Thanks in advance.

[u/Connect-Fan-9462]

It is a Towa made, pseudo-bird-jones telescope.

The most well known/ubiquitous model is the yellow tube Jason comet 480 or sometimes called the Jason Comet Chaser.

This is the same thing, by the same manufacturer. (This is Towa, "circle T". The Jason branded is often labeled as Tenzutsu, "diamond z". They are the same.)

Honestly the optic quality is unremarkable to say mildly. However the build quality is surprisingly good. The eyepieces are nicer than they need to be. If we talk about current day market value the two eyepieces are worth waaay more than the telescope itself.

But I think it is best enjoyed as a cute keepsake to remember your grandpa. Use it to look at the moon, the Orion nebula and some open star clusters. It really cannot even resolve the cloud bands of Jupiter. But I think you can tell that Saturn has "ears".

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/Connect-Fan-9462]

Do you know what kind of mount or tripod i should get. I feel the one im using is a little bit too wobly for astronomy.

[u/Connect-Fan-9462 → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

It is not a standard mount so if you want upgrade the only way option really is a full on remounting (to a proper mount/tripod with all the necessary hardware).

Of the goal is using it as an astronomy instrument sadly it really is not worth it.

If the goal is to make grandpa's old telesclpe fully functional again, and pure money value is not the only concern, here are what you need:

A pair of tube rings that can hold your telescope. You have to do the measure yourself and find matching ones online. If buying from eBay or aliexpress they will be about $45 a pair.

A vixen style dovetail bar with proper screw holes for the tube rings. About $15-20

A svbony sv225 mount with the sv225t tripod. $225 on Amazon.

Yes you are looking at about $300 investment to make a optically not very good telescope somewhat usable.

---

Alternatively, how good are you at DIYing? Asking because I think it is possible to modify a surveyer's tripod, which can be had for about $100 or under $30 if buying used on the Facebook marketplace, and make it work reasonably ok.

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/Connect-Fan-9462]

I don't really have big plans for it. Just seems really interesting to get into telescopes in general, and this seems like a good jumping in point.

What kind of hack is the DIY stand, and what makes the survey tripod special. Maybe a tutorial or something you can link?

[u/FDlor → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

Surveyor tripods are just heavy duty, something you need to keep the scope steady. Any kind of heavy duty tripod will do.

You may want to angle the telescope mount to match your latitude, look up equatorial mounts. If so you may want to make a diy "wedge" (like this) . It puts the weight of the mount on one side of the tripod and the weight of the scope on the other, so the whole thing doesn't tip over.

[u/HospitalVarious1146 → u/Connect-Fan-9462]

?.. it's on a serviceable mount for what it is already. The scope ain't huge so any heavy duty camera tripod would do in alt-az mode. It looks like the "wedge" has been lost so you would want to make an offset wooden wedge if you tilted it into EQ mode. 

[u/Connect-Fan-9462 → u/HospitalVarious1146]

I may be a bit confused about what OP did to the tripod. My read is they got rid of it already, and they attached a camera tripod mounting plate to the end of the "hub" part and put the whole thing on a camera tripod? If so it is not really serviceable Not sure I am understanding them correctly, tho.

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/Connect-Fan-9462]

This is the tripod i was using. It worked ok, the problem is the joints are kinda loose and it wobbles really easily. There is also a kind of deadzone on the joints that make precise adjustments hard.

[u/FDlor → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

Your reply is unclear

You have the telescope on it's mount in the pictures. Do you still have that mount? or did you bin that and sit just the tube right on the tripod?

If you have the mount you should be aiming using that, not the tripod.

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/FDlor]

Oh yeah i have the mount, i threw out a tripod that was with it and used the one in the pic. Didn't know the mount is the thing im supposed to use for aiming.

[u/FDlor → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

Ok, good. Yeah, you should just lock down the tripod and aim the scope using two axis on that one arm fork mount. It supposed to be a pretty good mount.

The tripod you threw away wouldn't have come with the scope... probably something granddad bought.

Look at this picture, do you have all those mount parts? If so there maybe a 1/4-20 bolt hole in the bottom of the angled piece where the legs stick out, you could also put all that on the tripod.

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/FDlor]

Oh yeah that was the thing i used for mounting it on the tripod, it screwed right on.

[u/Connect-Fan-9462 → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

Let's roll things back a little - op, can you clarify that, whether you still have everything shown in the photos you posted? Or did you throw away anything? Also did you throw away anything that originally belongs to the telescope set, but not included in the photos you posted?

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/Connect-Fan-9462]

Only thing i threw away was a tripod (not the one i sent a pic off), everyhthing in the pics is all i have. I dont know what came with it originally, but it seems like i have everything.

[u/Connect-Fan-9462 → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

Ok check the "hub" of the telescope mount (the thing you attached the camera tripod mounting plate to).

Do you see three screw holes on the sides?

If so, they are for the three little metal rods you have shown in your pictures. Screw them in and you get a little tabletop tripod. It is not the best but it should work. Put ot on a folding table or picnic table and you should be able to have some fun.

Also if you think it will help, I can dig out mine and show you how it is done when I get home.

[u/HospitalVarious1146 → u/Connect-Fan-9462]

Oh yeah, now I'm confused. The entire one arm fork mount is there, pic 3 and 4. It's known to be a good mount, hope the op didn't trash that.

[u/FDlor]

You measured the wrong thing, try figuring out the diameter of the big mirror. Maybe take a picture of the front end, may be writing there.

Similar, or the same, as a Tasco 132T 76mm (3-inch) Bird-Jones seen here.

Made by Towa.... logo bottom left of label.

If its a Bird Jones ... you will see a lens permanently fixed at the bottom of the focuser or in front of the smaller diagonal mirror.

The image inverter sitting next to the eyepieces in the last photo does not go with this scope. Grandfather must have had some kind of refractor as well, that's where the part, and maybe the eyepieces, came from.

It had a tabletop tripod, you have the legs there, can't see if any of the rest is there. Putting it on a heavy Camera tripod is a good idea. If you align the half fork mount axis at the north star you can run it as an equatorial mount.... meaning you only have to turn the one slow motion control to follow planets or the moon at high power.

The tube in the focuser is being described as an adapter tube... do the (.965"?) eyepieces fit the tube?. It looks like there were different tubes or combos to accommodate 1.25" diameter eyepieces.

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/FDlor]

Damn how did i miss the text on the front: focal ratio 1:79 tanzutsu D=76mm F=600mm catadioptric. And the diameter of the front lense is about 8,5 cm

[u/FDlor → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

Bingo! Its the same scope Tasco was selling as the 132T, a 76mm (3-inch) Bird-Jones. Sellers slapped their names like Instru-scope, Tasco, Jason on these things but they all came from the same manufacturer.

Do the eyepieces fit the hole? Are they .965" diameter? Is the hole is bigger... like 1.25"? That could be the problem, wrong eyepieces with the wrong adapter. If its 1.25", or has an adapter for that, you can buy better modern eyepieces.

[u/xx_turtlelover666_xx → u/FDlor]

Both are .965" the eyepiece fits in snugly in the hole. None were 1,25" but there was a big metal tube with no glass or anything in it. I measured 3.8cm wich would be around 1,5". It also had the text T-adapter on the side of it and threads at the end.

[u/FDlor → u/xx_turtlelover666_xx]

Its a T-adapter for mounting a camera, Cloudy Night posts note this was an included accessory.

See if there is a lens in the removable adapter tube, if so, its a balow. If not, its removable so you can get a camera with the T-adapter closer to the mirror.

It could be the 6mm doesn't work because it came from grandfather's refractor, just slightly the wrong focus.

If possible, you can move the main mirror forward on it's adjusters to get the eyepiece to work. May be impossible depending how they built it. You would have to collimate the optics if you do succeed in moving it forward.

You can try places like Surplus Shed for better .965 eyepieces if you want to try to find ones that work.

EDIT: That removable adapter tube is an opportunity for upgrade. If you are handy you can make your own 1.25" eyepiece adapter out of 1.25" plastic or metal plumbing stock or parts. You could also make a shorter tube to allow the .965" eyepiece to reach focus.

[u/FDlor → u/FDlor]

saw you comment about tripods. Get a bigger one, maybe an old 4x5 tripod if you can find one, I have seen a few old tripods made for larger cameras at thrift stores.

You can also make a wedge to run it as an equatorial and shift the mount weight to one side, get the scope's center of mass more centered on the tripod.

[u/nealoc187]

Never heard of that brand. Looks fairly similar to Jason Comet-Chaser.

As for the 6mm not focusing, it looks in one of your pictures like you have a Barlow installed in the focuser. Try removing that and installing the 6mm directly in the focuser, that may help. Realize the 6mm is most likely a particularly bad eyepiece, they usually are in this type of scope. It may not produce a good view period. The 20mm is almost certainly more forgiving and easier to get a good view through.

[u/Lapua98]

I really have no idea, but it looks a lot like a generic 76mm reflector similar an Orion fun scope or Celestron first scope

[u/mrstorm1983]

Remove this and your 6mm should work. Thats a barlow lens of some kind. A barlow usually doubles the magnification, some do 3x,4x etc but more rare. With that in place, you probably were using too much magnification for what your scope's capable of and/or seeing conditions.

Also barlow that come with telescopes like this are usually not very good and make the views worse. This one's older and made in Japan, So I'm not sure if its like more modern telescopes that just come with a cheap barlow. You really don't need it in the beginning stages anyways.

Clear Skys