The Ranger and the Pronto Are No More

"Mike Fitterman" wrote in message
newsxSRc.10611$gd1.488@trndny05...
The OA4 is still the best deal out there. Far better than what Orion is
offering and I haven't even looked through it! The OA4 dob mounted is
less
than $1000. It's going to cost you $1500+ to fully outfit the Orion
scope.
Your done with OA for under $1000. Not only that, absolutely no color,
unobstructed views that will knock your socks off. And I've actually only
looked through a 92mm scope not even the full 4" OA!

Mike,

You haven't seen the Orion 100mm f/9 ED. You haven't looked though an OA4.
Somehow, though, you know which is better. You must be doing Psychic
Telescope Reviews, and I'll give them the credibility they deserve.

Clear skies, Alan

Interesting that you're not trying to sell Rat on a 9" OA (not to mention
one of those magnificent 6.5" units) so he can trash his lowly TMB 8" APO
even before it even arrives...

--
To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
"Mike Fitterman" wrote in message
newsxSRc.10611$gd1.488@trndny05...

"Stephen Paul" wrote in message
...


The main reason I know of to get an ED refractor, is to have both wide
fields, and high power out of the same scope. For wide fields of view,
the
achromat 102mm F5's and F6's are good enough for us lowly amateurs. If
they
can't get it down to near 600mm, then it seems like a waste of effort.
At
near 900mm, I'd rather have a DGM Optics OA4, or a similar performing
standard newt on Dob mount with no color whatsoever at any power.


The OA4 is still the best deal out there. Far better than what Orion is
offering and I haven't even looked through it! The OA4 dob mounted is
less
than $1000. It's going to cost you $1500+ to fully outfit the Orion
scope.
Your done with OA for under $1000. Not only that, absolutely no color,
unobstructed views that will knock your socks off. And I've actually
only
looked through a 92mm scope not even the full 4" OA!

Mike.

"Mike Fitterman" wrote in message

The OA4 is still the best deal out there. Far better than what Orion is
offering and I haven't even looked through it!

Mike, we're happy you're happy. Really. Lets move on.

Ed T.

"Stephen Paul" wrote in message ...

I find it amusing that you mention the name Tasco, and everyone groans, but
you mention Synta, and nobody flinches.

That's because nobody I know buys directly from Synta, but from other
companies that import these telescopes and package them with
accessories of widely varying quality. Needless to say, Tasco has
done a ****-poor job with their packages, which are aimed primarily at
beginners. For comparison, Orion does a much better job, and they
even attempt to educate their customers on what they can reasonably
expect from their telescopes.

Experienced amateur astronomers might be able to do things like buying
a discounted Tasco just for the Synta OTA and chucking the junky
accessories, but for most people, that's all they have when they buy
the telescope. Sure, Galileo might have accomplished much with even
worse equipment, but not everyone is Galileo. And if he were alive
today, shopping for an entry-level telescope, I doubt that he would
say "Dimentichi Orion, portimi un Tasco!" ;-)

The only Tasco I ever owned, came
from Synta. Go figure. Synta builds okay stuff, but not great.

At least they build OK stuff. What has Tasco done to deserve anything
but contempt?


- Robert Cook

At least they build OK stuff. What has Tasco done to deserve anything
but contempt?


- Robert Cook

I think Tasco has become a trademark for Department Store Telescope with all
that implies. Those 60mm jobs are actually workable, there is another whole
tier below those, 40mm scopes with plastic objectives, Toy Store Telescopes.
As a one time enthusiastic garage saler, I have seen more a few TSTs.

jon

At least they build OK stuff. What has Tasco done to deserve anything
but contempt?


Hi:

They've done some things. Not many, but some. The good, old 11TR "Red Tube" 4.5
inch Newtonian was OK, servicable, and did a stand-up job on the deep sky under
the (very) dark skies of North Arkansas for me back in the early 70s while I
was saving up for something better.

The refractors they imported (Tasco, of course, has never built a thing) were
often pretty decent up through the 70s, with the 4" they sold (a few of) in the
60s being quite respectable indeed. Some of the objectives, even on the el
cheapo 60mm jobs, were amazingly good...of course you could only tell if you
ditched the (always) deadly Huygens and Ramsdens that came with the scopes.

The 10x50 binocs they were selling in AF BXes back in the 70s were sometimes
outstanding. I still miss the pair that my brother dropped from the balcony to
the arena floor at a ZZ Top concert (my fault for letting the silly little guy
borrow them ;-)). Brought 'em home in a bag sigh.

No, Tasco were never top of the line by any stretch, but the thing that made
them _really_ notorious was the way they bottom-lined the scopes to death with
the coming of the 80s. While the 60s and 70s Tascos were often bearable, the
80s ones truly were rancid.


Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

"Robert Cook" wrote in message
om...

The only Tasco I ever owned, came
from Synta. Go figure. Synta builds okay stuff, but not great.

At least they build OK stuff. What has Tasco done to deserve anything
but contempt?

Sell Synta scopes?

Certainly not at F9. If they can get it down to F6, with 2" crayford, for
under $1k, and also perform well at 200x, then they'll have something at
least to consider.

They would have to stop making the tube out of pot metal, too.
rat
~( );

email: remove 'et' from .com(et) in above email address

If the demise of the Teleview Pronto and Ranger is true, I'm very sorry to
hear it. The Pronto was my first telescope in 1994, till it was stolen
several years ago. It worked well for me because I could carry it in its
case by the strap over my neck or shoulder while pushing my wheelchair to a
shadowed spot. I usually mounted it on shaky but portable camera tripods to
look at planets and bright stars. I replaced it with a Ranger bought
second hand on Ebay. I don't observe as much these days because of busy
life and increased light pollution around my apartment complex. The Pronto
even let me project the sun's face on my living room wall, and I've never
managed to do that with my other scope, a second hand Celestron C5+. I just
can't seem to get the sun in the eyepiece, even with the shadow trick or sun
pointing aids.

Sincerely,

Steve

(Dave Mitsky) wrote in message . com...
This may be old hat here but I got the word this past Saturday at the
Tele Vue Day at Skies Unlimited that Tele Vue is dropping the Ranger
and the Pronto refractors from their product line. Uncle Al mentioned
this fact to me in person but didn't offer an explanation. One might
speculate that competition from the Orion 80ED and perhaps the small
Stellarvue refractors may be to blame.

Dave Mitsky

Evolution.
-Rich