Telrads

[smiley smiley]

I'm looking for opinions on Telrads. Good or bad.
The problem is my finder shows so many stars that finding the ones I'm looking for is difficult. Picking out the big dipper has proven to be impossible. The only stars I can find for certain in it are the mizar/alcor pair. So star hopping with it has proven difficult. Once I'm in the right area the finder is great to center on faint galaxies. I end up spending a fair amount of time standing behind the scope eyeballing it in the right area. The telrad may help me out here. Don't even talk about the southern sky in the evening. Whew!
Thanks

[admin]

I always use a pair of 10x50 binoculars, in conjunction with scope and chart.
Find the item first with binocs - or at least find the place where it is, and mentally mark the spot.
Then the finder (also 50mm) shows pretty much the same stars as the binos.

Also mentally note any stars with a particular colour, seems to help.
Sorta - *** From the bright white one, between the orange and yellow, then on, and just beyond that faint blue-ish one.... *** - type of thing.
Noting any different colours also helps to mentally convert from upright to inverted views.

[Xlovacus]

I used Telrad for years on my 4.5" Reflection and old C8! I like it to easier to loaction in light pollution. If you know lot of stars then you should have no problem to use telrad. When I spot M57 between 2 stars of Lyra then I use low power to find a fuzzy blob of light then I use higher power for better view! Use good star maps! I ordered Orion Red dot finder for $34.95 for my Orion 10" Dobsonian and I should get it next week then I will let you know how I like it!