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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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Well every so often the Midwest strikes a coupe for the patient hearted. Back in 1977 the Omaha Astronomical Society received a donated Tasco 20TE from a local MD physician. I was given the scope to store in my townhouse garage for two years. At the time I was building my 6" f/8 Jaegers and had no interest in this old "relic". In 1979 the club attempted to sell the scope but one of the club patriarchs came forward and purchased it for $500. He then donated it back to the club around 1993. The club then put it away in storage after several outings with club members by 1995 or so. Things become sketchy do to membership turnover and lack of records etc. But basically the club had no use for it. Then in 2008 the 92 year old patriarch and his second wife died. The club then decided to put it up for sale again. I had rejoined the club in 2007 after leaving for personal reasons in 1982. The few members that had seen the scope weren't real positive of it's heritage and I put two and two together and thought this must be the same scope. Sure enough it was and they proceded to vote selling the scope to me for $125. Here is a picture of it in my observatory after a whole lot of extensive cleaning.  Mike
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7x35 and 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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Here's a picture of the scope taken from a slide around 1979 at my home. Mike
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7x35 and 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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Another pic of all that came with it. Mike
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7x35 and 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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And some more eyepieces too!
Edited by mikey cee (03/07/09 11:18 AM)
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JamesE
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/22/07
Posts: 1117
Loc: Westbank, BC, Canada
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Mike
Unbelievable............!
James
P.S. I can't wait to hear more about this.....more pics......more stories.......more info......let me get my coffee. Great deal. Those are Royal Astro Optics too eh!
This is one of those rarest Japanese scopes out there. What's the serial number. First a schmidt camera then a a 4 incher on a pier. Boy this is going to be a fun weekend.
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James
(Thanks to Attilla for the Clear Sky charts)
Current Projects : Tasco 15TEA - 3 inch pier mounted planetary scope
Priorities : Wife, Kids
Edited by JamesE (03/07/09 11:17 AM)
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woodsman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/12/08
Posts: 1079
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
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Ok, are you just trying to irritate us by showing all that came with it.. $125 huh, did you say 1,2,5, as in dollars?? That just clinches it, I'm never going to feel guilty ever again about my Sears 90mm. By the way, I only paid $120, you paid $125    Congratulations, you must be ecstatic.  Rich
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artisticwoods
C-14 Orange Tube, C-8, C-5, C-90 Astro Model, C8 Schmidt Camera 8" f1.5, C5.5 Schmidt Camera f1.65, SPI 42mm f/19 Refractor, Sears 90mm f/15.56 Ref, Sears 80mm f/15 Ref, Swift 77mm f/13 Model 831, Scope 60mm f/11.7, Sears 50mm f/12
Unitron Model 140 75mm/1200mm, Unitron model 128 60mm/900mm
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woodsman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/12/08
Posts: 1079
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
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Ok Mike, now I went back through the old posting when I got my Sears 90mm, and this is what you wrote to me:
Richard......For a paltry $120 you should be strung up and shot!! Hope you sleep well!! Mike
Hey James, he lives in Nebraska, I'm sure we can find out where. Do you think he keeps his Observatory door locked?? You know, night vision Goggles aren't that expensive on the internet, and even so, I'm sure Preston has some laying around somewhere that we could borrow.... 
NICE, NICE, NICE!!
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artisticwoods
C-14 Orange Tube, C-8, C-5, C-90 Astro Model, C8 Schmidt Camera 8" f1.5, C5.5 Schmidt Camera f1.65, SPI 42mm f/19 Refractor, Sears 90mm f/15.56 Ref, Sears 80mm f/15 Ref, Swift 77mm f/13 Model 831, Scope 60mm f/11.7, Sears 50mm f/12
Unitron Model 140 75mm/1200mm, Unitron model 128 60mm/900mm
Edited by woodsman (03/07/09 11:40 AM)
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Dan /schechter
sage
Reged: 12/21/06
Posts: 365
Loc: Long Beach, Calif.
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Great acquisition Mike. It must have been a great feeling to get reaquainted with that 20 TE. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the aperture and focal length of a 20 TE.
Thanks,
Dan
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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The scope has vital statistics of 108mm(clear) x 1600mm. The Guide scope is a 25x50 and the finder is 6x30. I took the motor cover off to rewire the motor becuse it had the leads yanked loose. It has a stamped tag on it that shows 1969-5.Mike
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7x35 and 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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woodsman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/12/08
Posts: 1079
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
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Mike, are those 0.965 lenses in the Unihex or are they 1.25 eps with one 2 inch ep? Rich
Also, nice pier!
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artisticwoods
C-14 Orange Tube, C-8, C-5, C-90 Astro Model, C8 Schmidt Camera 8" f1.5, C5.5 Schmidt Camera f1.65, SPI 42mm f/19 Refractor, Sears 90mm f/15.56 Ref, Sears 80mm f/15 Ref, Swift 77mm f/13 Model 831, Scope 60mm f/11.7, Sears 50mm f/12
Unitron Model 140 75mm/1200mm, Unitron model 128 60mm/900mm
Edited by woodsman (03/07/09 11:43 AM)
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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Rich...They are only .965's. Everything comes with a price tho'! Some so an' so took the 40mm Mono and cut half the tube off of it!  Probably to seat it in a star diagonal...who knows.  Mike
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7x35 and 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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Happy-Idiot
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/06/06
Posts: 2836
Loc: 3rd Rock
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Brian
A small scope that gets used often is a better investment than a big scope that stays in the closet.
Unitrons, you spend more time looking at them than you do through them.
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Siderea
Astronomess
Reged: 11/21/05
Posts: 2066
Loc: Left Coast
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Lucky dude, Mike!
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lc Carol
..."Then the blue above grows darker and a million stars erupt
From the places where they hide throughout the day
Into pictures in the heavens even we cannot corrupt
And the vastnesses of time can't wash away..."Jeff Green
60mm Telescope Club
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desertrefugee
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/06/07
Posts: 1219
Loc: Arizona
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Congratulations, Mike.
I'm sure you won't be letting it go again.
Gorgeous scope. And quite scarce, I would imagine. Not sure if it's as rare as the Sears 90 (but this one's a full 4")!
Unbelievable.
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"Illimitable ocean, without bound, Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, And time, and place are lost." - Milton
-Darrell
Reflectors - 76 to 305mm (f4.7 to f9.2)
Refractors - 50 to 120mm (f5 to f16.7)
Binoculars - 6x15 to 22x100
N. Phoenix, AZ
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strdst
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/23/08
Posts: 834
Loc: Oregon USA
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WOW, Not exactly your 1960's department store Tasco! Beautiful! How is this "relic" optically? Not quite a 7te...he... he... 5, but probably still pretty good?
other Keith
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woodsman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/12/08
Posts: 1079
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
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That scope is as beautiful as the Unitron 160 models that we all drool over. I especially like the counterweight assemblies. For a 4.25 inch refractor, how can it get any nicer, plus it has the clock drive. I'd only heard rumors of the Tasco 20TE existence, now it shows up, and in this condition. Terrific!
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artisticwoods
C-14 Orange Tube, C-8, C-5, C-90 Astro Model, C8 Schmidt Camera 8" f1.5, C5.5 Schmidt Camera f1.65, SPI 42mm f/19 Refractor, Sears 90mm f/15.56 Ref, Sears 80mm f/15 Ref, Swift 77mm f/13 Model 831, Scope 60mm f/11.7, Sears 50mm f/12
Unitron Model 140 75mm/1200mm, Unitron model 128 60mm/900mm
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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Keith.......Optically this scope is in a league of it's own. It literally is a step above my Sans & Streiffe 76mm x 1200mm. I was viewing Castor the other night. You could definitely see the different subtle hues....and talk about difraction rings....and this was at 400x!! The Moon was near the Zenith at half phase and I could not detect any purple in the crater shadows at 400x! Now you can say bull but I couldn't detect any. At the limb of the Moon you could just detect that something just wasn't quite correct about this "reflector" like image. I'm simply blown away with this lens. Then I go over to the 8-inch and the stars are softer due to the seeing which had a slow boil and a much brighter view of course. The lenses have not been touched. Some dust on back and front sides but no sleeks or scratches or coating flaws. Thank God they received little active duty and were well capped.  Mike
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7x35 and 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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woodsman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/12/08
Posts: 1079
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
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Does anyone have any idea of how many of these were made, and for how many years?
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artisticwoods
C-14 Orange Tube, C-8, C-5, C-90 Astro Model, C8 Schmidt Camera 8" f1.5, C5.5 Schmidt Camera f1.65, SPI 42mm f/19 Refractor, Sears 90mm f/15.56 Ref, Sears 80mm f/15 Ref, Swift 77mm f/13 Model 831, Scope 60mm f/11.7, Sears 50mm f/12
Unitron Model 140 75mm/1200mm, Unitron model 128 60mm/900mm
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3530
Loc: bellevue ne.
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The scope will obviously need some big bucks to bring it back to near 100%. The chrome draw tubes are woefully pitted.....but identical in condition as back in 1977! So to get in that condition by 1977 who knows how old this puppy is. The declination shaft as well as the tube weight bars also need replating. The mount itself is to me a real surprise. All those summers in that storage shed cooking away near 90°-100° days and it still glides smoothly. Absolutely no slop or play(backlash)!  Mike
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7x35 and 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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gts055
super member
Reged: 05/01/06
Posts: 158
Loc: Victoria, Australia
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Congratulations on acquiring your magnificent 20TE. I imagine it would have been long unloved and in a dusty and neglected state. Wonderful u have it now to appreciate 
Wishing great views, Mark
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