azure1961p
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/17/09
Posts: 731
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I used tothink like other normal kids, my first refractor too was a 60mm Tasco. Nope!
It was a 40mm Tasco.
The eyepiece was one unit. If you pulled it out it went down to 25x, if you pushed it in it went to 50x [whew].
The tripod was that 12" high table top claw type. It was alt-azimuth.
But what did a 13 year old see with that scope back in 1976?
Jupiter. Dusky very faint banding was seen intermittenly while the four moons were always visible. Festoons, a red spot? LMAO -not even close. Very very faint banding across the mid section - sometimes. Period.
Saturn. Damnit, it was tiny. At 50x tho the rings were there - and a lot clearer than jupiters belts. The golden yellow is still fresh in my mind. The rings were wide open too at that time and I recall how the rings and globe together looked flat. And the cold of it when I saw it.
It was freezing that night. My best friend was there, my father came out, he joined us and we all froze together and let me tell you something - a 50x saturn blew us all away in a way that even the best telescpic photos of the time couldnt come close. We MET the celebrity.
M42. This was ghostly odd. My first nebula. I didnt realize nebula needed time exposures to get those funky colors. What it lacked in color though it made up for in smokey late night deep space enigma. First 'I saw the gases - then it disappeared - was it there at all - and those tight stars inthe middle - and then the gases were glowing again.
Often though - just star after star after star. The brightest, the twinkling ones.
And then M45 - I thought I spotted the little dipper. You have to understand my constellation recognition was still in its infancy. It looked kind of like a cup or dipper though.
And still more bright stars.
Ofcourse the moon was magical. We watched it low in the west - a fat gibbous phase. It was all there - copernicus, tycho, the maria. And craters my binos hinted at just layed there in plain view. The enormity and physicality of that other world though - so plain and view spanning was beyond words.
My father - so impressed with my tenacious targeting of distant far off "how in the world did you find it" objects prompeted him to get me a larger scope. Sixteen months later I received the Edmund 4 1/4" reflector for christmas
and it utterly redefined everthing I had seen and opened up doos I didnt know existed.
I had the reflector all the way until right before Halleys Comet and replaced it with a SCT. The refractor - forever half disassembled I still own. Its a hopeless relic that I just wont part with.
Pete
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Ian Robinson
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/29/09
Posts: 1157
Loc: Gateshead.NSW Nth Coast,Austra...
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40mm telescope .... not a lot
some of Jupiter's moons and the GRS and some bands, nice images of the moon (crescent phases), some brighter neb, and cluster, the polar cap on Mars when it's close.
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mwedel
super member
Reged: 12/16/07
Posts: 183
Loc: Claremont, CA
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Thanks, Pete. I love hearing other people's first scope stories, especially how moving it is to see these things for the first time even if you're using very modest equipment. My first real astronomical observation was less than two years ago, with the Tasco 7x35 binoculars I got back in high school propped against a streetlight so I could see the moons of Jupiter. Pretty humble, looking back. But at the time just humbling, and the first step on a path that has brought me a lot of pleasure and wonder.
I'm looking forward to getting a Galileoscope and seeing what it can do. Of course, at 50mm it will be way too big for this thread! 
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Orion XT6 "Shaft"
Little Maks: Orion Apex 90, Celestron orange tube C90, Synta MC90
Edmund Astroscan "Baby Red"
76mm ongoing ATM experiment
Celestron UpClose 10x50
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70
10 Minute Astronomy
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vincentrlao
newbie
Reged: 02/06/09
Posts: 3
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All these sounds good. 
My first telescope was a 3" department store reflector. It did showed me Saturn's ring but it really sucks optically that image appears flaring at higher magnification (around about 50x or higher). But it did helped me maintain that interest in astronomy...
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revans
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/26/05
Posts: 1514
Loc: Fitchburg, MA
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I had what sounds like the exact same Tasco model. Got it for Christmas in about the mid 1960s... came on a short metal tripod for terrestrial viewing. The zoom eyepiece was a good feature. I was very young and I think I used it mostly for terrestrial viewing... most likely looked at the moon with it but don't have a clear memory. I wouldn't have known where the planets were at the time and wouldn't have been able to tell them from stars. There are even odds that I still have it around somewhere or other in the attic...
Rick
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Rick Evans
http://www.freewebs.com/revans_01420/
"The universe is there for us to see, but it cannot be understood without learning its language -- mathematics." Galileo Galilei
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azure1961p
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/17/09
Posts: 731
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I think my best moment rick was the first night that the clouds began to clear - of course the clouds rush in the moment you obtain a new scope. Well there were holes here ans there that were constantly opening and closing faster then i could set up the scope - lol - and the huge table it sat on - the real tripod. So I take matters into my own hands - grab the tele off the table and procede to walk around my dads house looking for another hole in the clouds to catch some stars - hand holding a 25x scope. As it turns out i finally nail one - its bobbing all over the place and the narrow field of view didnt help either. Finally finally finally i nail a star!!! It was about the size of a quarter held at arms length. The surface of the star was textured and boiling - I was amazed - wow!!!
Then I focused it and it shrank to a point, albeit, brighter and more colorful but a little point. I think that was the only humbling experience I had and I laugh about it to this day.
It was also a wonderful daytime scope where across the valley, treetops and such where spotted and that amazing 50x brought distant terrestrial targets upfront and personal in a way that made my binos seems so forlorn.
I recall the late Walter Scott Houston's first "telescope" was a pair of eye glass lenses. At those ages - evberything is a marvel and the whinings of apos, field of view, mount shakiness is all so... negligible.
Pete
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Edited by azure1961p (07/12/09 09:05 AM)
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revans
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/26/05
Posts: 1514
Loc: Fitchburg, MA
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Pete,
You got me a little curious, so I went up to the attic and amazingly found the old Tasco 40 mm zoom OTA. Its in great shape and still works wonderfully well. It must have quite a long focal length... at least F13 and maybe F15. Its pretty well color corrected considering.
Now if I could just find that old tripod...
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Rick Evans
http://www.freewebs.com/revans_01420/
"The universe is there for us to see, but it cannot be understood without learning its language -- mathematics." Galileo Galilei
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The_Vagabond
member
Reged: 10/27/08
Posts: 22
Loc: Jacksonville, Florida
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I just acquired one of these, for the paltry sum of $3 USD. Needed some cleaning (it was obviously cared for). Aside form the usual dirty white that is associated with telescopes that have been stored, this little telescope was in surprisingly good shape.
I plan on posting images on my blog in the next few days; going to do a breakdown and document it.
By the way, this is my first post here in almost a year. Life has a funny way of having you do other things. Good to be back.
EDIT - Here's my Tasco 40mm -
Tasco 40mm Zoom Telescope
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I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night...
Edited by The_Vagabond (10/20/09 12:05 AM)
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The_Vagabond
member
Reged: 10/27/08
Posts: 22
Loc: Jacksonville, Florida
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Follow-up to previous post. I've used the 40mm to do a little lunar observing, and have noted the following -
*At highest magnification, the Moon looked just fine
*Slight edge discoloration, all magnifications
*At lowest magnification, field was better, though still dark
I don't think the 40mm aperture was the primary culprit for the dark image. I have another 40mm (a Meade) with a similar, though faster FL, objective. With my hybrid diagonal, the views are just fine. Not great, mind you, but adequate. In the case of the Tasco, we have a fairly long FL combined with erector and zoom optics; this is guaranteed to make the images a bit murkier. I think the next thing I need to do is to remove some of those optics and try the hybrid diagonal.
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I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night...
Edited by The_Vagabond (11/03/09 12:59 PM)
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The_Vagabond
member
Reged: 10/27/08
Posts: 22
Loc: Jacksonville, Florida
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Post diagonal attempt report.
Turns out that the true focal length of the objective is shorter than the OTA, probably closer to that of my Meade 40mm (500mm or so). So, my jury rigged diagonal (Rube Goldberg would have been proud) was a bust. However, I suspect that the views would have been similar to those of the Meade.
In the end, the Tasco was reassembled as the humble terrestrial telescope that it is. Final verdict; it is what it is and that's all.
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I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night...
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ed_turco
member
Reged: 08/29/09
Posts: 27
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Not much.....WHOA!!!
Perhaps so, but what of the *effect* of the first view? I remember my first look through my 40mm on, get this, January 10, 1957. The moon was full so I didn't see much in shadows or cratering. Optically, and in a lunar sense, it may have been a pretty poor view, but I never went back to being a non-astronomer. What is that now? FIFTY years?
That view wasn't so bad after all!
I wish someone could PM me and tell me exactly what phase the moon had that night.
M 00n is the best M-Object in the Universe
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Astrojensen
sage
Reged: 10/05/08
Posts: 219
Loc: Bornholm, Denmark
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Quote:
I wish someone could PM me and tell me exactly what phase the moon had that night.
Where did you live then and at what time did you observe? Then I can use Virtual Moon Atlas to find out. Alternatively, you can download it yourself and play with it.
Incidentally, my first scope too was a 40mm zoom spotting scope, though a different model than the ones discussed here.
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
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ed_turco
member
Reged: 08/29/09
Posts: 27
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I observed around 17:00 on January 10, 1957. I would assume that the moon would be whatever phase it was as viewed from my home or anyone elses
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Astrojensen
sage
Reged: 10/05/08
Posts: 219
Loc: Bornholm, Denmark
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Hi Ed
Quote:
I observed around 17:00 on January 10, 1957. I would assume that the moon would be whatever phase it was as viewed from my home or anyone elses
In a word, no! When it's 17 o'clock at your place, it's not 17 at mine, so I'll need to know the timezone as well, or the time in UT. A few hours makes a lot of difference for areas near the terminator.
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
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ed_turco
member
Reged: 08/29/09
Posts: 27
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It was Eastern Standard Time, ok?
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GlennLeDrew
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/18/08
Posts: 1250
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Jan 10, 1957; Moon phase about one day after first quarter (full Moon was on the 16th).
Pete,
Your experience seems to somewhat mirror my own. I'm a year younger, and received my Tasco 25-50 power 40mm refractor on Xmas day, 1975. I used to look pretty much exclusively at the Moon (Apollo fever hadn't run its course with me.) But one cold evening in either January or February, 1976, I accidentally found Saturn. And that was only because at the time it made a very nearly straight line with Gemini's Castor and Pollux (but I didn't know a single constellation then!)--the configuration inspired me to examine each in turn. The last of the trio was noticeably bigger than the others at 25X. When I racked up the power to 50, sure enough. There was that iconic ball surrounded by the phono record-like disk of rings!
What followed was writ in the stars, I guess.
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Home-made 11X50 right angle bino, 8.1 deg. FOV
Modified 26X100 bino, 3.5 deg. FOV
Home-made Mk II RA bino, using interchangeable objectives and eyepieces
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Mediocre minds discuss people. Good minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.
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Astrojensen
sage
Reged: 10/05/08
Posts: 219
Loc: Bornholm, Denmark
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Hi Ed
Quote:
It was Eastern Standard Time, ok?
If so, the Moon looked like this:
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
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