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Model No. 3 4431 Sears Discoverer Telescope

Started by Guest_**DONOTDELETE**_* , Feb 09 2004 04:30 PM

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12 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_DONOTDELETE_*

topic starter

Posted 09 February 2004 - 04:30 PM

I just bought a Sears refractor D=60mm , F=700mm from EBay.
It seems to be in mint condition. Does anyone know anything about their performance or reputation? :rainbow:

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#2 Don W

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Joined: 19 May 2003

Posted 09 February 2004 - 04:52 PM

Hmm........shouldn't you have asked those questions before you bought it? It is nothing special. Probably has a very shaky mount and a few cheap .96" diameter eyepieces. Usually advertised to do 400X when they best they can do is under 100X. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you did ask.

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#3 rodrake

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Posts: 354
Joined: 05 Jan 2004

Posted 09 February 2004 - 05:08 PM

Actually, some of the older model Sears Discoverer scopes are quite good. In the 60s and 70s they were made in Japan with good achromatic objectives. I have one that I have adpated to use 1-1/4" eyepieces and it does a fine job. You can see some recent lunar photos I took with it in my gallary. Check this thread for some info:

Vintage Sears Tower or Discoverer Telescopes

Do you have any more details on the age and/or construction of your scope?

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#4 Guest_DONOTDELETE_*

topic starter

Posted 09 February 2004 - 07:06 PM

I won the bid on EBay I don't have it yet. This is what it looks like. Unfortunately it is alt-az in mount but robin's egg blue tubing like yours.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/w...K:MEBWN:IT&rd=1

There was another one I lost the bid by only a dollar or so :mad:

Here is the link to that one:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/w...bayphotohosting

Would appreciate your comments on both. They look beautifully made. Unlike today's telescopes.

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#5 Guest_DONOTDELETE_*

topic starter

Posted 09 February 2004 - 07:12 PM

For $36 I was willing to take that risk

Looks nice and solid too.

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#6 Don W

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Posts: 25,648
Joined: 19 May 2003

Posted 09 February 2004 - 08:10 PM

To each his own. I had one of those scopes and it was horrid. The tripod was flimsy and only lasted a couple of outings, and the eyepieces total junk. I hope your experience is better.

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#7 rodrake

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Posts: 354
Joined: 05 Jan 2004

Posted 09 February 2004 - 11:02 PM

Dan,

The scope you bought looks like a smaller version of mine with a simpler mount. Probably around the same vintage. It will probably include some bad eyepieces. Mine had a useable 22mm Kellner. The rest were not good. For $36, it's a decent gamble. The other one looks a bit newer. If it seems in good shape when you get it, you could try to find a hybrid diagonal that will let you use some better 1-1/4" eyepieces. In any case, let us know when it arrives.

Rich

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#8 Guest_DONOTDELETE_*

topic starter

Posted 23 February 2004 - 08:50 AM

Rod..

I now have both the Tasco 9TE-5 and the Sears. Yesterday I tested both with very high power eyepieces (1.25" o.d. barrels with a hybrid adapter, no diagonal). As good as the 9TE-5 Tasco is the Sears seemed to have less chromatic aberration. They are both 700mm in f.l.

Later at night I looked at the moon, Saturn and Jupiter. On Jupiter I used a 7mm Televue Nagler and Meade model #140 2X Barlow. Chromatic aberration was not very noticeable even a 83X per inch! It was difficult keeping the object in view with the alt-az mount so focus could have been better and perhaps the image crisper but that might be expecting too much from a simple achromat.

The views of M42 and the moon at ~28X with a 24mm Televue Panoptic were incredible. The earthshine on the moon stunning. Otherworldly! :jump:

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#9 rodrake

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Posts: 354
Joined: 05 Jan 2004

Posted 23 February 2004 - 09:50 AM

Glad to hear your $36 investment worked out. Lets see...you used a Nagler, a Meade Barlow, and a Panoptic. Thats about 10x the scopes price for accessories! At f12, these old scopes really don't show much CA at all. I can notice some from mine around the edge of full moon photos. Visually, it's almost non-existent.

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#10 Guest_DONOTDELETE_*

topic starter

Posted 25 February 2004 - 02:55 AM

Let's see now. I have a 4.5" Tasco 11TE-5 (with clock drive), its smaller brother the 3" on an alt-az mount. A 13.1" Coulter Dob (red tube), a few others I won't go into details over, a 40" f/3.0 moulded BVC blank on an Elgin type grinding machine (of my own design) in the garage and I want to make an 8" f/30 folded Herschellian as described in March issue of S&T magazine while I make improvements to the Elgin. The 40" blank back surface is mildly convex and needs to be flattened before work commences so for that a tool of aluminum needs to be made, say 24" in dia. with handles to facilitate manual work....

Yes I am quite crazy about telescopes. No children, no wife, no bad habits. Will be rich and retired by the end of this year or next...so what is there to do except pursue my hobby?

Dan Kahraman