4 replies to this topic

[Glassthrower]

eBay item # 130046859882

I had no idea Selsi made CAT's!

Wow. I wonder how good the optics are?

Clear dark skies...

MikeG

[GeneDiG]

Looks the same as a Jason Comet Catcher or Celestron's Firstscope Tabletop 76mm. Nifty looking scope but there's acutally a review of the Tabletop 76 on this site that doesn't have too many nice things to say about it.

[dbledsoe]

Mike,

To the best of my knowledge Selsi never made anything (I had a catalog going back to the 1930's). They are importers, originally of French binoculars and a few French telescopes of E. Vion make. In fact, if I recall correctly, they originally did business in the USA as Selsi E. Vion (again, back in the 1930's).

Don

[GeneDiG]

If you look at the picture, the front corrector lens cell has the words Tanzutsu on it. Looks to me like Selsi (among others including Jason and Tasco) imported the 'scope from Japan. The Celestron model only has one arm on the fork mount.
Gene

[Glassthrower]

Hi folks,

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply in the thread title that Selsi actually manufactured this scope. I took it for granted that companies like Selsi imported all of their telescopes, mostly from Japan.

I too saw the Tanzutsu on the lens cell and the diameter of 75mm. Considering the central obstruction, the effective aperture would probably compare to a 60mm CAT with today's modern multicoatings. I wouldn't imagine it would be useful for much when the small aperture is combined with the requisite small FOV of a CAT. The focuser looks like (plastic?) and reminds me of the cheaper R&P focusers seen on today's budget newts. It's a curiosity to me, since I have never seen this type of vintage scope before. Perhaps it's because I am still new to all of this and it's my first time running across it. Maybe I will see them from time to time now. ??? I also saw a "rare" Tasco binocular with a 110 film camera built into it. And a Bushnell "device" that doubled as a binocular and a microscope.

The vintage market is crawling with oddball optics. It's neat.

Clear dark skies...

MikeG