TAL -1 servicing and repair

http://www.astro-baby.com/TAL%20Telescope%20Rebuild/TAL%20Telescope%20Restoration.htm

The TAL-1 is basically the same as my TAL-120, and in the link above, a lady has stripped, serviced, repaired, and rebuilt one.

You want to know what a Russian telescope looks like, and how it is made - then just read her piece.

The comet that never quite made it.

Comet Ison was approaching fast.
I had three nights off work, with surely a decent chance of at least one clear view.
Time to dust off our Tal 120 'scope, and set it up in the back garden for some wonderful viewing with my daughter.

I get to last night (Friday 29th November, 2013), the first of my three "viewing" nights, and find

Digiscoping with a TAL-120 telescope (part 1)

A small panasonic compact camera attached to a digiscoping bracket,
which is mounted on a TAL-120 telescope

.

"Digiscoping" is usually taken to mean

Buying a TAL telescope in the USA ... or not?

As a service to my American readers, I went looking on the Internet for US dealers that stocked TAL telescopes.

One small step for man ...

After many years, I am, in my late forties, about to get a "proper" telescope.
I placed an order with Scopes'n'Skies on Monday, and the courier is supposed to be delivering the stuff in two days time.
I have ordered a