Rigel Quikfinder Finderscope - Better than a Telrad? Here's my full review.
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Rigel Quikfinder Link:
USA:
www.highpoints...
Europe:
www.astroshop....
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Rigel Quickfinder Telrad alternative viewfinder review.
Manufacturer website.
Rigel Systems:
www.rigelsys.c...
OEM product description:
One Tenth the size and weight of the competition's "reflex" sight, makes aiming your telescope easy with its wide-open right-side-up view.
Projects 1/2 and 2 Degree Red circles Onto the Night Sky in focus with the stars -- what you see in the red circles is what you get in your telescope.
Pulsed or Continuous Illumination of Reticle -- at your behest. A standard feature on QuikFinder, a $20 option on the "competition's" reflex sight.
Compact Design Lets You Use Both Eyes to see fainter than with the Competition's "reflex" sight.
Two Baseplates Lets You Use It on Two Telescopes. Easy clip-on / clip-off mounting to baseplate (no screws to fumble with).
Other Features -- rugged construction, an ultra-efficient LED and lithium battery (included) for long life. QuikFinder attaches without drilling and is easily removed from its baseplate for storage. Additional baseplates are available for using QuikFinder on more than one telescope. Baseplate is 2.5 inches long, 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch high. Quikfinder is 4.5 inches tall, 1.4 inches square.
Thanks so much for this. I've finally had it with the finder scopes on my ETX and I'm looking at red dot options. Nice to see the size of the Rigel next on an ETX. I must be honest, I'm still not sure I want a mini tower block on my little scope but you've gone a long way to changing my mind. Go raibh míle maith agat, nollaig shona duit, and best wishes for 2024!
You're welcome! I had the frameless finder initially on the scope but there was no way to put any dew control on it so most nights it was useless. I originally thought the Rigel would be too big (in terms of height) on the scope but it's the exact same height as a Telrad. But the clincher was that the Rigel finder can be clipped on and off so it's perfect.
Happy Christmas to you to!
I have used the Rigel and Telrad on various scopes. I've found the big advantage of a Rigel is the small footprint it takes up on the OTA. This is important when you're working around mounting rings. The only concern I've ever had is that I need to remember to remove the finder after I'm finished. With any amount of daytime heat, the sticky tape glue will let go and my finder will fall off. The could happen with the Telrad, but doesn't. Perhaps that's because that base has much more surface attached to the tube.
The Telrad gets higher marks in some ways. I've found that the alignment remains much more accurate from session to session. It remains perfectly sighted. The Rigel always requires tweaking. That's a very minor point, though.
My final experience has been that the Rigel is the ONLY way to go when you're using a Newtonian scope. It's MUCH easier to align your eye to the finder because it's well above the scope tube. Telrad users often need a riser. My good friend had a Telrad on his Newt. My Rigel was much easier to use.
Good post. I'd like to learn more about your experiences with you ETX125. I have an ETX90 I want to start to play with for astrophotography.
Valid points there Tom. I agree that the Telrad just nudges the Rigel for maintaining positioning. Do use the riser on my 16'' also. I find it much kinder on my neck. I love the ETX125 (I also have a 90). I'm hoping to make a few new videos on astrophotography with it in the coming season.
I recently bought one of these and I'm very happy with it. There is another mounting option for the shoe, which is to fix a screw through the hole in the base. As it happens the tube rings of my Newtonian have 3.5 mm threaded holes in a couple of places, which is a perfect size, and I used a combination of that and some thinner double-sided tape for a really firm fix. Having the finder in the middle of the tube rather than the top near the eyepiece was a bit strange at first, but means it's more accessible in most positions of the tube.
Glad to hear it's working out well for you. Thanks for the tip about mounting through the hole in the base.
I prefer the Rigel (cheaper, lighter, etc.) and I use them on my 5", 8", and 11" SCTs. My biggest gripe with the Telrad is that the top back corners of the viewing glass are fairly sharp. Twice, while moving in to look through a friend's scope, I have cut my forehead on the Telrad because my friends had mounted the Telrad as far back as they could on the telescope tube instead of moving it forward a safe distance. The corners of the Rigel are nicely rounded and do not present a hazard.
Yikes! That's good to know. I did notice the edges on the Telrad viewfinder are sharp(ish). Not to sound like I am anit-Telrad but another issue I found was the glue that holds the glass in on two that I owned, didn't hold the glass in and they could slip out. I had to re-glue them with superglue.
What cretin placed the adjustment knobs on the reverse side of the Rigel? This is a major cock up in my opinion. When it’s pitch black and your fumbling around trying to locate the correct knob is no joke. This is my only gripe, otherwise it’s a winner
I questioned that myself! It's not intuitive but having fumbled around in the dark for years I guess I'm used to it. 😆
Thanks for the video! I happen to have a spare Telrad mount that will work perfectly with my modified ETX125 that I will be installing in a few days. Won't even need to use the foam tape. Not sure how well it will do with the extra weight but think it will be fine. If not, I will try out the Rigel. I too was also expecting it to look a lot taller like you said. The one thing I am still not sure about it is the button cell battery. 2 AA used in the Telrad will last for a very long time for sure! I forgot to turn it off for over a month and it was still powered up! But the last time I accidentally left it on I may have left it on too long and that causes the batteries to form some corrosion on all the internal parts. Ordered a new one so that is how I got an extra mounting plate. Do you know how long in comparison the batteries last in the Rigel?
Sounds good. The cell batteries last a really long time. In fact, I've only changed them once since I've done that review.
@@StargazerMan Thanks for replying back!
I have one extra since I put a raci 9x 50mm on my Newtonian for solar viewing as I can put a filter on it. My Rigel can barely be seen in regular light and not at all in sunlight. Mine has a small circle in its center yours's looked like a solid dot? Was that just the camera view?
Yes, my one also has a circle in the center, it shows as a dot in the video as the camera is out of focus on it. I also find it hard if not impossible to see them in daylight, for the video inside it was easy.
have you used it in moisture weather conditions?
I have and it dews over very easily. I thought because the reflection part is more enclosed than the likes of the Telrad it wouldn't dew as quickly. I need to find a way to keep it warm similar to the resister I put on the telrad. Other than dew I've had no issues with it.