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I have a TAL-1 4.3” Newtonian reflector. It is old, gifted to me by my dad and was gifted to him many years ago.

Last year I spent some time cleaning it, calibrating and getting it in a good state. It came with it a few pretty old (and rusty) eyepieces.

I thought I knew what I was doing with it and took some nice pictures of the moon and one terrible one of Saturn. This year I bought some new eyepieces to improve my pictures but however I try I can’t get them to focus.

I got a Svbony SV135 zoom eyepiece to make it easier to sight and then zoom. I can get the zoom eyepiece to focus on a single setting with the 3x Barlow that came with the telescope but I’m not having much luck using it or my other modern eyepieces. It’s like the eyepiece can’t get close enough to the secondary mirror.

I found this page which has a review of the telescope. One thing stands out from a review circa 2000. http://www.astro.org.uk/buying/tal/index.html “The eyepiece socket is non standard and so obtaining better eyepieces is problematic”

Is this my problem?

So what options are there for this telescope. Is it possible to replace the eye socket - is it worth it. Should I start again and buy a modern telescope?

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    $\begingroup$ Do the new eyepieces fit in the focuser? $\endgroup$
    – Mike G
    Commented Dec 24, 2022 at 14:32
  • $\begingroup$ They do fit. The original lenses that came with the scope don’t fit into the new 2x Barlow I bought. Which makes me think these eye pieces are different. $\endgroup$
    – user3476571
    Commented Dec 29, 2022 at 1:16
  • $\begingroup$ Can you raise the primary with either adjustments or padding? You will need to recoat the primary on such an old telescope. $\endgroup$
    – eshaya
    Commented Feb 13, 2023 at 17:38

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