TV-76 review

    Here are some excerpts about the scope's optical performance from a review of the TV-76 in the September 2002 Astronomy magazine. Concerning double stars and planets, the magazine said "In-and-out-of-focus star tests, star diffraction patterns, and the ability to resolve various double stars reveal the TV 76's top-notch optical quality. If the atmospheric seeing permits, the TV 76 easily resolves doubles with a separation at the theoretical limit of a 76mm aperture scope of 1.6 arc-seconds. Planetary views in the TV 76 are best seen through the higher magnifications offered by the 3mm-6mm Nagler Zoom eyepiece. Jupiter and Saturn reveal subtle color variations and both planets' retinues of moons are visible. When the seeing conditions are good, the TV 76 reveals atmospheric belts on Jupiter beyond the two prominent equatorial belts, as well as Cassini's division in the rings of Saturn."

    About the Moon, the magazine said "The moon seen through the TV 76 is tack-sharp at all magnifications, with no glare or false colors in the view. Stars near the bright limb of the moon are easily picked out because of the absence of glare in the telescope."

    While the 76mm aperture of the TV-76 might make it more a "light cup," rather than the more familiar Dobsonian reflector "light bucket," Astronomy had the following to say about the TV-76 performance outside the solar system. "When used as a rich-field scope for deep-sky viewing, the TV 76 excels. With a long focus eyepiece in the 2-inch diagonal, the scope offers impressive views of "showpiece" objects that are too large in angular diameter to fit into the smaller fields of view of larger telescopes. Under a dark Arizona sky, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) shows its full 3° extent, including its central dust lanes and two companion galaxies - M32 and NGC 205. Dozens of stars in the Pleiades cluster look like sparkling diamonds scattered on black velvet.

    "The TV 76 'light cup' provides surprisingly good views of large nebular objects. I threaded Lumicon's UHC (Ultra High Contrast) filter into the 'pineapple' eyepiece (i.e. the Nagler 31mm Type 5) and it yielded clear views of the full extents of the North America Nebula and of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant in the summer Milky Way."

    All in all, the Astronomy review called the TeleVue TV-76 "a fine choice for observers who require both high quality and extreme portability."

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