The Tele Vue-60
Excerpts from Raymond Shubinski's review of the TV-60 in Astronomy, November 2004
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From low-power, wide-field looks at the Milky Way to high-powered views of the planets, this small but mighty scope delivers.
- The Tele Vue-60 has an amazing range of useful magnification. The three Tele Vue eyepieces I used magnified as low as 15x (24mm Panoptic) and as high as 144x (2.5mm Nagler). Mid-range (40x) was provided by a 9mm Nagler. With the 24mm eyepiece at 15x, you can sit and browse through the Pleiades or view a gathering of planets. Eight Full Moons could fit across its field of view.
- The Moon was as sharp through this scope as any I've used.
- I was amazed at the performance of the Tele Vue-60 when I pointed it toward Epsilon (ε) Lyrae. The famous Double-Double is a favorite object of all double-star observers. It is also an excellent test for any small refractor. As I increased the magnification, Epsilon Lyrae resolved into four distinct stars through the 2.5mm Nagler (144x).
- With the 2.5mm Nagler, Vega (Alpha [α] Lyrae) showed a perfect Airy disk. When I moved Vega out of focus, some well-aligned diffraction rings were visible on either side of focus, attesting to the Tele Vue-60's optical quality. The Tele Vue-60 will not disappoint observers interested in deep-sky objects either.
- The high contrast offered by the optical system allowed me to see many faint objects at low power.
- Although not as bright as through larger scopes, the Dumbbell showed its distinct shape.
- The Wild Duck Cluster (M11) in Scutum clearly stood out with its characteristic sweep of stars. Back in Lyra, the Ring Nebula (M57) was visible distinctly, looking like a perfect puff of smoke. The wide-field views offered by the Tele Vue-60 at low power make it both a finder scope and a main observing instrument wrapped in one.
- A note of caution: You may find yourself spending more time looking through the Tele Vue-60 than through your larger scope.
- The Tele Vue Everbrite 1¼" mirror diagonal is undoubtedly the best choice for this scope. As good as the Tele Vue-60 is, a scope with only 2.4 inches of aperture can use all the light throughput it can get, and the Everbrite diagonal (with its higher reflectivity) provides it.
- As with all Tele-Vue products, the Tele Vue-60 is machined and finished exquisitely. The tube is black, anodized aluminum with brass highlighting around the helical focuser. All parts move with the precision of a fine Swiss watch. While using this scope, I tried a variety of eyepieces from other manufacturers. Tele Vue's eyepieces obviously are well-matched with this optical system and provided the best performance.
- After a long day of work, this system will set up quickly and give you hours of pleasurable observing. You even can pick the entire system up and "dodge" streetlights as you move deeper into the shadows.
- Tele Vue calls this product the "take it anywhere" telescope. It should add "anywhere, anytime" because of the easy use of the Tele Vue-60. No matter what equipment you have, the Tele Vue-60 will quickly rise to the top. After so many years of "bigger is better," it's nice to have a high-quality refractor that breaks neither the back nor the wallet.
—Shubinski, R. "The Tele Vue-60." Astronomy (Nov. 2004): 90-93.