TScope Ultralight Telescopes

Just the right size!

The Vision

Hello,
My name is Ed Taychert and I have the best job in the world - I build telescopes. I've been building telescopes for myself and friends for over 35 years. A 1969 total eclipse of the Sun passed through my home town and the experience lit a fire under me that hasn't gone out yet. I built three more telescopes during high school. Building and designing telescopes was so much fun to me that I ended up going to the only college in the country at the time that had an undergraduate program in optics. I hung out in the optics shop when I could and, in addition to learning about geometrical and physical optics in class, I learned a bit out optical fabrication and testing as well. In my first job as an Optical Engineer, I worked on optical design software and designed a spectrograph that was built and launched into space by the University of Hawaii. Cool, huh? My engineering background led to opportunities in the computer aided design and manufacturing boom of the 1980's, the digital imaging boom of the 1990's and then, more abstractly, in technology development and process management. Through it all, I remained an amateur astronomer and while I didn't grind my own mirrors like I did in high school and college, I still built my own telescopes.
      I confess that I developed a raging case of "aperture fever," the desire for larger and larger telescopes. Early on, I did work with astrophotography because I knew that you never see what you saw in the professional pictures. But I learned that the bigger the scope you used, the closer you got. I went to a 10" to a 16" to a 20" and began work on a 26" scope... it became obvious to me as I wondered whether a 26" telescope would fit into my van that I was moving way past the point of ease of every day use. As a study, I built a light-weight (90 pounds) 18" telescope. That 90 pounds was less then what the O-ther guys 15" scope weighed but still more than what I and felt most folks would want to move on a regular basis. I sought to optimize "the view" and "usability." As a result I designed what I think is the ultimate "daily use" telescope: The 62 pound 14" Tscope Ultralight. Now, six years later, my 18" scope is largely unused and my 26" project is stalled because I've lived and learned that it's true: 14 inches is just the right size.
      That's not to say that there aren't special reasons for other sizes of telescopes (and I love to make them too,) but the 14" ultralight sits in a sweet spot of usability. Visually, it's a stunning jump up from a 10" telescope and in many cases the Tscope Ultralight weighs less and is more portable than other smaller telescopes. (Why? Because is was designed and engineered rather than just "built" as a copy of other telescopes.) Naturally, it's much more portable than the much heavier and expensive 15" scopes out there as well. Yet, visually, the difference in views between at 14" scope and a 15" scope is barely noticeable to difficult to see. If you're considering a mid-sized dobsonian telescope, the 14" Tscope Ultralight is the best choice that you can make.

Building Telescopes:
      I contacted some suppliers and vendors and bounced some ideas off folks in the amateur astronomy community... the ideas looked good ... so I brought together that I had been learning to do for 35 years: I made a great telescope design, a business plan and a manufacturing process. I turned my 800 square foot commercial workshop into a 14" telescope making factory. Because I wouldn't be making telescopes in 2 inch increments, I wouldn't suffer the overhead of tearing down and setting up different jigs for each order. Even so, I realized that I could send some of the work to local craftsmen to optimize quality and productivity... I am particularly proud of that: not only does this improve the quality of your telescope, but it also helps the local community. Please don't think that your 14 inch TScope is mass produced though. I may make or get the parts for a few scopes at once, but I still check 100% of the parts and assemble each and every telescope by hand. The result is that compared to the other offerings out there, the 14 inch TScope Ultralight is a quality instrument that is worth more than it costs. And I'd love to build one for you! - Ed Taychert.

Privacy Statement

I am committed to complete and total privacy and will not divulge any information for any reason about customers, inquirers, folks that email, drop by or call, employees or vendor personnel or anyone else except as required to by law or with prior consent.

Contact

I appreciate your interest in Taychert Telescopes and your questions about its products and services. Please feel free to contact me in the manner most convenient to you:

Hours: M-F 9am to 6pm. Sat 9am to 1pm.

Please note: Tscopes is closed on Sundays, for major holidays, and for star parties that I attend. I will not be able to answer phone calls or email during those times. Thank you. - Ed.

"FarStar" and "Tscope" are trademarks of Taychert Telescopes.

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