Takahashi Teegul Lapides Mod

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Brand and Model:Takahashi Teegul Lapides Mod
Price ($USD):$509.00
Type:Alt-Azimuth
Attributes:un-checkedMotorized un-checkedPEC un-checkedGoto
Electric Power:n/a
Weight (lbs.):
Description:The larger Teegul with the Lapides modifications done by TNR.

Ed Ting's Review
Cloudy Night's Review
Cloudy Night's Fixing the Tak Teegul

Vote Highlights Vote
Takahashi Teegul Lapides Mod
I’ve been re-born as an Altazimuth mount fan. Ever since I owned a Criterion Dynascope back in the 1970’s, I though a GEM on a pier was the only way to go. Well, now I do have one of those for photography and high-powered planetary observing, but for casual observing, I’ve been won over by the speed and freedom of the Alt-Az.

It was a Giro II that brought me around. But as nice as it’s solid, smooth, slewing was, I found myself wishing it had fine motion controls once I got there. That’s where the Teegul comes in.

By Teegul, I am referring to the Lapides modified version as put together by TNR and sold through Takahashi dealers. (The original Tak version with its ill-fated long arm vibrated too much for serious use.) I bought the Lapides version and now have sold the Giro!

On a solid tripod (I use a Quickset Hercules) the modified Teegul is solid as a rock. It slews smoothly when manually moved in dob fashion, and once you are “there” the fine motion controls take over. Its operation couldn’t be simpler, and with my FC-76 on board the Teegul w/Herc tripod I have what I feel is the ultimate grab and go setup. (It now lives in the corner of my living room, set up for instant use).

In operation it exhibits zero settle down time, and NO movement during focusing (even at 171x.) I have just used the Lapides Teegul with my FC-76, but would bet that it will handle anything in the Tak line up to an FS-102 (assuming a solid tripod).

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:9
Weight: 20 (Notable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=278500

Takahashi Teegul Lapides Mod
I had a Takahashi Lapides Modified Teegul with a Takahashi TSA-102 attached to it. This was one heck of a setup and I hated having to sell it but I was going for a Takahashi TOA-130F and needed funds. I have nothing but praise for this mount. It is super beefy and built like a tank. It handled the TSA-102 with no problem. The slow motion controls are superb. I liked this mount so much that I have just ordered another one for a Celestron C6 SE grab and go project.

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=586980

Takahashi Teegul Lapides Mod
Excellent mount. Needs some knobs upgrade and increase load capacity.

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:8 Ease of Use:9 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=471512

Takahashi Teegul Lapides Mod
For those who find elegance in simplicity and ease of use, this is a marvelous piece of equipment. It's extremely small and very solid. I've used it with a 3 inch f/15 refractor, and with a Tak FS102, and it works very well with both.

I can throw my wood tripod and this mounting into the back seat in 10 seconds and be on my way to a dark place. No counterweights, no electronics, and excellent stability. It is stable at high powers, and it's easy to point your scope at any point in the sky. You use the slow motion controls to track objects at high power.

I'm surprised when I see people buying other small alt-az mounts, or debating the various pros & cons of each model. The modified Teegul would seem to render all competitors obsolete, I don't know why one would buy anything else. The others looks like some crazy contraption made with a kid's Erector Set. This thing is compact, has large bearings, and fine slow motion controls. It easily handles 4 inch refractors, and I read a post by a guy that uses his with a 5-inch f/6 refractor.

The only other alt-az I see that would be worthy of mention would be the smaller Discmount unit. It doesn't have slo-mo controls, but it does look very solid.

If you do get this mount (good choice), here are couple points of interest:

- you can adjust the tension on each axis quite easily, the mount is very easy to take apart & put back together. Read Richard Lapides' writeup at Cloudy Nights for pictures and instructions. When my mount arrived from TNR, one axis was mucher tighter than the other (even with the lock-down knob completely loose). I broke out my Allen wrenches & had it adjusted perfectly in 10 minutes, never needed further adjustment. (TNR offered to do this for free, I didn't feel like waiting)

- You can order slow-motion cables from Scopestuff for $19.

- You can repace the 2 little metal knobs that tighten down tension on each axis with bigger, more finger-friendly knobs from Bogen, the part number is
R002,23 Plate Knob F/3126 3130

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=436654

Takahashi Teegul Lapides Mod
This is bar-none one of the slickest pieces of stuff on the market. Forget about all the cool CCD images of M104 you could take with that new go-to Schmidt-Cassegrain for a minute and reflect a bit. Do you want to lug three tons of equipment out into the yard every time you want to check out the sky? Do you really want to grovel on your knees in the cold wet dirt to the gods of polar equatorial alignment? Do really high quality things really really turn you on?
Well then, what you probably really really want is a high quality Takahashi apo refractor like the Sky90, the FS78, or the FS60C mounted on this little baby!
To make this puppy run, just push it! And unlike the TeleVue alt/az mounts, you can track with it (albiet manually) by turning knobs that are just as mechanically perfect as the Tak focusers. Got a Digital SLR? Want to shoot images of the sun, moon, and planets? This is the perfect simple set-up and take-down on a moments notice rig.
Price is high, quality is evident. You don't find these on the used market very often, but you do find a lot of people looking for them.
Tired of lugging out that 8" two-ton monster? Want to get back to what it's all about - looking at the night sky?
Here's the perfect mount to get you on your way!
Takahashi is simply the best!

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=363572

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