Tele Vue TV-76 OTA - Green

Hand-Built in New York Since 1977

Every Tele Vue telescope is a product of a heritage that began in 1977, when Al Nagler founded the company to sell his television projection lenses. The TV-76 joined the line in 2001, the same year as the original NP-101, and celebrated its twentieth year in 2021. Each Tele Vue telescope is built start to finish by a single technician in Chester, New York, with quality checks at several critical steps along the way.

The objective elements are carefully spaced in 0.1mm increments and rotated within the cell to achieve diffraction-limited performance. The result is a hand-built, diffraction limited objective that delivers razor sharp images, giving the TV-76 the compact size of a travel scope with the APO optical performance of the Tele Vue-85.

The 76mm f/6.3 APO Doublet Objective

At the heart of the TV-76 is a 76mm (3-inch) air-spaced APO doublet objective with a 480mm focal length. This f/6.3 system is fully multi-coated, and its aperture gain is 118 compared to a 7mm exit pupil. The apochromatic correction keeps bright stars, the Moon and planets free of the purple fringe an achromat of this speed would show.

The optical design resolves down to the Dawes limit of 1.5 arc-seconds, allowing you to split tight double stars and discern fine detail on planetary surfaces. For imagers, the photographic resolution is 222 line pairs per millimeter.

A 10:1 Dual-Speed Rack-and-Pinion System

The TV-76 features a robust 2-inch rack-and-pinion focuser with a 10:1 dual-speed reduction mechanism, allowing for exceptionally fine focus adjustments critical for high-magnification viewing and astrophotography. The focuser body includes two top-mounted tension screws that press against a brass clamp ring, which in turn cinches the Teflon sleeve the draw tube slides in. Even when tightened enough to hold a camera, the knobs can still drive the draw tube.

A second pair of lock screws on the drawtube's end-ring provides additional security for your diagonal or camera, also tightening against a brass clamp ring for extra holding power. The focuser carries digital micrometer attachment points, and the optional Focusmate Driver (FDF-2004) adds hands-free motorized focusing.

The 5 lb Powder-Coated Aluminum OTA

The optical tube assembly weighs only 5 lbs and measures 14.5 inches in length, or 7.1 lbs packed in its case with caps. The aluminum tube has a green powder-coat finish that requires no special care and can be polished with any non-abrasive car wax. Standard features include a sliding metal dew shield to block stray light and reduce dewing, plus a screw-on metal lens cover for protection.

Collimation is locked at the factory and, with reasonable care, it will remain aligned; never loosen the three alignment screws in the front lens cell, and contact Tele Vue if re-collimation is ever needed. A few specks of dust on the objective have no effect on the image and can be blown off with a squeeze bulb; Tele Vue's advice is to treat the TV-76 as you would any fine camera lens.

The 3" Ring Mount System

To mount the TV-76, the optional 3-inch Ring Mount (RS3-8003) is required. This felt-lined ring securely cradles the optical tube and allows for easy fore-and-aft balancing. By simply loosening the bat-handle, you can slide the telescope to compensate for the weight of different eyepieces or a camera, then lock it back down.

The Ring Mount attaches to Tele Vue's Gibraltar, Panoramic and Tele-Pod mounts or to a heavy-duty camera tripod with the two 1/4-20 studs and wing knobs supplied, and Tele Vue offers adapter plates for specific equatorial mounts. For users with heavy eyepieces like the 31mm Nagler, the optional Telescope Balance Aid plate moves the scope's balance point forward by about 2.5 inches, preventing it from becoming back-heavy.

A 5.5° Field and 200x Maximum Power

The TV-76 is a remarkably versatile visual instrument, covering a magnification range from 9x to a recommended maximum of 200x. Its 480mm focal length is short enough to deliver wide true fields of view for sweeping the Milky Way, yet long enough to provide satisfying high-power views of the Moon and planets.

• Low Power (9x): Using a 2-inch 55mm Plössl eyepiece, the TV-76 delivers 8.7x across a 5.5° true field, the maximum listed for this scope. This turns the telescope into its own wide-field finder, suited to framing large objects like the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) or the North America Nebula (NGC 7000).
• Medium Power (26x): The 18.2mm DeLite eyepiece included in the optional accessory package provides 26.4x magnification and a 2.3° field, ideal for observing open clusters like the Pleiades (M45) or framing multiple galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.
• High Power (160x): Pushing the magnification with an eyepiece like the 3mm DeLite yields 160x, well within the scope's 200x limit. At this power, you can resolve the Cassini Division in Saturn's rings, Jupiter's Galilean moons and cloud bands, and the phases of Venus.

The 60° Diagonal Advantage

The TV-76 is suited to spotting and birding as well as astronomy. For daytime use, Tele Vue's 1.25-inch 60° Everbrite Diagonal offers a more comfortable viewing angle when observing objects on or near the horizon. This makes it ideal for birdwatching or landscape viewing.

The 99% reflective Everbrite dielectric coating gives the truest color rendition of any mirror or prism and is sharpest at the highest powers. With 1.25-inch diagonals, the 32mm Plössl or 24mm Panoptic give the widest field, 3.2° at 15x and 20x. Note that when using any mirror diagonal, the image will be correctly oriented up-and-down but reversed left-to-right. For daytime pointing, the Qwik-Point's beam is bright enough for use even in bright sunlight, though it is not recommended at night.

From 480mm f/6.3 to 380mm f/5

The TV-76 is an excellent imaging platform, offering multiple configurations for astrophotography. Tele Vue's own summary is that the TV-76 really excels in wide-field, deep-sky imaging.

• Prime Focus (480mm, f/6.3): For standard imaging with a DSLR, the 2-inch Camera Adapter (ACM-2000) with your camera's T-ring places the sensor at the native 480mm focal length.
• Reduced & Flattened (380mm, f/5): The optional TRF-2008 0.8x Reducer/Flattener was designed for the Tele Vue 76 and 85 refractors. On the TV-76 it gives 380mm at f/5 with a flat field, and it fits a 6.5° image on the diagonal of a full-frame camera.
• High Magnification: Tele Vue Powermates with optional T-ring adapters and the 3.5-inch extension tube give a range of longer focal lengths for the Moon and planets.
• Other Methods: For afocal imaging, the FoneMate adapter lets you use your smartphone camera through an eyepiece. For piggyback photography, the Piggy-Cam platform attaches to the ring mount, allowing you to use your DSLR with its own lens for wide constellation shots.

Starbeam, Qwik-Point, and Sol-Searcher

The TV-76's wide field makes it easy to aim, and Tele Vue offers three finders for it. The Starbeam and Piggy-Cam fit the machined accessory slots of the optional Ring Mount.

• Starbeam (SRT-2010): Tele Vue's recommended night finder, a reflex sight chosen to complement the telescope's wide field. It attaches to the Ring Mount on the side opposite the bat handle and can stay in place when the scope is stored in its case.
• Qwik-Point (QBT-1006): A red-dot finder for daytime spotting with a beam bright enough for bright sunlight; not recommended for night use.
• Sol-Searcher (SSF-1006): The only finder Tele Vue approves for locating the Sun, used only when professional solar filtering is rigidly secured over the objective. Remove the Starbeam or any other finder before solar observing.

The TV-76 and Its Compatible Gear

The TV-76 is sold as an optical tube: you must add eyepieces, an eyepiece adapter, a diagonal and a ring mount for it to function. These Tele Vue accessories fit it.

• TV-76 Accessory Package (TVP-3066): A 2-inch Everbrite diagonal with 2-inch to 1.25-inch adapter, the 3-inch Ring Mount, the Telescope Balance Aid and an 18.2mm DeLite eyepiece (26x, 2.3° field, 20mm eye relief).
• Everbrite Diagonals (2" or 1.25"): 99% reflective dielectric mirror diagonals; the 1.25-inch 60° version (DPC-6012) was developed for terrestrial observers.
• Mounts (Tele-Pod, Panoramic, Gibraltar): The Ring Mount bolts to Tele Vue's own mounts, which also accept the TV-60, TV-85 and other Tele Vue scopes.
• Focusmate Driver (FDF-2004): Adds hands-free motorized focusing to the 10:1 dual-speed focuser.

TV-76 vs. TV-60 and TV-85

The TV-76 occupies a strategic position in Tele Vue's lineup, balancing portability with aperture. It offers a significant step up in light-gathering ability from the TV-60 while remaining more compact and wider-field than the TV-85.

• vs. Tele Vue-60: The TV-60 is Tele Vue's smallest APO, weighing about 3 lbs. The TV-76, at 5 lbs, provides 60% more light-gathering area with its 76mm objective. Its 2-inch focuser also enables a much wider maximum true field of 5.5° compared to the TV-60's 4.3° limit with a 1.25" focuser.
• vs. Tele Vue-85: The TV-85 offers a larger 85mm aperture and a longer 600mm focal length (f/7), giving it a slight edge in resolving power and planetary magnification. However, the TV-76 is shorter, lighter, and provides a wider maximum field of view (5.5° vs. the TV-85's 4.4°), which Tele Vue sums up as the TV-76 excelling in wide-field, deep-sky imaging.