Tele Vue TV-85 OTA - Green

A 20+ Year Heritage of Hand-Built APO Refractors

Introduced in 1998, the TV-85 shares its 20th anniversary year (2018) with Tele Vue's first Powermate, and comes from the company Al Nagler founded in 1977. Tele Vue telescopes are built start to finish by a single technician in Chester, New York, with quality checks at several critical steps, and lens spacings are hand-tuned to assure diffraction-limited performance.

The TV-85 is a "Goldilocks" telescope, small enough to be an airline carry-on and birding scope yet big enough to be your astronomy telescope. Over its two-decade production run, the TV-85 has seen continuous mechanical upgrades, evolving from a single-speed focuser to the current 10:1 dual-speed Focusmate.

The 85mm f/7 APO Doublet Objective

At the heart of the TV-85 is a two-element, apochromatic (APO) objective lens with a clear aperture of 85mm (3.35 inches). The fully multi-coated, air-spaced doublet is diffraction limited and, in Tele Vue's words, delivers razor sharp images. At 600mm and f/7 it reaches a 4.4° field with 2-inch eyepieces and 200x on the planets with the same tube.

It achieves a visual resolution of 1.4 arc-seconds (Dawes limit) and a photographic resolution of 200 line pairs per mm, capable of revealing fine detail on planets and tight double stars. Its aperture gain is 147 compared to a 7mm exit pupil, the light grasp that lifts faint galaxies and nebulae above the sky background.

The 10:1 Dual-Speed Focusmate Focuser

The TV-85 carries a 2-inch rack-and-pinion Focusmate focuser. It features a 10:1 dual-speed reduction knob on the right side for exceptionally fine focus adjustments, which is critical for achieving sharp focus at high magnifications or with an imaging camera. High-leverage 1:1 knobs on both the left and right sides handle coarse focusing, and digital micrometer attachment points let you log focus positions.

Two tension screws on top of the focuser body tighten against a brass clamp ring, which cinches the Teflon sleeve the draw tube slides in, so you can add resistance for heavy eyepieces; even then the knobs can still drive the draw tube. For additional security, two lock screws on the end-ring also tighten against a brass clamp ring for extra holding power on the diagonal or other accessories.

The 19-inch, 5.95 lbs Powder-Coated OTA

The Tele Vue TV-85's optical tube assembly measures just 19 inches in length and weighs a mere 5.95 lbs, so it fits as an airline carry-on. The tube is powder-coated aluminum, needs no special care and can be polished with any non-abrasive car wax. With a 2-inch diagonal installed, the total length is 21.9 inches, and the entire assembly with caps fits into the included custom soft carry case at a total weight of 8.20 lbs.

The captive sliding dew shield cuts glare, helps keep dust and spray off the lens and minimizes dew, while the screw-on lens cover protects the objective in storage. Collimation is locked at the factory: never loosen the button head alignment screws in the front lens cell, and contact Tele Vue if re-collimation is ever needed. For harsh environments such as a beach, or for birding, a 95mm clear filter from a camera dealer screws onto the lens cell in place of the cover; such filters are generally not used for astronomy because they can degrade optical quality.

Mounting the TV-85 on Tele-Pod and Gibraltar Mounts

The TV-85 is sold as an optical tube only, requiring a separate mount. Tele Vue's 3" Ring Mount (RS3-8003), available separately or in the TV-85 Accessory Package, holds the OTA in a felt-lined ring. Unlock the bat handle, slide the telescope fore or aft to balance it, and re-lock; slots with 10-32 holes on top carry accessories.

The Ring Mount fits Tele Vue's Gibraltar, Panoramic and Tele-Pod mounts, using the two 1/4-20 studs, wing knobs and Allen wrench supplied with it, and its 1/4-20 tapped holes also suit heavy-duty photographic tripods. For equatorial mounts, Tele Vue offers adapter plates for specific models through its dealers.

A 4.4° Maximum Field for Visual Astronomy

With its 600mm focal length, the TV-85 gives rich-field views of the night sky. With a 2-inch diagonal and the Tele Vue 55mm Plössl (10.9x) or 41mm Panoptic (14.6x), the true field reaches 4.4°. That is enough to frame large deep-sky objects like the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) or the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) in a single field.

This wide-field capability also makes the TV-85 an effective instrument for locating objects. The view at 11x is so broad that the telescope can serve as its own finder. The operating guide's eyepiece chart runs from 11x for sweeping the Milky Way to 200x with a 3mm DeLite for the Moon and planets, with mid-range picks such as the 18.2mm DeLite at 33x and 1.8° or the 8mm Ethos at 75x. For 1.25-inch diagonals, the 32mm Plössl or 24mm Panoptic give the widest field, 2.6° at 19x and 25x.

Terrestrial Spotting from 11x to 200x

A Cornell Ornithology Lab comparison rated the Tele Vue-85 as having the finest optics for birding. The 55mm Plössl or 41mm Panoptic at 4.4° doubles as a finder and a rich-field terrestrial view.

For terrestrial use, a 90° star diagonal produces an upright but mirror-reversed image. Tele Vue developed the 1¼" 60° Everbrite Diagonal (DPC-6012) for terrestrial observers: the 60° angle is far more comfortable than 90°, and its 99% reflective dielectric coating gives the truest color rendition of any mirror or prism. The image stays upright but left-right reversed.

Imaging at f/7 and f/5.6 with the TRF-2008 Reducer

For prime focus photography at 600mm f/7 with a DSLR, use the 2-inch camera adapter (ACM-2000) with your camera's T-ring. Tele Vue Powermates with optional T-ring adapters extend the focal length for the Moon and planets, and they need Tele Vue's 3.5-inch extension tube to reach focus.

To capture wider fields, the optional TRF-2008 0.8x Reducer/Flattener transforms the telescope into a 480mm f/5.6 imaging system. Tele Vue optimized it for the TV-85, and states that it gives flat-field, fast astrophotography with any APS-C camera that accepts a T-ring, stretching the 4.4° imaging field to 5.5°. Afocal shots with a phone use the FoneMate (SFA-0001), and the Piggy-Cam (PGC-1001) puts a DSLR and its own lens on the Ring Mount.

Pointing the TV-85 with Starbeam and Low-Power Eyepieces

The TV-85's wide field of view simplifies object location. For night use, the recommended finder is the Tele Vue Starbeam (SRT-2010), a reflex sight Tele Vue chose to complement the telescope's wide field. It can stay mounted when the scope is stored in its case.

The Starbeam attaches to the Ring Mount on the side opposite the bat handle. For daytime spotting, the Qwik-Point (QBT-1006) has a beam bright enough for bright sunlight but is not recommended at night, and for solar observing with proper filters Tele Vue approves only the Sol-Searcher (SSF-1006). Alternatively, a low-power, wide-field eyepiece like the 55mm Plössl can be used as a "finder eyepiece," providing 11x across a 4.4° field to center your target.

Expanding the TV-85 with Diagonals, Reducers, and Mounts

The TV-85 is sold as an optical tube: you must add eyepieces, an eyepiece adapter, a diagonal and a ring mount, all of which come in the TV-85 Accessory Package (TVP-3373) with an 18.2mm DeLite, a 2-inch Everbrite diagonal with 1¼" adapter and the 3" Ring Mount.

• Diagonals: The 2" Everbrite 90° Diagonal (DDP-8004) uses a 99% broadband dielectric mirror and comes with a 2-inch to 1¼" adapter. For terrestrial viewing, the 1¼" 60° Everbrite Diagonal (DPC-6012) offers a more comfortable angle.
• Imaging Accessories: The TRF-2008 0.8x Reducer/Flattener (480mm f/5.6), the ACM-2000 2-inch camera adapter, Powermates with T-ring adapters, the FoneMate and the Piggy-Cam; the Focusmate Driver (FDF-2004) adds hands-free motorized focusing.
• Mounts: The Ring Mount fits the Tele-Pod (TPM-3015), the Pano-Ash (P4M-7011) and the Gibraltar HD4 (G4M-6014) and HD5 (G5M-5014).
• Finders: The Starbeam (SRT-2010) for astronomical use, Qwik-Point (QBT-1006) for daytime, and Sol-Searcher (SSF-1006) for safe solar observing (with a primary solar filter) cover night, day and solar pointing.

TV-85 vs. TV-76 and NP101is: The 85mm "Goldilocks" Refractor

The TV-85 occupies a strategic position in the Tele Vue refractor family, offering a compelling blend of aperture and portability that distinguishes it from its siblings.

• vs. Tele Vue-76: The TV-76 is more compact (14.5" OTA) and offers a wider maximum field of view (5.5°). However, the TV-85's larger 85mm aperture gathers 25% more light, providing brighter images and higher resolution (1.4 arc-sec vs. 1.5 arc-sec for the TV-76). The TV-85's longer 600mm focal length gives more magnification with any given eyepiece.
• vs. Tele Vue NP101is: The NP101is is a 101mm, 4-element Nagler-Petzval APO at f/5.4 with a flat field and a 2.4-inch imaging focuser. It gathers about 43% more light, but the TV-85 weighs 5.95 lbs against 10.7 lbs and is 19 inches long against 25.5 inches.

If you want more aperture than the TV-76 without the size of an NP-series scope, the TV-85 sits between them.