Ever since my wife sold 'her' TAL 150P, I'd been missing that unique vibe that TAL 'scopes bring. As I already have an 8" reflector, I decided that a TAL 100R/S would be a nice thing to add. So after a few weeks of scanning various classifieds, I spotted one going for £80 inc. delivery. 'Nice' I thought, but it had some modifications made to it to resolve some issues that are in the TAL's design. After discussing it with a couple of guys on SGL, I duly sent the cheque off and a couple of days later it arrived. Check it over I'm thinking 'it looks a bit heath-robinson, but as long as it works who am I to complain?'. So on the first available night, I plonked it on my CG5 and as it didn't come with a diagonal, contorting my neck into posistions where I could see something was VERY uncomfortable! Still, what I saw looked good the me and a few days later a diagonal was purchased. The next available evening, I set it up again and I couldn't bring any of my eyepieces into focus. Oh, this isn't so good.

The modifications that the previous owner done was to try and resolve the baffling and focuser issues by inserting an 80mm Celestron tube inside the TAL one and using the focuser from that. I thought that it sounded a little iffy, but the guy I bought it from is apparently well known and has a good reputation.  

So again, after much discussion with a SGL member who knows a bit more about these things than I, it's decided that I'm going to cut 4" off of both tubes and that should solve the focusing problem. It'll cut down the focal ratio a bit, but it still should be around f9 or so, so it's not all bad. I've taken it apart and frankly, this thing is a pup. The lenses aren't in great condition. The Celestron tube isn't fixed in at all, it slides about in the TAL tube therefore making the baffles useless and has actually marked the inner lens. The focuser wasn't properly fixed either and basically the thing is a bit of a botch job. 

I did email the seller asking him how he managed to use a diagonal with it and he hasn't replied. I'm going to email him again and let him know my disappointment. You live, you learn and you move on. If I manage to get it working properly, I'll be relatively happy. If not, then I'll mark this one up to experience and needless to say, I won't be dealing with him again.