Expert: Paul Wagner - 11/23/2011

Question
Mr. Wagner

I recently got a jason model 313 scope that a friend found in an attic to a house he moved into. It seems to be fairly old. It was in the original box. Is there a way to find out. If it helps the tray has a light on it. Its coroded but fixable.  Wooden tripod EQ mount. 900 focal, 454 pwr, 60mm objective. I have 2 reflectors and this is my first refractor. Thank you for the manual you posted online. It was just what I needed. Thanx

Answer
Hi Brian

Sounds like you have a fun project.  These Jason scopes were made for many, many years...and they used a lot of different model numbers for them--all for what is basically the same scope.  But what you might look for is some kind of symbol on the optics somewhere--usually in the black metal near the objective lens.  The early models of these scopes were made with Towa optics, and they have a T inside a circle to indicate that.

Those are actually pretty good optics, and well worth fixing up the scope.  I have one of these, and I use it for a guiding scope on my 17 inch relfector sometimes...

Hope that helps

Paul Wagner