Tasco

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Tasco
Type	Corporation
Founded	1954
Founder	George Rosenfield
Headquarters	Miami, FL, USA
Industry	Technology
Website	http://www.tasco.com/

Tasco, also known as Tasco Worldwide, was founded in 1954 and is a child-company of Tasco Holdings, Inc (THII). Tasco, based in Miramar, Florida, was founded in 1954 by George Rosenfield as the Tanross Supply Company, a distributor of fishing tackle and hardware. The name was later shortened to Tasco as inventory expanded to include binoculars and eyepieces.^[1] Tasco is now one of the major international distributors of telescopes. The company's products mainly target amateur telescope buyers in astronomy, but has grown to manufacture a large assortment of optical equipment, including terrestrial spotting telescopes, microscopes, binoculars, rifle scopes, and other rifle accessories. Tasco products can be purchased through a variety of specialty outlets, catalogues, and online vendors.

1 Products
2 Company History
3 Bankruptcy
4 Criticism
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Products

Tasco manufactures both a variety of optical equipment including terrestrial scopes, microscopes, binoculars, rifle scopes, and accessories for each.

[edit] Telescopes

Three categories of telescopes are available from Tasco - Novice, Luminova, and Spacestation – with several models in each family. The Novice family features the most economical scopes using manual focus and view finding, while the high end Spacestation utilizes fully automated sky-mapping, "GoTo" technology. Magnification ranges of the telescopes are between 25 and 675 times^[2]. Both reflection and refraction telescopes are available in each category. Reflection telescopes are cheaper to fabricate and use mirrors to produce a low-resolution image to the viewer, whereas refraction scopes use high-quality lenses to focus light, presenting a much clearer and brighter image.^[3]

$Department store 50 mm Tasco Specialty Refractor on modified mount (lower left) with Sky-Watcher reflector.$

Department store 50 mm Tasco Specialty Refractor on modified mount (lower left) with Sky-Watcher reflector.

[edit] Binoculars

Made for both long and short distance viewing, Tasco binocular lenses are Rubicon coated to enhance brightness and contrast of images. Magnifications range between 7 and 10 times on a variety of models. Tasco now offers the Snapshot series binoculars, which include an ability to record video and capture still pictures as seen through the binoculars. The images can then be transferred to a computer through a USB connector and complimenting Tasco software for viewing and printing^[4].

[edit] Rifle Scopes

Designed to be mounted on long rifles as well as handguns, Tasco Rifle Scopes feature magnifications of 1 to 40 times. An assortment of models are offered with accessories such as high definition coating on lenses, electronic red point targeting, and wide anglelenses used put less stress on the eye during focusing^[5].

[edit] Terrestrial Scopes

Ideally for nature observations, Tasco offers several models of scopes with mounted tripods amid their World Class terrestrial scopes. These scopes are designed for rugged outdoor use and feature rubber armour protection as well as optional camouflage. Models have magnifications between 12 and 45 times, and feature panoramic view finding^[6].

[edit] Company History

Tasco was originally founded and owned by George Rosenfield in 1954. In March 1996, however, Rosenfield sold the business. At that time, Tasco employed 160 people in its Florida headquarters, and maintained a location in the state of Washington, which employed 40^[7]. In June 1998, Tasco Holdings, Inc. purchased Celestron, another telescope manufacturer which focused on performance optical equipment and the more serious observer. Celestron was second only to Meade Instruments Corporation among marketing and sales of telescopes^[8].

Early 2001, Tasco began searching for a buyer as profits sank. Meade Corporation begins negotiations for a merger, but the Federal Trade Commission blocked the attempt.

By June 2002, Wind Point Partners, parent company of Bushnell Performance Optics (BPO) purchases the Tasco trade name and all intellectual property of Tasco Worldwide Inc. from Tasco Holdings, Inc.

In July 2007, Wind Point Partners sold Bushnell Performance Optics along with Tasco property and sales rights to MidOcean Partners and Management, a private equity firm out of New York and London^[9].

[edit] Bankruptcy

On May 29, 2002, Tasco Worldwide initiated liquidation of all its assets^[10]. after defaulting on nearly $30 million in loans^[11]. The company had been searching for a buyer for several months, but after much interest by Meade Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, on this day, sanctioned a temporary restraining order in federal district court to preempt any attempt by Meade Instruments Corporation, the leading manufacturer of performance telescopes in the United States, to purchase all, or certain assets, of Tasco Holdings, Inc. including Celestron, a child-company and number two performance telescope provider in the U.S. The FTC argued that an acquisition by Meade of Celestron would negatively impact the performance telescope market by eliminating significant competition between the two companies and by creating a monopoly in the market for Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, which were currently only being sold in the U.S. by Celestron and Meade^[12].

In response to the FTC’s denial, Meade filed several lawsuits against both Tasco and Celestron concerning a patent for a “Fully Automated Telescope System With Distributed Intelligence,” also known as “GoTo” technology, charging the two companies with patent infringement and unfair competition. The complaints were filed in the United States District Court, Central District of California, Southern Division, but were all subsequently denied.

Later in 2002, Tasco and Celestron, now under the ownership of Bushnell Performance Optics, fired back with lawsuits also in the District Court of California, alleging Meade Corporation products infringed on a United States patent entitled "Tripod Structure for Telescopes." Both companies sought injunctive relief and compensatory damages in an unspecified amount, and attorneys' fees and costs. In December 2002, the District Court denied both Celestron's and Tasco’s motion ^[13].

[edit] Criticism

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Among amateur astronomers, Tasco telescopes have a variable reputation. As Tasco has relations with Celestron, a company generally trusted by amateur astronomers for good-quality instruments, many Tasco telescopes are similar or identical to Celestron telescopes. However, most Tasco telescopes are usually purchased from a department store, a source that most amateurs find unsuitable for purchasing telescopes. Many of its telescopes, especially the 30 - 50mm refractor variety, are sold with extra features such as an included microscope kit, but the telescope itself is often sold on a tabletop mount or is handheld and can be worth as little as $10 USD. Like most department store refractors, the objective lenses often are non-achromatic and the eyepieces are sold in 0.965 inch-size barrels as Huygens (H), regarded as some of the worst by amateur astronomers. Tasco and Bushnell telescopes are often avoided by amateurs because they are new to the astronomical community, and of their focus on magnification, which is regarded as unimportant by most amateur astronomers. ^[14]^[15]^[16]