How much would you spend?

[Hans Tucker]

How much would you spend on a telescope?

Yuri from TEC was showcasing two lenses for the 300mm APO's he is building.

He has built and sold 250mm APO's for $49K USD each so the 300mm would be around the $70K mark me thinks.

I thought my spending $10K twice for two APO's was a bit much.

So it got me thinking what are peoples spending limits?

[xelasnave]

I can afford to spend big numbers fortunately without noticing the withdrawal from the bank...small change really...but I try and be realistic.

I am a mug so spending big time would be stupid.

Folk who have the cash seem to think they can spend it and sure you can but for me no point in buying a Ferrari cause I cant really use it..when racing I realized you are limited by your ability so 250 cc was my class. ..simple...I could throw $50000 at it if I wanted but heck I have poor vision and colour blind...I cant even get the best out of my 8 inch ( $1000 with coma corrector) and a dslr camera. I dont buy a dome cause I reallyvdont like the idea.
I dont go narrow band because I am not at that level but have the sence not to think money will make me capable.

Like guys fantasizing over some hot chick...get real her level is way above yours. Hot chicks are hard to keep up with ...that is something I am expert about...it is more than money or time they require so much head space few can manage them...why bother whatever you do it is always about them...sure you can manage them and have them faithful and adore you but what an effort...and for what so you can have something else no one else can get...easy to have them hard to be happy and enjoy them.
At least I have had the experience but if other knew what I knew they would not lust after high maintenence stuff...you have them to impress others mainly and that is wrong.

Spend what you like its only money and these days making money is pretty easy so if you want spend big...better on scopes than say cars or boats.
But the key is to be content..now everyone will find it hard to understand why when I can afford what ever pops into my head that I buy small and simple...well thats my limit....
My greatest assett is being content with what I select...no need to think about others etc...it is about your needs.

If you want bigger get the cash and buy it..there is so much money out there lack of it is temporary.
Alex

[casstony]

Around $4000 is my pain threshold for an optical tube. Buying used but in near new condition at 2/3 of new price gets a $6000 telescope.

[doppler]

That sounds like what a politican would say, but some of us have ordinary jobs with ordinary pay and any spare cash has to go to the mortgage first or the kids. I cringe at $1000, so second hand is my only choice or get a second job to pay for my hobby but I'm getting to the age where I have plenty of other things I'd rather be doing besides working.

[Atmos]

I’m in the fortunate position of not being married and not having kids. I have a property that I’m paying off and have nothing else to spend money on :lol:

How much would I spend on a telescope? Well that would depend on what I can afford without taking out a loan. Right now, that isn’t much! I also don’t want to go over that 20kg threshold so that limits be by size and ultimate cost too.

[xelasnave]

When the mortgage is paid off and the kids are independant things will be different I promise .... we all go thru that phase and it is temporary...you will be surprised how liquidity improves.

I didnt say money was free but really you can rent it very cheaply if you have house equity that you want to use.

And you are very lucky if you can work another job or decide not to...when I started out working two jobs was a necessity and that was to survive...but then things got better as house equity improved and one could consolidate all loans into a cheaper house loan.

And as you work out you can buy and sell houses and make huge cash things improve.
But I never stopped living as if I was very poor.. still shop for specials, drive bottom of the range 1200 cc car and when I say I could throw silly cash at something really I cant as I also see it as a wild un necessary indulgence...it was hard to come by and I dont like letting go of it.

And really astronomy gear is relatively cheap these days.

A grand buys a ticket to the show.

Anyways be patient in twenty years you probably will be able to buy whatever you want.
Good luck.
Alex

[xelasnave]

Reading my post , sort of, as I scrolled down just now I noticed a huge mistake.Not $500,000 ... should be $50,000
Silly mistake but I was thinking fifty because fantasizing once I arrived at such a figure which I could have pulled out of an investment if I was silly enough to do so.

Alex

[xelasnave]

Anyways how much would I spend was why I opnned the thread this morning.
All thats on my wish list is a cooled colour camera, a 8 inch with fastar and a new mount but not so much the new mount.
Alex

[doppler]

I guess that's the problem, money in the form of credit is easy to get. I have a couple of years to go and I'll be debt free, so even though I can buy anything I want now I would prefer not to add to my mortgage.
When I was young and single I paid cash for everything soon I'll be back in that financial situation again.

I suppose that is why the highest proportion of backyard astronomers are over 50.

[multiweb]

The least amount for the maximum of fun.

[xelasnave]

Well there you go so I hope you can now trust politicians☺

I just read my first post and swear that I will never drink black zambucca and try posting as though my brain was working.
Why I got sidetracked to talk about such unrelated matters presumably was related to a few nips☺

Alex

[FlashDrive]

As for me, as I get older I am content to slow down in this hobby and be happy with what I have.

The ' gear ' in my Signature is good enough for me ... no need to spend ' big bucks ' and have too much money tied up with more of it....I'm talking about Scopes here BTW.

Age plays a factor here for me to.
As you get on ( IMHO 65 Years and older ) money has to be carefully considered and how much are you prepared to ' empty your pockets ' on expensive toys.

I've had a good run in this Hobby, buying / selling / trying this / trying that on Scopes and Eyepieces.

The above is my personal experience ... it is not the same as others.

A few odd accessories will no doubt still come my way to ' compliment ' my viewing pleasure.

I'll enjoy this hobby as long as my eye sight and general health allows me.

Edit .... BTW the most I have ' shelled out ' on an item was $3k

Col....:D

[LewisM]

Wife and I do not have, and never will, a credit card. Both of us are of the mutual agreement that if we don't have the cash, it can go on lay-buy or wait. There is NO NEED for instant gratification, with subsequent debt.

Max I have spent on a scope was $5K US. Stupid really. I have no problem owning Takahashi - in fact, that's nearly all I do - and they do cost (but are worth it), so I keep readily saleable/trade items on hand. I think I have FINALLY settled with the 2 scopes I love, having come FULL circle - tried MOST, now went back and acquired those I thought were the best of the ones I have had.

My Tak Beta-testing days are over. It is - FINALLY - the FSQ-85 for me, and the ONLY thing I may SUPPLANT it with is it's slightly bigger brother. For visual work, the VC-200L I have is just perfect.

[AstralTraveller]

There is a difference between what I could/would spend in one go and the total spent over 45 years. The most I have dropped in one go was $5k but that is supposed to be the final big purchase. Back in the 70's I spent the princely sum of $300 on the optics and some eyepieces for my first scope (home-built, rather poorly). About 20 years ago it was $2k on a big frac then a 10" dobs a few years later. Between times there has been a set of nice eyepieces (through good research I've almost always bought 'keepers' and many second hand), argo navis for the dobs, observing chair, big binos, red torches, cleaning gear, cases, clothes, lots of fuel in the car, take away food etc etc. It all adds up, but I don't want to work out the total: best I don't know. ;)

[gregbradley]

I don't think Yuris lenses are good enough for that sort of money and size.

Now if Roland Christen did one that would be a different story. Yuri does not do imaging and it shows in the compromise style design where the lenses are optimised for green. You want true APO for imaging.

His scopes are great but not in the same league as AstroPhysics and for the money they should be.

A 300mm APO would be completely unwieldy. APM used to sell a folded APO that was 9 inch aperture.

Greg.

[Wavytone]

APM have 3 large LZOS APO objectives over 300mm in stock, with a 510mm at 495,000 Euros.:eyepop:

[Startrek]

I’ve spent about 6K to date after 18 months into the hobby

My 10” dob and 6” OTA were only a small chunk of the money spent to date

The bulk of the money went into the HEQ5 mount , Televue eyepieces and Powermates, DSLR filters, moon filters, illuminated reticle eye pieces, dioptrix, adaptors finder scopes etc, etc.......

If I went down the path of using refractors and CCD cameras etc....up front who knows what I would have spent to date ( probably well over 10K )

I’m taking my journey into the world of astronomy cautiously step by step ( learning and researching as much as you can plus help from fellow IIS members can save you waisting money along the way )

[Hans Tucker]

I think I finally got the true APO for imaging..a AP 130GTX..although I haven't used it yet. I sacrificed (sold) the FSQ-106ED to get this scope and I decided to keep my TEC 160FL for visual. The APOMAX 130 f/12 was an impulse buy and I haven't the heart to let it go, yes stupid I know. If I can't use what I currently have there is no point wanting for bigger.

When I saw Yuri showing off the lenses for the 300mm on FB I just wondered in my mind whom the customers would be for these scopes and then thought what are peoples financial limit in regards to this hobby.

Sometimes when driving to work I hear the ad on the radio for the Maserati SUV that has a price tag of $149K AUS...to me this would be a waste of $$$'s but to someone else it would be different.

Post note: Xelasnave goes an mentions Ferrari...now I see them everywhere. But this is Melbourne.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Hans

Funny you mention that. I almost got run over by one of them about 1/2 an hour ago in the underground carpark of Coles Tooronga.
Only had one petite little female in it and she probably couldnt see what was in front of her grille?????

Andrew

[Slawomir]

I remember once buying an Orion G3 camera from Bintel and I really felt guilty about spending this much on astro equipment. These days the feeling of guilt gets triggered by significantly more costly devices :lol:

[doppler]

Interesting poll results from 2016. 12 here said that they had spent over $50k and 2 of those over $100k.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=49852&highlight=poll

[inline_online]

It definitely depends on the stage you're at in your life.

I have had my dream scope since 1997 now. I spent about $12K on a Tak FS128 and a heap of astrophotography gear. But back then I had no wife, no kids and a very understanding bank manager;).

I don't think I need a different OTA but would like to upgrade the mount to something way better one day. But now I have wife and two kids in high school so all purchases are on hold for years to come. Earning way more money, sure, but also have much bigger financial commitments.

If money was not an issue I don't know what I'd do. Probably call Claude and see if he can order me one of those 300mm Tak refractors that you sometimes see pictures of. Nah, I'll get two of 'em and get Kunama to make it into a bino-scope for me:lol:

[GrahamL]

The scopes often the cheap part in the chain when we talk big dollars and big scopes .

mount the sucker on something and price it in ?

buy the land to house it all ?

build the house to live on site and support structures ?

I think /know some do all of the above in a calculated way over many years ;)

[Rkonrad]

I would probably move to a dark site on top of a mountain , that would be the most cost the scope is the least problem

[sil]

A few thousand is about all I could justify (pre stroke days) but as an early miner of bitcoins I was able to turn those in a once off opportnity for a $12k scope. Very extravagent and more than I would have bought for myself with savings. Now after my stroke, I'm broke, can't even afford to upgrade my zwo 120mc, using a $1k scope because my new physical disability excludes me using my good scope unless i could maybe get a motorised tripod platform (last time i checked it'd be $2k+ for something, maybe). of course its all a dream, am struggling to hang onto my job and my life, if i could afford any of those things now I'd rather try to buy a handgun and be done with the frustrations of my situation.

[DJT]

Steve, saw this yesterday and I keep coming back to it.

Life has dealt you a carp hand by the looks of it. I read your gofundme in your signature and hope you get to your objective.

Take care