Well it turns out I was able to pick up Pentax K1000 for $50 (+$12 postage) so I'm pretty happy... plus I think my brother got some new lenses for the one he got from dad so that should be good. Hopefully will get it in a little over a week (have to put more money into PayPal then finalise the sale). So with any luck... I can try some film astrophotography within a few weeks
... thanks for the tips and advice everyone... much appreciated.