To package deal or not package deal

[SkyGuy]

Hello sky gazers,
I am about to turn 40 so I thought I'd cash in on the big birthday No. and get myself a decent set up.
I've had an old Refractor for years, it was my fathers. It is fine for the moon and some views of Jupiter and moons and Saturn. Only specks to be truthful.
Anyway I live out of town and we get some good clear skies.
I was looking at this;
http://www.ozscopes.com.au/cassegrain-telescope-celestron-nexstar-6-se.html
and then I saw this bundle
http://www.ozscopes.com.au/celestron-nexstar-6-se-computerized-cassegrain-telescope-bundle.html
I've been reading about what people saw about eye piece kits but I thought this might be worth it considering all the stuff that comes with its.

Anyway my big questions are,
is this bundle a good idea.
How about the scope?
Would I be better off spending my 2G on other items.

Cheers,
Matt

[AG Hybrid]

That's actually a really good bundle. It's pretty much a complete mobile setup. More vendors should do stuff like this. Everything you need with one easy credit card bill :lol:.

Would I buy this bundle now? No. Would I have bought it as a early setup from when I started this hobby. Probably not. I think $1600 for a 6" scope for visual purposes only is not enough aperture for my taste. It is however a very mobile setup. It really has all you need. You don't really need to think about accessories. You just need to learn how to use the goto mount and find objects. All in all a good package.

Consider coming to IIAC2014 in April first and checking out everyone's equipment and our accessories before buying in on this setup. Or. Buy it. Then come to IIAC2014 and we can show you how to use it all.

[MortonH]

I've never dealt with OzScopes but I've always found their prices on the website to be expensive. Non-package price of $1599 is actually ok, but I agree with Adrian that 6" of aperture is fairly small. If you don't need the portability of a small scope there are probably better ways to spend $2k. For example,

http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/Dobsonian/Orion-SkyQuest-XT12G/1553/productview.aspx

[Amaranthus]

They also have the 8SE bundle, I see, which is a bit pricier, but you get a lot more aperture bang for your buck (84% more light gathering potential + better resolution). It'd be worth considering that.

I think this is a reasonably good deal. Shopping around for the individual components, you could probably put the whole thing together more cheaply, especially if you buy some of the non-telescope accessories from OS, but as Adrian notes, there is a 'one bill' simplicity this this deal :)

The eyepiece/filter kit is decent, but you may soon find yourself wishing you had fewer but better quality EPs. You would already have a 25 mm Plossl that comes with the scope, so a better investment might be a good wide-field eyepiece in the 11-16mm range, and a powermate or barlow.

Note that I own the 8SE, and ALL of the gear included in that package deal (and a whole lot more...), so I know of what I speak ;)

[AG Hybrid]

WOW $3K for the 8" bundle, damn! That being said. The scope listed by Morton is staggeringly good value. $1900 for a 12" goto dob. That's got to be a typo? Right? Holy cow. Bintel coming to the party, fists swinging!

[Camelopardalis]

Wow yeah I wonder if that's a typo? Damn good deal if not. $500 cheaper than the competitions SW offering. And that's a lot of scope for the money :D

Makes the Celestron look overpriced for sure.

[SkyGuy]

Wow! That Orion SkyQuest XT12G is a beast. I'd shied away from Dob's but that thing looks great. Thanks people that is the sort of help I was looking for.
How mobile would something like that be, I'd need to carry it out to the paddock.

[Camelopardalis]

Depends how fit you are :lol:

Specs list 46kg assembled, splits into toe almost equal parts, the base and the optical tube, the tube being almost 1.5m long.

If you've got a trolley or similar, that'd make it nice and easy :D

[MortonH]

Compared to (US vendor) OPT's prices for that Orion 12" goto and other models that they and Bintel sell, it seems the Bintel price may well be correct. They must have ordered them before the Aussie dollar tanked.

It's a great deal. I suspect if Bintel was ordering more of these at today's exchange rate the price would be well over $2k.

[glend]

I tried o buy a scope through Ozscopes, they charged me then I found out they were out of stock and I would have to wait three months till they got more from the supplier. I eventually got a refund after desputing the transaction through my bank. Just be careful buying from them, make sure they have it before you pay. Ozscopes is part of Ozhut, a number if retail names that they operate under.

[SkyGuy]

I'm heading to Sydney this weekend so I'll drop into Bintel and have chat to them.