SCT what to look for?

[spudrick]

I know there are many owners of these great scopes and I am seriously looking to buy at least an 8" have to be used (can’t stretch to a new one).
Any hints or guidance on where/how much I should expect to pay would be great.
I am looking mainly for the convenience of portability with compact transportation. The scope I have is basically permanent now and i have just changed my car from large station wagon to medium sedan.
Thanks in advance :)

[astro_nutt]

Hi Terry!
Just wondering if that EQ mount of yours is servicable...if so...you can pick up a SCT optical tube assembly much cheaper than a complete outfit...I don't know if your budget could stretch to a Meade LDX-75 8" SCT which retails BRAND NEW from Bintel for about $2995!!...Used ones go for about a grand cheaper...or you can try some of Astronomical Clubs....other than that you can place an ad in the buy swap sell section of this forum.
Good luck!!

[toc]

Im not sure if my route was the best, but I got my Celestron C8 OTA from Astromart second hand for $450 USD. Cost me $80 to get it shipped. I then got an EQ5 from Andrews, and eventually put a meade Autostar controller onto it.

[spudrick]

Thanks guys for the hints i will check all possibilities out, i have put a "Wanted" in the buy&sell and i will check locally, i see on Andrews site there is a Saxon 8" $1499.00 anyone have this to compare with the big name brands?

[anthony2302749]

If you are talking about the 8” Maksutov the manufacture of and quality control on this scope is very poor. Some examples; the Secondary Baffle has been known to come loss and roll around and stick to the Primary Mirror, the SCT tread on the rear of the scope is non-standard (around .5 to 1mm over sized, which means that it will not take standard SCT accessories), the list goes on. IMO if you do buy one it will need a lot of work to bring it up to standard.

[toc]

that is certainly an interesting scope, but as Anthony said, appears to have some real issues. Might be worth talking to Mr Andrews about it - perhaps they have updated it by now.