The dream priceless 6" APO for sale

[strongmanmike]

No not mine :lol:

However, if you haven't noticed, the only other version on Earth, of my Starfire 152EDF with 4" field flattener, is For Sale on Astromart

See Classified #769408 in the refractor section

This is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a two of a kind collectors item and arguably the Worlds finest 6" APO.

Personally I think the $10K price tag is an absolute bargain!

From a collectors perspective, it is not 100% original though as the owner changed the original 4" focuser for the more modern greaseless AP version with feathertouch.

Mike

[Poita]

Or you could get this one and have $9500 change:
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=769492

:lol:

I did a search, and that one came up instead, not quite in the same league.

It must be a huge bugger of a thing. If I sold every piece of gear I owned...
I'd still come up 4 grand short :sadeyes:

[strongmanmike]

:question:...what do you mean Hans? That's the one I am posting about :shrug: I am not selling mine...

[Poita]

We finally got this question answered though:


Mike, if it isn't too rude to ask, how much would it have cost when new.

It is a ton of cash, but actually seems quite reasonable compared to some other gear. If I had a permanent setup I'd be tempted to live off frozen peas for the rest of the year.
Is it the air-spaced FPL-51?

[telemarker]

There ya go Mike, Starfire Bino's. :thumbsup:

[Poita]

Awesome, and Mike is the only guy I know who could handhold them :eyepop:

[strongmanmike]

:question:....:confuse3:

[avandonk]

AND without bolting them together!

Bert

[strongmanmike]

:lol:..you guys :rolleyes:

The Objective is an oil spaced triplet design with a central element of FPL53 glass.

This is the chance to own one beautiful scope worth every penny and then some (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/hubble_comparisons)

Go on...do it, you know you want to :D

Mike

[mill]

Everyone, my bank account number is 34657497451985 and bsb is 7265 just throw as much money as you want on it so i can buy that scope :P

[Screwdriverone]

How much does a kidney go for these days......?

[strongmanmike]

As a guide, the nearest in quality and speck currently available is the Takahashi TOA 150 with 4" focuser and 4" field flattener, new this combo is approx US$13,000 from OPT in California (+ GST + shipping)

Every bit as good...but it just ain't an Astrophysics :shrug: (sorry Marcus :P)

Mike

[rally]

Mike,

I realise its all tongue in cheek and we all know you love your AP !! . . . and there is no dispute that AP's are good. no better than good - even great telescopes - but then you did say "arguably the Worlds finest 6" APO"

Since its sold now, a balancing argument can be put forward to argue if it is !! - and also for the benefit of others who may be looking for an OTA based purely on its optical and build quality merits rather than based on legend and cult following.

Why compare a new Tak OTA price with a second hand AP ?
Second hand TOA150's go for less than this secondhand AP on the same site !
#702128, #736121, #758161 with NJP !,

According to this one #733519 they are both (Tak and AP) worth a guitar !
A Gibson (ES-335 type) 'Lucille' guitar signed by BB King no less.
I cant really comment on that - DugnSuz, Fred where are you ?


What FF was he is selling btw - a 4" or 2.7"

What is the actual strehl ratio of that AP ?
What does the longitudinal plot look like ?
MTF too

Compare them side by side AP152EDF to Tak TOA150, I think you might be very surprised with the magnitude of the differences.
Will you detect that by eye - I am sure some say they could, but I doubt it
Would it show up in imaging - possibly, sometimes, but more as a contrast enhancement than anything and the seeing and FWHM of individual subs and the processing skills are going to count for much more.

But if so what are you basing the claim on - collectability, prestige, performance, quality ?
Having inspected the optical data I wonder if you would still say the Tak is the nearest to the AP of maybe the other way around ?

But then we could argue about Holdens and Fords, Carlton and Collingwood, APs Vs P-MEs . . . couldn't we.
or even FLI Vs SBIG - oops didnt mean to say that .

Dont take it too seriously - its not intended that way !

;)

Cheers
Rally

[strongmanmike]

All good Rally, I'm with ya! :thumbsup:

I do not for one moment claim to know that the 152EDF is quantitatively better than the TOA150.

But in the end, Astrophyiscs "does" have a prestige rating that is above that of Takahashi, APM and TEC plus Astrophyiscs no longer make 6" APO's of any design, it has produced many internationally acclaimed images and lastly this scope is one of only two of this model on Earth so to me it is indeed a special scope no matter how you measure it :thumbsup:

Mike

[rally]

All good !

I agree - when Roland finally ascends to the stars himself your AP will quite likely return a better payout than your super fund.

One argument is surely that if the optical quality is nearly indistinguishable from another - then go for the one that you like.

I'll take off that kevlar vest and hard hat now !!

Life's too short, never enough time nor enough money to get all those nice OTA's we would like to have !!

So what's next

Cheers

Rally

[astroboy]

Hi Mike
Isn't that about $10K more than you paid for yours , they are from Canberra observatory aren't they ?;)
I wouldn't take much notice of what the some yanks try to sell american made gear for I noticed a 16" Meade LX200 going for $26K :eyepop:

[avandonk]

It would make a fine guidescope for my RH200! :lol:


Bert

[strongmanmike]

Funny you should say that Bert, my little 200mm lens once had a great guidescope :D

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/69942205/original

MIke

[Peter.M]

The end of your guidescope might show up in some of those subs Mike!

[strongmanmike]

Naaah, tiny chip = small field, that was 2006, no big black ProLine then :)

[The Mekon]

I believe these scopes were made around 1991. When I was buying my 130EDT the AP catalogue listed this model and showed it on the Vixen Atlux mount. If I recall correctly the price was around $4000 - almost twice what I was apying for my 130. I still have the catalogue at home, but not available to me now as I am in Whyalla.

[marki]

They can't have been any good, I mean Roland made 2 and went "Meh" :scared3:

Mark

[astroboy]

That's right Canberra Observatory had to give there's away to Mike .
I get it its "priceless " because its free;)
Makes you wonder about AP stuff if they can't improve there product after 20 years.
Who other than Mike and the guy selling this scope said that its the best 6" of all time:question:
If its such a bargain why is it still sitting on Astromart.

[multiweb]

That's why he's making RHAs now. ;) :scared3::scared3:

[multiweb]

Great Xmas present. They got any left? :)

[koputai]

Didn't the Canberra Observatory also have a 172mm AP? What happened to that one? What happened to the IK-6?

Cheers,
Jason.

[astroboy]

Hi Jason
I think it was a 6" F12 and I think it and the IK-6 went up in the fire , but maybe they just gave all the gear away to other worthy causes.:screwy: Check Mikes back yard ;)

[koputai]

Christ I hope not. I heard that they had moved all the astro stuff, including the Zeiss planetarium projector out to storage not long before the fire.


Surely someone around here must know what happened to all the gear.

Cheers,
Jason.

[gregbradley]

Price is a little high seeing as the market price of much younger AP155's is routinely $9500.

Also the market is familiar with AP155's and not the 152 so I imagine the Astromart buying public are thinking its too much for an older scope and not the familiar AP155. Regardless of what the scope is capable of.

They buy what they know and trust at those sorts of prices and not something they are unfamiliar with.

There was a new in box never used AP155 that sold on Astromart about 4 months ago. I am not sure of the final price but it was somewhere between $12 and 14K I think.

Imagine that, someone bought the scope and left it in its cardboard delivery box and then sold it 8 years or so later? Amazing. I suppose people invest in bottles of fine wine.

Greg.

[anthony.tony]

Mike what are you going to Replace it with. --Tony.

[Octane]

He's not selling the one he has.

H

[Kal]

Thats a damn good price, considering it comes with the FF, which alone would be worth about 2 grand.

If I didn't already have my AP I'd consider buying it :lol:

[strongmanmike]

Been away for the weekend and away from internet posting

Some interesting, ill-informed and irrelevant comments have been made in this thread since I was gone - I won't address those here in this thread.

Suffice to say my work with this scope is out there for all to see so you can look at it, analyse it and compare it, do what you will... I recon it speaks for itself :) .

At the end of day an Astrophysics Starfire is like a Stradivarius and a similar quality craftsman of similar fame (in the scope world) was in charge of the AP152EDF's construction and this is highly unlikely to happen ever again - everybody knows this and nobody will deny this... no more needs to be said :).

If you bought this scope you would not only join a limited number of lucky people who have a Starfire but you would also be very happy indeed :thumbsup:.

We can leave it there, any more genuine inquiries can be emailed to me direct

Cheers :thumbsup:

Mike