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ideas.....
Hi cpoc - actors and artists in general have much in common re affordability: but I think you'll need to do some real research re your own budget/affordability and costs. Retailers like Andrews in Sydney sell 10" dob newts for pretty darn low prices; but secondhand units come up on the market at costs often much below even these, and often with extras the owners have added (IIS has a trade section, there are a number of other Australian sites.)
These secondhand jobs are more often than not really good deals - if the scope's been looked after and isn't real old, chances are that the mirrors are fine and if everything else appears there and it's mechanically sound with a smooth operating mount then it is just about certainly a good scope!
I ground my own mirrors (6" and 8") many years ago: not many still do, but if that's your wish then the local AA in Melbourne is the place to enquire. New mirrors from retailers at low cost are, I think, one of the reasons that few still "grind their own" even if they want to make/put together the rest of the scope themselves - that and the fact that the Chinese mass-produced varieties are really quite reasonable optically.
Some members are quite scathing of eBay purchases; I'm not qualified to comment on that but feel that really, specialist amateur astronomy markets are better than any generic market-place. (in general)
Cheers, Darryl.
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