Good advise Chris, and you did the right thing asking here chris85 .
As Chris says there are lots of disgruntled x-amateure astronomers out there that either got given a
"Departement store Telescope " or wasted there money buying one , I know as my darling at the time got me one and the only saving grace for me was that I am a constant tinkerer
and made the mount usable ( it was horreddous as it was ) and I was a member of the Whakatane Astro Society and had the use of their loan scopes , 150mm f/8 dobbos .
You can imagine thats its no secret the dept store scope got used very infrequently .( I did not have the heart to tell Mandy the gift was not good quality mechanically , but the optics were very good , typical ! )
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Make your oun choice Chris , and if it was me I would grab it as a grab and go scope , to use when you cant be bothered dragging out a 10-12 inch dob .
My 5c worth .
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Oh yea if its the Gumtree scope its not an EQ2 mount its slightly bigger and stronger , lots like the EQ3 mounts in size as I have a friend with a Saxon 150mm Mak and it holds it ok for visual .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Screwdriverone
Sorry, I may have been a little harsh when comparing this to a department store type scope and what was paid for it originally. But my alarms went off with regards to "unknown" type scopes as I myself went almost down that path (and struggled with my 5" catadioptric newt on the EQ2) and didnt want someone else inheriting that sort of problem on a fairly obscure scope.
Seems you have been there and done that, with regards to a dob etc, good to hear. GSO make some good stuff, but I have on the other hand seem some shocking examples of mirror deterioration and refractor issues, so dont hold them too high in the quality stakes.
That said, the issues I had with my first Skywatcher werent all that pleasant, but these seem to have been a blip, as I love my 8" newt on the HEQ5.....
Anyhow, Im shutting up now...
Cheers
Chris |