I hear you Brent , as i am an x-pat Kiwi , It's a sad suituation , but keep an eye on the IIS classifieds , you will be suprised how cheep it is to send gear to NZ via , TNT and others .
When I lived in NZ I was just like you , DIY and love it , my 10 inch f/10 newt , is a great scope ,you want to see Jupiter at 300x thru that baby , or my 125mm f/13 newt on pipe mount ( here is a photo ) is getting used a lot by a friend of mine showing his neighbourhood the night sky , out reach ,
nice , in Whangarei .
dont be shy to look into the shipping costs , Brent and everyone else in NZ who is looking on .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeroID
My SOP ( Standard Operating Procedure) as well  .
You're right about prices in NZ though. Expensive enough anyway without these cowboys getting stupid. One of the big reasons I do DIY. I can seriously build most stuff cheaper.
I always drool over at CloudyNights prices in the US and the range of gear that is offered but most private sellers in there are CONUS only.
I've been watching for a cheapish Canon 450D or better on TradeMe for weeks but the prices are nothing like I hear mentioned over in Aust.  Double or even higher for some. 
I have enough gear mostly for now and I haven't looked seriously at Teleskop yet for hardware but I suspect an 80-100 APO is in my future one day and eventually a decent astro camera.
All I have to do is fund my retirement and my wine habit first ...  ... and the fast cars ..  |