[johnt (John)]

I am thinking of buying one or two long focal length refractors. It seems to me a good way of getting something unique, mainly for planet viewing, in my city location. Being interested in the older stuff, I also find them quite appealing in a nostalgic sense.

Firstly I thought of buying an old classic, but it seems they are restricted to mainly 4” aperture or less.

I then started looking at the ISTAR scopes after seeing one being available for sale. But I then got really attracted to the D&G range of achromatic refractors for the more classic (white tube) look, and lighter weight. Ones that interest me are the D&G 6" F15 & D&G 6" F12. These seem to be within the payload range an easily obtainable larger mount, if a longer tripod or pier is added. The D&G 8" F12 would also be great to own, but it seems outside the range of the easy to obtain mounts. I am not planning to build my own scope, so I’m planning to buy the whole OTA tubes, rather than the lenses. The D&G website indicates about $600 freight for Australia, and I am aware there is a waiting time of several months. Has anyone had experience in bringing these into Australia?

Also, on the older (classic) scopes, am I correct in thinking that anything over 4” aperture would be almost impossible to find? (Again, I’m not talking short scopes, such as APO’s or short Achromatic, I’m talking the classic long focal length F12 –F15 Achromatic scopes. )

Thank you,
John