Old scopes - how to put them down or give away.

[pmrid (Peter)]

The down side of aperture fever is that inevitably you find yourself with an embarassment of darned scopes. Add to that a DIY fetish and you have a real problem. I have officially exceeded my quota of storage spaces in our house and although she would not use the word ultimatum, my dearly beloved has other ways of letting me know thatvI have transgressed.

So, I will begin with the couple of scopes that have bettered me most. I don't want to sell them. I am willing to give them away - preferably to someone who does street astro or other outreach things.

There is an old black tube Celestron C11 for starters - I never really got a collimationn I was happy with but that could well be my failure not the scope. Anyway, I have fitted one of those corrector plate dew heater rings that works fine. I have also fitted a bracket that accepts an ASI EAF. It comes with an original case but don't ask about shipping. It's a pickup job.

The second scope is a GSO 8 inch newtonian F5. I have had the primary resurfaced. But once again I have struggled with collimation. There is no guide scope with it but it does have rings. It us also a pickup job.

I also have a couple of DIY achromats - a 5 inch and an 80mm. They too can go. They are not pretty and their value is probably in the glass and not much more.

Now before you folks in Wagga Wagga get too excited, pickup is on Bribie Island in SE Qld.

I was going to give them both to a local OP shop but would prefer them to go to someone who wants to put them to some use. If, say, after a fortnight nobody volunteers to put me out of range of my wife's revenge, that' where they will go.

PM me if you have any ideas.

[Leo.G (Leo)]

The sad reality with many Op shops is people only go in scouring for a bargain to sell at a huge profit.
If I go in and buy anything it's usually an old film camera (instamatic/range-finder or SLR) because I collect cameras and have since I was given my first at 11, but I have no interest in selling any for a profit, it's my hobby.

[By.Jove (Jove)]

What about as a donation to an astronomical club near you ?

I'm sure AAQ could find someone close enough to come and pick up.

Tell them its the whole lot or nothing.

I'm sure the possibility of a C11 in any state would get their attention.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by By.Jove

What about as a donation to an astronomical club near you ?

I'm sure AAQ could find someone close enough to come and pick up.

Tell them its the whole lot or nothing.

I'm sure the possibility of a C11 in any state would get their attention.

A good thought. I will do as you suggest.

[bojan]

Originally Posted by By.Jove

What about as a donation to an astronomical club near you ?

I'm sure AAQ could find someone close enough to come and pick up.

Tell them its the whole lot or nothing.

I'm sure the possibility of a C11 in any state would get their attention.

I second to that.

In my case, there is a club in town that I have in mind...
I am sure they will use what's left after me, at least occasionally .. so all those goodies I collected over the years won't go to waste.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Astro clubs regularly have scopes being offered to them as donations. It can be a real problem for these organisations for several reasons. It creates asset issues, where to store them, who holds them if there is no one place to keep them, how to keep track of them, maintaining them, etc. In other words, your problem is dumped on these clubs. I say this as the president of an astro club. In the worst case, these donations just "disappear" because of human nature...

You can approach a club and ask if they would like a scope donation, but don't be upset if they say "no thanks", something my own club often does.

Schools are the worst places to offer a scope to. Very often they are accepted but the acceptance is done without any consideration on their part of what is actually required. Because unless there is someone with an initial interest in astro who knows about the night sky AND telescopes AND is prepared to drive the enthusiasm in the school, the scope will just sit in a dark corner and rot. And if there is someone, as soon as they leave the school the scope then sits in a dark corner and rots. Many schools already have a telescope, but it never sees star light because there is no one who knows how to use it and the scope scares the heebie geebies out of everyone of the staff. GEM mounted scopes are the worst, but dobs too, if not for the scope itself but the sky! (it is extraordinary how the night sky intimidates people who don't know anything about it). In all honesty, I do not know of a single school, primary or secondary, that has a scope that they use. I'm sure there is, but you can count these on one hand with fingers to spare.

My suggestions:
1, Give it away. I have given away scopes here on IIS, one of which was a scope that a school asked me to dispose of for them! I made it a condition of the give away that the person taking it doesn't have a scope or that it goes to a kid with a budding interest in astro.

2, Sell it cheap. If it is a substantial instrument, then sell it at a cheap price exactly to get rid of it. Nothing wrong with that and if advertised here it will very likely go to someone who will make use of it. Offer a C11 for $500 and see how fast it moves! Make it the problem of the interested party to pick it up, don't ship it as there is a considerable amount of work involved to do this. At a cheap price the buyer will be well motivated to pick it up under their own steam.

Alex.

[bojan]

Originally Posted by mental4astro

...

My suggestions:
1, Give it away...
2, Sell it cheap...

That makes a lot of sense.. definitely worth a consideration.

[N1 (Mirko)]

With the stakes so low, even a thousand bucks posted should see that C11 go to a good home pretty quickly. 500 for the OTA and 500 for shipping, about 150 of that would be actual postage (to Perth!!) based on Auspost's calculator, leaving 350 for cardboard, bubble wrap and your time. I'd pack and ship all day long for that rate!!

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Whoa there! Hold on, be careful here. I NEVER said that the C11 being mentioned by the OP is being offered for $500! Don't put words in my mouth or the OP's. My words were a suggestion of how to sell cheap. But if your post is to highlight how such a price would motivate people, then you are right.

[N1 (Mirko)]

I know mate, the OP is offering it for zero dollars. We can improve on that, though...

Originally Posted by pmrid

So, I will begin with the couple of scopes that have bettered me most. I don't want to sell them. I am willing to give them away - preferably to someone who does street astro or other outreach things.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

And on the question of "putting down" a scope, if the glass is a borosilicate variant, it cannot go into the glass recycling wheelie bin! This stuff cannot be recycled with ordinary glass. Unless you take it to a facility that is able to recycle this stuff it has to go to landfill

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Hi Peter,

I'm a member of the current AAQ Council. On our current "urgent" agenda is downsizing our own sizeable asset collection by at least two telescopes that are not being borrowed by the current membership and we are having trouble finding custodians. By all means, write to the secretary but the answer will almost certainly be a polite no thanks. We can post an email to members offering the scopes to individuals on your behalf. Please include your contact details independent of IIS. ie not PM but email and phone #. You can send me this via PM and I can email to all members.

There are many other clubs in the SEQ area. I'd suggest you also try some of the others or the giveaway options suggested by others here.

kind regards

Joe

[pmrid (Peter)]

Thanks Joe, it is as I expected. And for good reasons. I would expect other clubs to be in similar positions.

It's a shame to see once-loved scopes fall into disuse but with so much great new gear coming onto the market, it is not hard to understand.

Since I have not been entirely happy with these 2 scopes, I would not be comfortable passing them on to folks who would no doubt have high expectations of them. So it will be the knackers yard I'm afraid.

Best wishes.

[Kalev]

I have been enjoying astro-photography for awhile, but due to change in circumstances I need to sell my equipment - EQ5 Pro mount and GSO 8" Newtonian OTA plus associated items. Besides this place, where is best place to sell?

[N1 (Mirko)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

So it will be the knackers yard I'm afraid.

I don't know your circumstances Peter but sending 2 perfectly good instruments to waste is just wrong. If I was still im NSW I'd come and get them myself.

[Leo.G (Leo)]

Schools are the worst places to offer a scope to. Very often they are accepted but the acceptance is done without any consideration on their part of what is actually required. Because unless there is someone with an initial interest in astro who knows about the night sky AND telescopes AND is prepared to drive the enthusiasm in the school, the scope will just sit in a dark corner and rot. And if there is someone, as soon as they leave the school the scope then sits in a dark corner and rots. Many schools already have a telescope, but it never sees star light because there is no one who knows how to use it and the scope scares the heebie geebies out of everyone of the staff. GEM mounted scopes are the worst, but dobs too, if not for the scope itself but the sky! (it is extraordinary how the night sky intimidates people who don't know anything about it). In all honesty, I do not know of a single school, primary or secondary, that has a scope that they use. I'm sure there is, but you can count these on one hand with fingers to spare.

My friend was a former high school science teacher. Having an interest in astronomy he purchased his own small telescopes including a small solar unit and took them around to primary schools when he was on duty to promote the high school. When he retired they went home with him. The school would not purchase a lot of stuff he used for teaching and he just bought himself.

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

While there can be truth in Alex's comment about schools being the worst place, you never know and if the scopes are just going to the dump, why not gamble? There's nothing to lose.

The scopes would need to be operational, ie a functional mount, at least two eyepieces, and a finder and instruction on it's use which I presume Peter could give if the school was local. The C11 sounds like it is an OTA only but the dob only needs a couple of Plösl's. Another option is to strike up a deal with a local school where you donate and store the scopes at the school and if you have the energy, you help run the field nights for the school. You'll need a Qld Blue Card which is $70, half the price of the one I obtained in the ACT a few years ago.

There were two teachers at my high school (Brisbane Grammar) who fostered astronomy. One was a maths teacher (Viv Lawton) who founded the school astronomy club in 1978, the other a science teacher (Doug Morrison) who incorporated astronomy into the curriculum. Viv passed away 16 years ago and I have not heard of Doug who would now be in his mid 90's if still with us.

I was a founding member of the club in 1978 and I am in regular contact with four other founders. One is a regular visitor to my dark sky property out here near Young, the other still lives in Qld. All three of us are now in our 47th year of keen amateur astronomy, the other two have a passing interest and I see their reactions, comments and shares of my Facebook astro posts but they are not active in the hobby. Who knows how many others have launched into the hobby in the decades since.

It's my understanding that the school club is still going strong although I haven't had any contact with them for at least 30 years. The school now has a small observatory there at the school campsite.

The teachers had some support from the school, buying telescopes. The maths teacher ground, polished and built an 8" newtonian and then began a telescope making initiative among club members. I had began my own telescope mirror grinding and telescope build 8 months before he started that activity. The science teacher received school support and the telescopes were purchased via the science program. He would drive his own car up to the schools camp 110km each way from Brisbane one night each week and run a field night for the class that was in attendance. After observing, he would take out a guitar and lead a group singalong of various soft pop ballads with the class.

On one occasion in my senior year, I accompanied him to the camp one night. We didn't get home until 1am. It was then I gained a new respect for his dedication and energy. Both of them were very dedicated to the advancement of astronomy.

Vale Viv Lawton and Doug Morrison!
Joe