Looking for Mount to Hire

[Barry_S (Barry)]

Hello,
My family and I will be traveling to Australia from Canada this August. I will be traveling with my scope in order to take advantage of being able to view the magnificent objects which are simply not visible from the Northern Hemisphere.

In order to minimize my luggage requirements, I am attempting to locate and rent/hire a suitable mount. For the scope I will be bringing I currently use an Atlas EQ6. As it is a very light 4" scope (Borg 101ED), I'm sure the HEQ5 would also be suitable.

We will be staying near Cairns. Does anyone know where I might find someone who will rent/hire telescope mounts?

I look forward to your response and being able to communicate with this group more regarding questions on observing in the area.

Thank you in advance,
Barry

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

G'Day eh!
I don't think anyone actually rents mounts. You might try a some low-grade grovelling to borrow one though.
Alternatively, purchase an EQ6 or HEQ5, new or used, then advertise it for sale near the end of your trip. They usually go within a week or so and while I'm not sure, I think one of the dealer's up there might take it on consignment. A bit fiddly I know, but my wife and I did it with a car in the US. Turned out cheaper than renting!
Oh yeah - Welcome.
Peter

PS - Go Canucks!!!!

[Barry_S (Barry)]

Thank you for your response and advice Peter.

You may be on to something with purchasing a mount and then reselling it. If I am unable to place the mount on consignment in the "local" area, I thought I might try and sell it on line. In NA, we use Astromart.com which is a great site to sell used items. Do you have something similar in AU?

Can you also comment on a retailer by the name of Oz Scopes? I found them on line and see they are located in Townsville about 4 hrs away from where I will be staying.

Any help would be appreciated.
Barry

PS: I'm impressed with your Canucks cheer.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Baz,
Most everyone here is familiar with Astromart and its a good source for scopes but its hard to flog them as we're so far away.
This forum has a "Buy & Sell" section that's very active and would be my first choice.
Sirius Optics, Star-Optics and Myastroshop, dot coms, are all dealers in the northern area and all, I believe will take used gear - though it's worth checking.
OzScopes - I don't know about. Their prices actually seem MORE expensive than a bricks and mortar dealer and while I believe they have a good rep for service, would probably stick to the main guys.I hope that's useful. You'll love Cairns at this time of year.

I was born in Vancouver BTW and have family & friends in Calagary - though I never got used to the winters!

PM me if I can be of any help.