Cheapskate Astro Life

[Kerman0 (William)]

This will be sort of an introduction for me.
I've been doing astro for ~4 years now. Doing things as cheaply as possible
DIY mounts, (openastrotracker, some of their other projects as well)
DIY Astromodding, (as well as getting some lucky deals on marketplace)
Messing around with vintage lenses
It's painful and fun at the same time
but at the end of the day I will be proud of my photos

[N1 (Mirko)]

Hey mate and to IIS!


You've got the right attitude and good on ya for trying things out like that. You'll be more experienced and knowledgeable as a result.

[ChrisV (Chris)]

Sounds perfectly reasonable! Half the fun for me is making stuff, I said trying not to sound like a cheapskate ...

[TrishTheDish (Trish)]

Welcome aboard, I guess I have been doing the same since forever.
Among other markets I frequently scan GUMTREE: https://www.gumtree.com.au/
for good value 2nd hand items.
Have also found excellent value on items here at IceInSpace forsale listings.
Also have on occasion found good value on discontinued and obsolete lines on various merchants websites (scratch and dent etc).
It is often a matter of expending time and effort in tracking down big savings and even unobtainable items.

[pranay (Pranay)]

Welcome aboard !!

[Leo.G (Leo)]

Welcome to the forum!


All avenues can prove to be a great source of good quality affordable equipment.
I got a Nikon D810 in near enough to new condition off Gumtree for well below $1,000 when the next cheapest used body listed was $1800 and they were still selling new for over $3K. The gentleman selling it realised almost immediately after listing the body and doing a search he'd listed it for below half the going price anywhere used but I contacted him within an hour of the listing going up and I must say he was quite the decent gentleman, he honoured the listed price and covered freight from Queensland to NSW. This even after I suggested I felt like I was taking advantage of him with the bargain price. We stayed in contact for ages via email sharing images, he did a lot of world travel but loved particularly my Milky Way images and had no idea it was so achievable, especially with the sensor in the D810. I did however put him onto the Samyang/Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED wide angle if he wanted to play with Astro-shots with his new Z model Nikon.

I also obtained an original model Megrez 80mm refractor with mount (worn mount (head lock) but not from use, more from guests playing with the thing (I'm guessing a peeing competition among his dinner guests "I can tighten it more than you")).
It turned out this fellow had bought it entirely as a conversation piece to chat about at his work related dinner parties he frequently hosted in his posh city dwelling but had no idea how to actually use it. I absolutely blew him away when I emailed some moon images I took through it. The sad part, I got a new Megrez 80mm for around $100 and he had a young son who'd never looked through it because the fellow had no idea.
I felt guilty about that one, I got it off eBay and travelled by train to Sydney and met him at central station to pick it up. It's still a beautiful scope. Maybe I'm stupid (a lot of people seem to think so) BUT, If I have something as a conversation piece I at least like to have some idea on how to use it and what it can do but, I'm probably just old and want stuff that I can use, not stuff a bunch of pompous free-loaders can sit in my place drinking my grog (I don't have because I don't drink) and eating my food to admire.

Something about the right time, right place.
I've also secured some great bargains here and had some very generous members help me out with equipment I really couldn't afford to buy on a pension for which I am forever grateful..