SCT what to look for?

[spudrick]

I know there are many owners of these great scopes and I am seriously looking to buy at least an 8" have to be used (can’t stretch to a new one).
Any hints or guidance on where/how much I should expect to pay would be great.
I am looking mainly for the convenience of portability with compact transportation. The scope I have is basically permanent now and i have just changed my car from large station wagon to medium sedan.
Thanks in advance

[astro_nutt]

Hi Terry!
Just wondering if that EQ mount of yours is servicable...if so...you can pick up a SCT optical tube assembly much cheaper than a complete outfit...I don't know if your budget could stretch to a Meade LDX-75 8" SCT which retails BRAND NEW from Bintel for about $2995!!...Used ones go for about a grand cheaper...or you can try some of Astronomical Clubs....other than that you can place an ad in the buy swap sell section of this forum.
Good luck!!

[toc (Tim)]

Originally Posted by spudrick

I know there are many owners of these great scopes and I am seriously looking to buy at least an 8" have to be used (can’t stretch to a new one).
Any hints or guidance on where/how much I should expect to pay would be great.
I am looking mainly for the convenience of portability with compact transportation. The scope I have is basically permanent now and i have just changed my car from large station wagon to medium sedan.
Thanks in advance

Im not sure if my route was the best, but I got my Celestron C8 OTA from Astromart second hand for $450 USD. Cost me $80 to get it shipped. I then got an EQ5 from Andrews, and eventually put a meade Autostar controller onto it.

[spudrick]

Thanks guys for the hints i will check all possibilities out, i have put a "Wanted" in the buy&sell and i will check locally, i see on Andrews site there is a Saxon 8" $1499.00 anyone have this to compare with the big name brands?

[anthony2302749]

If you are talking about the 8” Maksutov the manufacture of and quality control on this scope is very poor. Some examples; the Secondary Baffle has been known to come loss and roll around and stick to the Primary Mirror, the SCT tread on the rear of the scope is non-standard (around .5 to 1mm over sized, which means that it will not take standard SCT accessories), the list goes on. IMO if you do buy one it will need a lot of work to bring it up to standard.

[toc (Tim)]

Originally Posted by spudrick

Thanks guys for the hints i will check all possibilities out, i have put a "Wanted" in the buy&sell and i will check locally, i see on Andrews site there is a Saxon 8" $1499.00 anyone have this to compare with the big name brands?

that is certainly an interesting scope, but as Anthony said, appears to have some real issues. Might be worth talking to Mr Andrews about it - perhaps they have updated it by now.