C11 or.........?

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

Thanks Clive for the reply, sorry I'm a bit late responding but we have only just got back from holiday.

Shipping here wouldn't be too much of a problem I think, like you say 260 euro for a box like that is nowhere near the amount saved from purchasing OS.

Don't you have to pay to register to astromart? I suppose when it's value for money if you are going to use it. I'll add it to my bookmarks and keep an eye out anyway.

I did look at the GSO RC at one point but talk of the reduced contrast and it being regarded as more of an imagers scope than visual put me off. It seems to me they are a better DSO scope than planetary one.
That said I didn't look further into it and I probably should do although you're right about not seeing them come up all to often.

I'll do some digging and hopefully Paul has a thread or two I can find to read over.

[clive milne]

Hey Jarrod...
You can access astromart without registering but the prices wont show up until you do. Personally I think it is worth it.
Even if you don't buy anything from the US, it will give you a fair insight into what you should reasonably expect to pay for second hand gear.

In the mean time, here's a selection of C14's :

Celestron C14 XLT Fastar $2600
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=808357

C-14 Black tube/ non faststar $1900
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=808323

C-14 with XLT coatings $3000
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=808092

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

I think it's a good idea to keep an eye on and if something takes my eye then the registration fee will seem worthwhile.

When I see prices like those it is very tempting to go that route. I'm even considering to purchase new from the US through one of the companies that will do the buying and shipping for me although I'll explore that further when I have a final budget at hand.

My biggest concern is Belgian customs, they have a tendancy to ignore the price on the invoice and make their own up. I should ask Ken if he had any issues with stuff while he was here.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Jarrod,
While building spectroscopes I had to import from all over the world into Belgium. I found they held anything/ everything over 100 euro ( well actually $100 they "called" 100 euro!!) for the purposes of applying the 21% tax.
Certainly not easy!

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

I've only had relatively small packages sent over but on a few occasions I have had to pay more than the package was worth, once was a couple of presents for my kids. I'm not very confident of the 21% being actually 21% of the cost but more what they beleive the cost to be. I tend to feel they'd charge the Belgian new value on a second hand scope.
I could be wrong though.

I would even consider having it sent to France to the inlaws but it would depend on where we are at the end of the year.
I mentioned earlier that I think it's possible to send it to my wifes work and that would be free of customs because it's an EU institution but any info I find on that is a bit iffy, I don't particularly feel it's exactly the right thing to do either but from what I gather people do it with small packages at least all the time.
Worse case scenario is I'd have to pay the customs I guess.

[netwolf]

I have had a used C8 fastar shipped over and it came through no problems. But not many people are keen to ship these over and also C11 and up will also start to get expensive to ship over. But I have seen C11s now in the 1000$ mark which makes them very tempting. Also from time to time OPTcorp have them come up in there used section.

[Poita (Peter)]

The C14 is great...if you get wonderful seeing regularly. In average seeing a C11 will often outperform a C14 for seeing.

If your seeing is never above 'good' then the C14 will be wasted for planetary.

If you are one of the planetary guys who images every single clear night then a C14 might be worth it.

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

Originally Posted by netwolf

I have had a used C8 fastar shipped over and it came through no problems. But not many people are keen to ship these over and also C11 and up will also start to get expensive to ship over. But I have seen C11s now in the 1000$ mark which makes them very tempting. Also from time to time OPTcorp have them come up in there used section.

This is true, and even being on the continent it can take a bit of convincing to get a big purchase like a scope to get sent over from the UK sometimes so I can understand why the US guys are reluctant. Wish I knew of a French secondhand site.
I keep an eye on OPT for just that, I'm pushing for a US holiday this year and could always bring it back as extra luggage.

Originally Posted by Poita

The C14 is great...if you get wonderful seeing regularly. In average seeing a C11 will often outperform a C14 for seeing.

If your seeing is never above 'good' then the C14 will be wasted for planetary.

If you are one of the planetary guys who images every single clear night then a C14 might be worth it.

As it stands I would just like any seeing, 246 days of rain last year in Brussels and that's not including cloudy days with no rain.

So I'm hoping our move can only improve on that. It surely can't be worse.

[netwolf]

JB, APM telescopes has a secondhand section.

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/Secondhand1.html
Maybe you could put a wanted ad in there.

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

Cheers for the link, I do have a Dutch site saved somewhere too.

[clive milne]

Jarrod... you might want to check this out:

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=810008

At this price point I would be surprised if it was still listed for sale in 24 hours.

best,
~c