I'm searching around for a dedicated planetary/lunar visual/imaging scope and
I've been contacted by a guy in the U-S about a really nice Intes Mak-Cass he has for sale.
It's an Intes Micro 715DX 7" f15 Maksutov. It is the Deluxe model with zero expansion Astro Sital mirrors, high reflective coatings on the mirrors and enhanced high transmission coatings on the corrector. The optics are hand figured and matched. They tested out to be better then 1/8 wave.
It has a strehl ratio 95.5, resolution on axis of 0.7 arc seconds and an image spot size (on axis) of 19.6 microns. It comes with a Mike Palermiti test certificate.
The scope is in mint condition. Has the filtered 12v cooling system.
Included:
Fitted semi-ridged transport case.
8x50 optical finder scope with quick release bracket.
The optical tube is fitted with a Vixen \ CG-5 \ LXD-75 dovetail. Has an adapter so you can use the scope on another mounting systems. There are several mounting screw holes in the bottom of the adapter.
Front and rear OTA caps.
Piggyback camera adapter with a 1/4 20 thread.
Telrad finder. The Telrad has the optional dew shield installed.
An Intes Micro 21mm eyepiece and Barlow lens.
A flexible dew shield.
It features a small central obstruction, about 24-25%, yielding very high contrast images.
The focus system is unique in its construction. It is nothing like an SCT, there is no mirror shift apparantly.
The OTA is very well baffled to enhance contrast.
The owner assures me the optics are terrific. The images are very, very sharp and contrasty, close to what you would see in a good APO refractor. He says he finds it to be great not just on planets, but also on double stars, and deep sky objects. The scope's high contrast transmission works great on nebulas and globular clusters.
he's asking for $2000 USD for everything.
Then there's about $200USD for shipping, plus the little extra added when it lands in Oz so I can get it out of customs.
What do you think?
I'm not seeking comments on the nature/performance characteristics of an f15 Mak-cass, just your thoughts on the price?
Anyone know what one of these little babys usually goes for 2nd hand???
Sounds a bit dear considering 6" Intes Maks sell for under $AU2000 new. Heard good things about the new Skywatcher 180mm. Also about $AU2000 new, and with a tiny CO as well, probably worth considering.
Thanks Dennis. Compared to $4800 that $2000 or so plus the extra bits and pieces doesn't look too bad.
Steve. No offence, but I don't think (optically) Skywatcher would be in the same league. I'm sure they are a very nice scope, though.
I'm not really interested in something else at this stage. Just trying to deduce whether this is a good and fair price on this specific scope 2nd hand.
It seems a good buy for a "premium" instrument, premium in that the quality factors you mentioned are documented to indicate a known optical performance.
F15 is quite slow, not really suited to deep sky stuff but ideal for short exposure planetary and lunar stuff. I would imagine it also has a narrow field of view so don't expect any wide sweeping views?
On various newsgroups, Intes seems to get a good rap. I think they take longer to cool down too, due to thicker optical components? If I were after an excellent planetary 'scope, without the price tag of an Apo, I would probably lean towards an Intes Mak-Cas myself.
Good luck with the pre-purchase data gathering and though processes.
While I know asolutely nothing about what a Intes Micro 715DX should cost second hand...
I have had decent luck with using Astromart (and old ads) for price discovery...while you can't see exactly what price was "settled on" for a transaction you can get a decent range...
There is also a telescope "blue book" (the name of an old price guide for used cars in the US) the name and cost escape me at the moment but it can also be a good price discovery tool...Good Luck!
Help! - What price an Intes Micro 715DX
