Gravitas

Thanks for the points of view. The state of play where I am (Norway) makes this a fairly compelling alternative even in light of a whole host of downsides, namely the weak krone, import tariffs and general expense of new astro gear. The guy wants about 2500 NOK / 210 EUR for it. Closest I could find for a like-for-like new would be to get a Skywatcher Heritage 90 Mak with goto for about 310EUR not counting import. A Celestron Astromaster 130 with an RA motor drive is about 5000NOK / 424 EUR. Similar alternatives are in the same sort of region. Even though it could well turn out to be a monstrosity, it is still only around half the price of a brand new scope with (admittedly dated) features that are a lot better. Makes it hard to simply walk away from.

Someone is posting a Meade ETX-90 on its original fork, base, Autostar handset, 25mm and 10mm Wide Angle eyepieces for around £180 when converted back to UK currency. Current owner says it was bought around a decade ago. I'm aware of the limitations of it as a relatively small aperture maksutov, but thats ok for now. I'm more worried about the possiblity of buying a lemon and needing to sink time and money into fixing or adapting the motor control. On balance, is it worth it?