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Big 20" dob on eBay

mert

By mert
in The Astro Lounge

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Matthew

Matthew

Posted
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go for it Matt,this scope needs a good home...

go for it Matt,this scope needs a good home...

Im very tempted,my missis has told me to go for it but if I win I have to get rid of my 12",and thats something I'm not prepared to do !

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John

John

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Im very tempted,my missis has told me to go for it but if I win I have to get rid of my 12",and thats something I'm not prepared to do !

I can see the quandary - your OO300 has premium and documented optics. The 20" has who knows what in it !

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swamp thing

swamp thing

Posted
Posted

If you want to go galaxy and diffuse nebulae observing, then optical quality doesn't really matter that much. Even a 20" with awful optics will totally blow away any 12" no matter how good the optics of the 12"

If you wanna go planetary observing......you don't really want a 20" Dob :)

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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You know what makes me nervous ? When I see people saying stuff on ebay ads like 'i just cant find the eyepieces' it gets my alarm bells ringing because if the seller cant look after eyepieces how much can you assume about how the scope has been stored and cared for.

I hate to sound crabby but the 'experienced astronomer' thing can be a red herring as well. I have woeked on a few mounts owned by 'experienced astronomers' and none of them have been in great condition and I also see plenty of 'experienced astronomers' posting about how to clean optics with windowlene etc.

For all these reasons its best to go into an deal like this with a good dose of scepticism and a large dose of salt.

Last secondhand scope I looked at seemed promising. It was complete junk but its owner could shoot a good line for sure :)

It may be a bargain but stay sharp.

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Matthew

Matthew

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Possible bidding war on this scope :)

Im going to check the quality of the mirror coatings before I do anything , there's not many places with a chamber big enough to coat a 20" mirror and that won't come cheap.Plus I used to have a big dob before and I was quoted £1500 to correct and recoat the optics so it's a lot to commit too,I don't predict a bidding war but it won't go cheap either.

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John

John

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A 20" scope came up a year or so ago and it was bought be a member here. That was from a known US manufacturer (Discovery I seem to recall) and the optics were nice. The tube was basic (sonotube) and the mount likewise. I think the price listed was around £1,000.

Re-coating a mirror is one thing but re-figuring is quite another, in terms of cost.

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L8-Nite

L8-Nite

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You know what makes me nervous ? When I see people saying stuff on ebay ads like 'i just cant find the eyepieces' it gets my alarm bells ringing because if the seller cant look after eyepieces how much can you assume about how the scope has been stored and cared for.

The bottom line is..... You never know until you see it yourself.

Earlier this year there was a small refractor for sale, which excited me enough to make a 500+ mile round trip. The seller made a mistake in the description of one of the eyepieces and the condition of the scope. The eyepiece was a 6mm, not a 9mm, and the condition was "mint"; better than described, and "really did" belong to a little old lady.

I purchased the scope, and a few days later got a call from the lady saying that she found a part for the scope and would be sending it to me. The part was a turret, also mint, worth almost as much as what I paid for the scope.

So, you never know.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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what Mike said. this is why I generally travel to buy scopes (but not eyepieces unless very expensive). I wouldn't clean optics with windowlene but windex is good enough for Al Nagler. he knows a bit more about optics than I ever will.

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estwing

estwing

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£1000 starting price - £12.000 postage, packaging and insurance. Grief from the wife, a permanent observatory with space for YOU and the scope to fit and...and grief from the wife.

..as with most blokes on here,you could win the lottery..and most wife's would still give you grief..you're only here once...blah,blah
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Matthew

Matthew

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Fingers crossed for you Matt. :smiley:

Cheers Mike,its a very interesting scope to say the least,and even if i decide not to have a punt on it i hope someone off SGL gets it.This is the first scope ive mentioned to my missus that she hasnt moaned about ( i think she's given up ) :evil:

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estwing

estwing

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Cheers Mike,its a very interesting scope to say the least,and even if i decide not to have a punt on it i hope someone off SGL gets it.This is the first scope ive mentioned to my missus that she hasnt moaned about ( i think she's given up ) :evil:

...how long has it taken you Matt?...almost as important as the meaning of life question!....and why would you own a scope like that and not be on SGL?
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Matthew

Matthew

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That was one of the reasons why I wanted to view it first,you can clearly see its condition when the secondary cage is turned over.I didn't get chance to see it today the missis has had a rough weekend and was pretty ill today,but I still intend to view it this week.

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