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Telescope Hire

ismangil

By ismangil
in The Astro Lounge

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barkis

barkis

Posted
Posted

I suppose the Idea of scope rental is good for those who can't afford to buy.

Hire out scopes isn't new though. There was a Telescopes4U on the go at one time. Not sure if they still exist.

£50 per week for the 12" Dob.? If you save for 2 months, you could buy one :grin:.

Ron.

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E621Keith

E621Keith

Posted
Posted

This is a nice idea. Many astronomy clubs have club scopes that can be borrowed/hired by members, but probably not top of the range models like that 12" OOUK dob. Incidentally, what happened to FLO's astrotrac rental service? I remember seeing something about that a while ago but noting lately.

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ismangil

ismangil

Posted
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Posted
I suppose the Idea of scope rental is good for those who can't afford to buy.

Hire out scopes isn't new though. There was a Telescopes4U on the go at one time. Not sure if they still exist.

£50 per week for the 12" Dob.? If you save for 2 months, you could buy one :grin:.

Ron.

Yeah, but then not every time I want to use it in my backyard :-)

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ronin

ronin

Posted
Posted

At £30 a week that is £120 in a month and you have to get there and back so say £20 each trip. Easily adds up to £160.

Wonder if it is aimed at the corporate market where a company rents one for an employee get together?

As a couple have said it is not near them and really that is a problem, what is the catchment for the business. Toddington is on the M1 North of Luton. Bristol is out of it, not sure anyone from Birmingham would travel for one. Oxford possibly if you travel cross country, Cambridge similar from the other direction, but both are on the limit and the hirer would have to be keen to do the trip.

I see they say they can deliver to Essex, Berkshire and Surrey but these are a fairly long haul, I do not see a delivery charge but assume there is one.

No guarantee of clear weather either.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
Posted

What a great idea:

http://www.darkskytelescopehire.co.uk/

I would love to rent that 12" OOuk scope for a star party.

Location wise is not ideal, there should be one at every star party, or at least en route say to Kielder or Galloway...

I'll hire you my 12" f4 (which will be a truss dob by then) for £50 at PSP next October - I'll even bring it. :grin:

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barkis

barkis

Posted
Posted

If you can find a local Astro Society, then you will get to look through members scopes.

They will be only too happy to oblige. You will also hear some great lectures on various aspects of Astronomy,

which embraces a number of sciences, and all for a modest Joining, or attendance fee.

Ron.

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admin

admin

Posted
Posted

Apologies for the deleted posts in this thread. Can we please ask members with astronomy related businesses not to promote or advertise them here on SGL. We understand this must be frustrating but if we open the floodgates even a little the forum would quickly become a random mess of affiliate posts and commercial noise. If you provide a useful product or service and look after your customers then they will write favourable comments and reviews which will be more valuable than direct unsolicited advertising.

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J_M_Franklin

J_M_Franklin

Posted
Posted

It's a good idea if your starting out and don't know which equipment will best suite you, all the advice in the world is no match for actual practical use...so a range of scopes would be better, from small everyday equipment to some of the larger Dobs, to be honest I am amazed that some suppliers don't arrange monthly gatherings for people to test out new equipment or discover which scope best suites them within their budget...I am sure that many people would volunteer to assist as you would get access to equipment that you personally do not own...

However, if your really serious about hiring a telescope, there is a company that does this, and as it's all remote control and these are quality larger scopes you get good images. The costs are not on the low side, but for occasional use it is worth it. I have used them a couple of times, don't do it regularly, but worth it I must say...My avatar is a picture of the Soul Nebular I took with one of their scopes last year...

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ismangil

ismangil

Posted
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Posted
Apologies for the deleted posts in this thread. Can we please ask members with astronomy related businesses not to promote or advertise them here on SGL. We understand this must be frustrating but if we open the floodgates even a little the forum would quickly become a random mess of affiliate posts and commercial noise. If you provide a useful product or service and look after your customers then they will write favourable comments and reviews which will be more valuable than direct unsolicited advertising.

Thanks administration.

So to clarify I have no connection with the business, other than visiting their website.

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cowasaki

cowasaki

Posted
Posted

There are a few companies doing this with lenses which is reasonable enough but seems a bit strange for scopes etc. Wouldn't going along to a star party or something like that to check out kit work out a whole lot cheaper :)

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symesie04

symesie04

Posted
Posted

I think it depends on which end of the market your pitching at. Even with lenses it doesnt make sense to hire a nifty fifty or something but certainly does for prime 200L. The same goes for scopes, its hard to justify the expense of hiring a £200 - £400 scope but it makes sense when you start getting to the costly end of the market. Imagine a imager with say a nice ed80 pro or something but dreaming of a first rate Taka who knows they could never justify the expense! They could however hire for a weekends imaging. It certainly makes sense in the scenario. But as mentioned before our unpredictable weather is the drawback.

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Astro Imp

Astro Imp

Posted
Posted

It's a good idea if your starting out and don't know which equipment will best suite you, all the advice in the world is no match for actual practical use...so a range of scopes would be better, from small everyday equipment to some of the larger Dobs, to be honest I am amazed that some suppliers don't arrange monthly gatherings for people to test out new equipment or discover which scope best suites them within their budget...I am sure that many people would volunteer to assist as you would get access to equipment that you personally do not own...

I mentioned this as a way to try a selection of eyepieces and was told that the dreaded health and safety would require insurance to cover those attending and it would be difficult to justify the expense. Not sure if this was just an excuse or a genuine response.

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