£1500 gets you...

[NickK]

I got my Pentax for not much more than your budget.. really for the price vs performance it's truly gob smacking. ( and it seems to have this effect of instilling curiosity and possibly some envy from Tak owners)

[L8-Nite]

It never has been a better time to be an amateur astronomer that is for sure.  .............................

And BTW, like Olly, I will take any of those 2nd hand scopes that begin with a T....Or an A 

I'll second that, and also take scopes that begin with a  "Q" or a "Z".

[nicks90]

i can only dream of being allowed to spend that much on a telescope!

The bank manager (wife) has a million other 'familly' things for money to be spent on - holidays etc - and astronomy is way way wayyyyyyyyy down her list of funding plans.

it took a good amount of pursuasion to release £500 for my 12" dob.

[A McEwan]

Late addition: a classic Vixen FL102S (used) with Moonlite focuser. And change (lots of it)...

[Coco]

Harry Pages carbon fibre 130mm triplet £1200 same as TS 3k scope..

[Herbig]

Having read this thread I was inspired to take the plunge. I was going to buy a new WO GT102 but the thought of a Tak I just could not resist. However, just a few points to bear in mind. Do your homework, check the new price, prices have come down for some things and some folk seem to expect to get back near what they paid. Check what accessories come as standard with what ever you are buying. Don't buy unseen unless you are sure you can return it, remember with our poor weather it could be some time before you can test it properly. If possible test before you buy and check it over thoroughly. Don't be afraid to ask questions and take a good bright torch with you.

I'm now the proud owner of a Tak TSA 102s, it's not mint but was less than the GT102.

[ollypenrice]

Lots of second hand scopes here. Two Tak FSQ106Ns, a second hand TEC140, a second hand 2O inch Dob, a second hand Pronto, a second hand Mesu 200 mount, a second hand 10 inch SCT. Nothing wrong with any of them...

Olly

[Singlin]

How much is the dob going for?

[ollypenrice]

The Dob is going nowhere! I just bought it an Ethos...

lly

[Ben Ritchie]

Interesting thread. I'd certainly echo this

When I was beginner back in the 1980's £1,500 would buy you far, far less, relatively speaking, than it does today.

what you get for your money has jumped massively right across the board in the last 15 years or so. To me (as a die-hard refractor fan!) the revolution was possibly the arrival of affordable apochromats, mid-90s were very rare and if you did come across one they were often things like the Meade ED f/9 doublets which were fairly marginal apochromats at times, and the arrival of the blue-tube 80ED for a couple of hundred quid was a huge change. But affordable super/ultra/etc. eyepieces and the unrecognisable changes in imaging from film and massively expensive, noisy, and small-chip CCDs to what's available now are also huge, huge changes.

a second hand Pronto

Glad it's still going strong, although to be fair it's at least third hand as it wasn't new when I got it. Still miss it though

[ollypenrice]

Glad it's still going strong, although to be fair it's at least third hand as it wasn't new when I got it. Still miss it though

Heh heh, nice to hear from you, Ben. Yes, your Pronto is marching on and has a regular fan club of returning guests. They sometimes take it vulture hunting as well. A nice scope and a second hand bargain, as is the TV85. All sorts of new nonsense can be blown out of the water by one of these.

Olly