Meade LT6 ACF

[Guy Wells]

I have a chance to buy the Meade LT6 ACF. I see that it is nearly five years old. It's in great condidtion. I have no idea how much I should offer for it?....Any input from the Lounge would be appreciated.

Thanks

Skips

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Skips, the Meade's are nice scopes, best to try and have a go with it, if its a distance purchase, you need to have a good look at some high res pictures of the optics, but it would be better if you can meet the seller and check everything out before you commit to a price, with its age, the corrector may have been taken off for cleaning, so would be ideal to spend a good deal of time asking questions and using it - if the seller is genuine - see if you can meet up and have a night using it under the stars - checking the electrics - if the corrector hasn't been taken off - there may be a little dust on there - but no problem as there are plenty of cleaning how to's on the net.

Just be aware if its a distance purchase - be careful - not saying that everything isn't genuine - but, if it were me, I would be happy to travel to "try before I buy", just speaking to the seller will give you a good idea of how genuine they are and how much they know about the hobby/Astronomy in general - if they mention " I'm selling this on behalf of ......." have a good think about it - he may just be selling to upgrade to a larger scope though.

As everyone says on here "Buyer Beware"

On saying that though, I bought a used Meade LX90 8" and used it for about 5 years before selling it on and never had a minutes trouble with it, optically or electrically/mechanically.

Have a look in person at it if you can , then have a look on the second hand market for similar scopes and take it from there - if you can take someone with you who has prior knowledge of these scopes, there's not a lot to go wrong with them, but if there is a problem, it becomes very expensive to ship to dealers for a repair.

Paul.

[Guy Wells]

I have the scope for testing at the moment...

[Northern Soul man]

Nice 1, give it a "good run for its money" and as said, the LX90 I had was quite an old model - I had to take up a little "slack" in the Dec axis, but the scope was amazing, the optics were really sharp and a pleasure to use - has it the single fork arm mounting - being the 6 it should be ok, but other single fork arm mounts like the 8SE, from feedback on here, said it was "under mounted" and had to fight with it to gain steady views under high magnification, but I think the 6 would be fine - not a major increase optically from the 127 you have though, have a go and give us your thoughts on it Skip.

Paul.

[Guy Wells]

Thanks. I have put it through it's paces. Better all round than my Mak'. Lovely and stable. Tracking is spot on. Then we come to the price. I have had a quick look around. £850 new I have been informed...but second hand?

[Northern Soul man]

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=85577

Hi YA Skips, Thanks, just had a quick look around and found this - a little bigger, but a little older and the software/hardware is a little dated to what you have there - dare I say try 450 (due to its age??) - I find it really difficult trying to price an item, but if its in really good condition, well looked after and you want it - as with all astro gear - its not over used due to weather and time constraints - but then again 5 years old?? its a tough call.

Paul.

[Guy Wells]

Thanks Paul. £400-450