Heads up 14" bucket

[bottletopburly]

 Heads up

14" dobsonian for sale £60 https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-sports-leisure/14-inch-telescope-dobsonium/1181622917

[barkis]

Caerphilly,  bit too far to pick up for me.    I wonder what ails the mirror to render it poor over x100. Probably poor coating condition I guess. 

[bottletopburly]

still a nice project for someone, even a recoat at under £200

[faulksy]

52 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

 Heads up

14" dobsonian for sale £60 https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-sports-leisure/14-inch-telescope-dobsonium/1181622917

i have just come from down that area last week as well. thanks for posting

[Timebandit]

1 hour ago, bottletopburly said:

 Heads up

14" dobsonian for sale £60 https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-sports-leisure/14-inch-telescope-dobsonium/1181622917

 

57 minutes ago, faulksy said:

i have just come from down that area last week as well. thanks for posting

 

Dont Do It Mike

Have you forgotten about that little project you have already got on the go in your garage. You know the 20" Faulksy Dob Build. The mirror for that has caused a few headaches for you already?

Anyway a 14" Dob  is a peashooter for a man like you?

 

   

 

[Beulah]

I'd need a big stepladder for that baby.

[Peter Drew]

20" 0n A,B  & S at the moment. A little more expensive though!.  

[Peter Drew]

If you scroll down the Gumtree page offering the 14" there are a couple of other interesting items!   

[Astrobits]

Looks like an old Dark Star 'scope.

Nigel

[swamp thing]

20 minutes ago, Astrobits said:

Looks like an old Dark Star 'scope.

Nigel

I agree. It does look like one of theirs. 

[barkis]

I emailed him for it's  f/ratio, but no reply as yet. Looks a hell of a long  tube to moi.

[bottletopburly]

11 hours ago, barkis said:

I emailed him for it's  f/ratio, but no reply as yet. Looks a hell of a long  tube to moi.

it says ring him, email is slow you will miss it ,probably sold cant see that hanging around for long 

[Pete Presland]

Now that is a light bucket! 

[cotterless45]

Looks like the 14" f4.5 beast. This is what I love about the used market. You never can guess what gems are out there. Just grab the mirror , get it recoated and make a decent truss. I'd be down there like a ferret in A rabbit hole if it was nearer. Deep sky heaven,

old Nick.

[Peter Drew]

No mention of the primary mirror figure quality, the 100x maximum could suggest a poor one.

[Astrobits]

If memory serves, Dark Star used commercially available mirror sets early on in their production before starting to make their own so a check of the mirror quality is going to be necessary. However, £60 is less than the cost of a 14" chunk of glass before it is made into a mirror so it's a bargain.
 Tempted myself if I didn't have some glass already waiting to be ground.

Nigel

[barkis]

He replied to my email, but he did not answer the question I asked of him.

Instead, he told me he had increased the price,  because someone looked at it and told him the eyepieces were worth  30 quid each,  he didn't state the new price for the scope.  He said he would gradually reduce the price over time. 

Obviously the person who went to see it didn't buy it,  but I would have liked to know why.  If it was a good one .  He would have bought it,  even if he voluntarily paid a higher asking price. 

Either the guy was an angel,  or he wasn't impressed by the instrument. 

Bit of a baffling tale really. 

[RWB]

On 05/08/2016 at 17:19, Beulah said:

I'd need a big stepladder for that baby.

I was thinking more of a cherry picker

clear skies for all

                              Robin

[Alien 13]

Sometimes people want too much of a bargain even £120 would have been cheap even for a complete wreck.

Alan

[bottletopburly]

11 hours ago, barkis said:

He replied to my email, but he did not answer the question I asked of him.

Instead, he told me he had increased the price,  because someone looked at it and told him the eyepieces were worth  30 quid each,  he didn't state the new price for the scope.  He said he would gradually reduce the price over time. 

Obviously the person who went to see it didn't buy it,  but I would have liked to know why.  If it was a good one .  He would have bought it,  even if he voluntarily paid a higher asking price. 

Either the guy was an angel,  or he wasn't impressed by the instrument. 

Bit of a baffling tale really. 

£150 now, more of a restoration project or strip the mirrors and make a truss as others have said

[barkis]

I'm not concerned for the buyer of this Item who does look on it as a restoration project, even as far as re working the mirror to a high standard.
I'm concerned for the innocent person, who knows nothing at all,  but eager for a large telescope, but ignorant of the problems ahead for him/her, and may inherit a pup.
The seller is seemingly  not clued on the thing,  as the important information relating to the scope isn't available. 
14" sounds grand, but if it's a sphere with a hole hogged in the centre, the 100x mag. limit seems about right. Even a dirty one would yield more than that, so one has to have doubts.
I hope who ever buys it, can knock it into something useful if it is needed.  But I pity the person  who buys it  and  is bitten.

[barkis]

Received this email  from the seller regarding focal length.
A rough calculation would make it around   f7.5 

I wasn't the one who asked him about cooing period, so he's answered that question along with mine.

 

"Hi,
Sorry for the delay. I have measured from the mirror to the flat, and it's 1.8m. There is then 30cm to the lense.
You are correct .... the tube tube does have large thermal currents for about an hour, if it is kept inside the house or left in the evening sun before use ..I kept it outside in a custom built  lean to shed. It only took 10mins to stabilise then,


The mirror does need attention.

I have put some pics up.

[SilverAstro]

On 07/08/2016 at 09:07, barkis said:

The seller is seemingly  not clued on the thing,  as the important information relating to the scope isn't available. 
14" sounds grand, but

The mirror does need attention.

All very strange/intriguing isnt it ! He is very insistent each time that it needs attention but he doesnt say why ( though to be fair he says to phone about the bigness etc. of it ! ) So either he is clued up and knows why and could put us all out of our misery , or he isnt clued up and is assuming that the mirror is the root of his problem which may be elsewhere ( even maybe in the operation of it ) ?!

I was very tempted at first, on the basis that if it was an operator prob then ok, however  if it did need figuring/coating I could pass it on free to someone who could ! At £60 not a lot lost, (apart from bridge and passport control ) but it is really odd that if something doesnt sell at the asking price  then raise the asking price !! at 150 I'm out/not bovvered !

It was worth £60 for a spider that looks like what it says LOL ! gotta luv it