Very interesting scope for sale

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just spotted this on ABS-UK

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=164975

A 10" F/4 Schmidt-Newton for £300 is a very good deal, but does require a solid mount, and I would want to replace the finder and focuser. If I lived anywhere near the seller I would almost certainly consider this (especially given the fun I have had with my 6" F/5 Schmidt-Newton)

[AbsolutelyN]

Indeed. I was very tempted to this as not too far away at all but googling the scope specs sounds like it's in region of a 35kg OTA which is just too heavy for my mounts. Will make someone a very nice scope if they have a capable mount.  

Edited August 19, 2020 by AbsolutelyN

[johninderby]

OTA weighs about 17kg. Used to have one but it was a bit heavy for any of my mounts so sold it on. It’s silver not white as I bought it as a fire damaged scope for parts but restored it as optics were perfect once cleaned and gave it a silver tube. Sold it for about £200.00.

Edited August 19, 2020 by johninderby

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I was going to say 35-36 lbs was closer to the OTA weight.

[AbsolutelyN]

Perhaps I got lb and kg mixed up. 17kg is not that bad. 

[johninderby]

Yes 17kg isn’t that bad if you have the mount for it.

This happened to my Skytee II after using the SNT10 though. Maybe a coincidence but........🤔

Edited August 19, 2020 by johninderby

[JeremyS]

51 minutes ago, johninderby said:

restored it as optics were perfect once cleaned and gave it a silver tube.

...and added the trademark handle, of course 🙂

 

 

[RobertI]

6 hours ago, johninderby said:

Yes 17kg isn’t that bad if you have the mount for it.

This happened to my Skytee II after using the SNT10 though. Maybe a coincidence but........🤔

That's horrible!

[johninderby]

3 minutes ago, RobertI said:

That's horrible!

Indeed. 🙀🙀🙀

Was getting another eyepiece and saw the scope slowly leaning over out of the corner of my eye and just caught it as it fully detached from the mount. Fortunately it was a not too heavy 80mm APO. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by johninderby

[JeremyS]

20 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Indeed. 🙀🙀🙀

Was getting another eyepiece and saw the scope slowly leaning over out of the corner of my eye and just caught it as it fully detached from the mount. Fortunately it was a not too heavy 80mm APO. 

I think we all shuddered when we first saw your pic John. Then went and gave out altaz mounts a once over!
 

Edited August 19, 2020 by JeremyS

[johninderby]

Never going to be a problem with the AZ100 though. 😁

If the AZ100 had been available back then would have kept the SNT10. 🙂

[blinky]

Too big for en EQ6 then?

[johninderby]

It’s uncomfortably close to the max load of the EQ6 but probably OK for visual. Would prefer an EQ8 or something with a bit more capacity..

Edited August 19, 2020 by johninderby

[RobertI]

Weird that it ‘melted’ when a fairly light weight scope was on it. I suspect they build the SkyTee with very low grade soft alloy to keep the price down - I stripped a couple of threads on the gear assembly, not to mention rubbish clamps. It is nice and heavy duty though and works well with my scopes but I think I would upgrade if I was going to put a really expensive scope on it.  But at the moment if my 150PL fell off due to the mount breaking, I’d be more upset at the broken mount than the broken scope (from a price perspective)! 🙂

[johninderby]

The Skytee is a fine budget mount......IF it’s not overloaded that is. I suppose I pushed the bounds of what it was capable of putting that heavy OTA on it.

[DaveS]

At a short 17 kg, even my little DDM60 would chuck it around without even noticing it.

[John]

The limit of the Skytee II seems to be quoted at either 10kg or 15kg, depending on which vendors website you read. FLO's is more conservative, probably sensibly.

With the stock clamps it's about 1kg !

Interesting to think that Meade used to sell the the 10 inch SN on the LXD55 mount and an alloy tripod. Makes you wonder if anyone ever got a decent view or image through one of those setups

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I gather some people bought the SN6 on the LXD55 mount in order to get the mount cheaply, and planning to use a different scope on it. In reality, the OTA was clearly the best part of the set. The idea of putting an SN10 on an LXD55 mount is crazy. I wouldn't even consider putting it on my GP-DX mount, which is a lot more solid than the LXD55 from what I have heard