Second hand telescope

[Joe beaumont]

Hi everyone,

i’m looking in to buying a second hand celestron nexstar 8se and was wondering what damages I should look out for and what to check to make sure the telescope is in good working condition 

thank you 

[Astrid]

1 hour ago, Joe beaumont said:

Hi everyone,

i’m looking in to buying a second hand celestron nexstar 8se and was wondering what damages I should look out for and what to check to make sure the telescope is in good working condition 

thank you 

Well, first of all the optical system (lenses). Make sure they don't have any dust or weird mold /fungi growing (trust me, I think a few months ago on this forum there was someone that bought a SH refractor and because it was stored in a humid room w/out sunlight mold started to form)

Then the mount, move it up and down to make sure that it moves smooth and that the grease hasn't dried out)

Check the eyepieces as well, just like the lenses of the scope.

But don't worry, most SH scopes are amazing! 

 

Good luck!

Astrid!

[Joe beaumont]

Thank you very much 

[Starwatcher2001]

Connect power and handset and make sure you can scroll through the options and that the movement buttons work (they are likely to have had the most use). Take a torch to look down the tube, but don't worry about a bit of dust on the collector plate, that tends to collect within a few seconds of owning one. Move the focusing knob from one end of the range of focus to the other, checking that it feels smooth. (This will take a LOT of turns on an SCT).

Don't worry about a few scratches on the tube rail used to secure it to the mount. They are almost inevitable.

If it's not boxed, have a think about how you're going to bring your treasure back home. Sleeping bags make good cushioning and the back seat with seatbelts on can be nice and secure. If it's going in the boot, make sure it can't rattle around.

As Astrid said, most SH scopes are perfectly fine. I bought my 9.25 NexStar second hand and it's been superb.

Edited November 13, 2020 by Starwatcher2001

[Joe beaumont]

Thank you very much, do you think £925 is a good price for a second hand nexstar 8se 

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, Joe beaumont said:

Thank you very much, do you think £925 is a good price for a second hand nexstar 8se 

That seems a reasonable price (around £450-500 off new)  if it comes with standard accessories. The last one to sell on ebay went for £910 with a couple of cheap eyepieces and a dew shield.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Reasonable if it's like new and has all the accessories. But if you are not sure walk away. I got my C8 SE for half the discounted new price. It is a bit marked and used looking but works like new.  And I got a more expensive SCT outfit that looks new for half the price of a new one.

[Joe beaumont]

Thank you so much, where did you buy this scopes from or what websites 

[Cosmic Geoff]

On 14/11/2020 at 11:22, Joe beaumont said:

Thank you so much, where did you buy this scopes from or what websites 

Have a look on the for sale section here, or on astrobuysell UK website.

[Nigella Bryant]

Price second hand depends on age. My 11inch XLT SCT with carbon optical tube was under half the cost of a new one at £900. Bought using astrobuysell UK. 

Edited November 16, 2020 by Nigella Bryant
More comment

[fifeskies]

All 3 of my current scopes were bought 2nd hand ,    (the bigger 2 on here).

All 3 have proved to be excellent and allowed me to get a higher quality instrument that I could have afforded to buy new.

 

Buying from long time members is a fairly safe bet , though of course you want to inspect at purchase point.

I have only bought smaller gear by post/courier, for a big item like a scope you probably want to look it over first , but not easy under the current COVID issue.

(or agree a return policy with the seller for remote purchase)