What was your worst astronomy purchase?

[DirkSteele]

35 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

No, its collimation was perfect. It just ran out of steam easily. On its own it could be quite convincing, but when compared alongside other good refractors like Vixen and Takahashi it simply lacked definition. I knew its days were numbered when my friends Vixen 102ED revealed divisions in Saturn's rings akin to the grooves on a vinyl record, while my NP101 gave a soft view showing only A&B rings and Cassini's division - not really a test for a 4" refractor. Saturn was high in the sky and the seeing conditions were excellent. When a Skywatcher ED left the NP in the dust I sold it immediately. Optically its star images were almost identical either side of focus and ronchi lines were straight indicating no SA. May be with the quad design and short F ratio requiring powermates and short fl Nagler's at the time to match the power of the other scopes there was just too much glass in the way?

Interesting question.  Sadly, I have minimal experience with the NP101 having only had a peak through one a couple of times, and that was wide field stuff, so cannot speculate.  I almost bought that scope back in 2004, though decided to go with the TMB LZOS 115 f/7 instead.  The latter was definitely a good choice and not deserving to mentioned in this thread.

[StevieDvd]

I ordered some allen headed bolts for a vixen/losmandy clamp to add to a mount.  I measured the screw depth at about 6mm.

What came in the post were some bolts 6mm in total length, an immediate gasp when I opened the pack.  I realised the mistake was my eye to brain interface, remedied by a smack to the forehead and the magic incantation of  "D'oh".

[andrew s]

Sorry @JeremyS but it was a Takahashi Sky 90. Just totally  underwhelming. 

Regards Andrew 

[Stu]

11 minutes ago, andrew s said:

Sorry @JeremyS but it was a Takahashi Sky 90. Just totally  underwhelming. 

Regards Andrew 

As already stated in my post, ditto!! 😱

[globular]

33 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

decided to go with the TMB LZOS 115 f/7 instead.  The latter was definitely a good choice and not deserving to mentioned in this thread.

You have kind of mentioned the TMB LZOS 115 f/7 in this thread.
Ok, no one else mention the TMB LZOS 115 f/7 in this thread.

[vlaiv]

Sometimes I think that my worst astronomy purchase was buying into astronomy

 

[City9Town0]

Since I've 'got into astronomy' I've realised that I had bought the wrong house in the wrong place...

Edited September 19, 2023 by City9Town0

[Olli]

Unfortunately the 200p dob. Underestimated the weight and awkwardness carrying the scope.. miss the aperture though! 

[Roy Challen]

I think I have been lucky with telescopes, they've all done their jobs well enough. I have had some fairly rubbish eyepieces though. The worst being an 8 mm BST Explorer (starguider now) - enough kidney beans to fill a pot of chilli con carne with. A Tak MC 7mm ortho was poor in that it was decidedly underwhelming compared to other 7mm orthos I had at the time.

[AstroMuni]

The main thing that I have done wrong is possibly choosing to pick up this hobby in a country plagued by clouds all the time. And now with Global warming its getting worse 😞 So wrong time, wrong place.

[Astroscot2]

In my teens I saved hard for a year to buy an Orion Optics (UK) 8" Schmidt Newtonian F4 on a motorised EQ mount. From unboxing to first light I never stood a chance.  The mirror was covered in finger prints and on removing the optical window haha , It looked like a bit of glass that was gut by a blind guy and a saw. Just a few of the many issues. Never managed a single image through it. Broke by heart....

 

[sojourneyer]

Heck I actually have 4 ... all with Amazon.. You pays your money and plays the game.

This next one involves the MK105 when it was first released... stay tuned

 

[Space Hopper]

Thankfully with scopes and mounts and eyepieces as well, i did my homework and research before buying, and thankfully haven't brought any lemons. Yet.

I can be thankful for Stargazers Lounge and Cloudy Nights and all who contribute on there and pass on their extensive knowledge and experience for that.

Some 'accessories' have failed miserably though......

This Kendrick 2 channel dew controller springs to mind. It cost £120 if memory serves. They should stock them in Poundland.

A piece of overpriced crappy plastic junk. Blew up after only a couple of sessions. Not even Blue Peter build quality. Blue bin fodder, lesson learned.

 

[IB20]

Maybe the Tak branded Starbase. Such a lovely achromat that it’s now cost me a 76DCU & Q extender, and will probably cost me a DZ and a Mewlon. 🙈

In terms of bad quality, bought a pair of rank Celestron 10x binos and a 4mm volcano top ortho that had crud in lens. In an attempt to take it apart and clean it, I’ve now made it even worse. 😒

[JeremyS]

Vixen Mini Porta.

I don’t know what possessed me.

as Sir Patrick might have said: steady as a blancmange (do you think the current generation gets this simile?). Oh no, I’ve also let myself in for grammatical correction.

[JeremyS]

4 hours ago, andrew s said:

Sorry @JeremyS but it was a Takahashi Sky 90. Just totally  underwhelming. 

Regards Andrew 

Not used one myself, Andrew. Many say it’s a huge disappointment, yet others think it is wonderful. I’ve read that some models don’t hold collimation. 

[Ags]

So many options.... gotta think.

[BGazing]

Probably my first buy when getting into the hobby, 127Mak. Not that it was bad, but I could have skipped that and should have started either with a 100mm refractor or a C8. Both of which I have purchased later. 5 inch mak is neither here nor there, and it was very hard finding a decent diagonal for it. Sold it the moment I bought C8.

[tomato]

3 hours ago, Astroscot2 said:

In my teens I saved hard for a year to buy an Orion Optics (UK) 8" Schmidt Newtonian F4 on a motorised EQ mount. From unboxing to first light I never stood a chance.  The mirror was covered in finger prints and on removing the optical window haha , It looked like a bit of glass that was gut by a blind guy and a saw. Just a few of the many issues. Never managed a single image through it. Broke by heart....

 

This is going to look like a OO UK (circa last century) bashing session but I also purchased an 8” Schmidt Newtonian F4 in the late 1980’s and it was a nightmare. The large, heavy secondary was adjusted by three unsprung 4 mm screws, I don’t think it was ever properly collimated, the corrector plate looked like it had been bitten off a larger piece by a great white shark, and the secondary was held on with bath sealant which eventually failed, sending it crashing onto the primary.😱

I still have it, if some one fancies a restoration project…

[niallk]

I should have bought a N9T6, but instead purchased a 10E.

Terrible decision for my 15" dob: ended up getting a 6E, 8E, 17E, a PM2 and a P2 because the 10E was so lovely. 

I could have just been done if I just went for the 9mm Nagler 🙈

Edited September 19, 2023 by niallk

[Astroscot2]

12 minutes ago, tomato said:

This is going to look like a OO UK (circa last century) bashing session but I also purchased an 8” Schmidt Newtonian F4 in the late 1980’s and it was a nightmare. The large, heavy secondary was adjusted by three unsprung 4 mm screws, I don’t think it was ever properly collimated, the corrector plate looked like it had been bitten off a larger piece by a great white shark, and the secondary was held on with bath sealant which eventually failed, sending it crashing onto the primary.😱

I still have it, if some one fancies a restoration project…

That's the one !

[GalaxyGael]

None stick out, but I have got a few lemons and played the scope lottery of the non premium variety.

But, I can think of three cases where my worst 'purchase' was indecision leading to a missed opportunity. Purchasing intent that ended with nothing, twice a grail scope opportunity. Silver linings, given what I want and what I know in my bones I will use and how I will use it, time etc., I know I avoided buyer's remorse for now.

Still though, spectacular purchase fail😆

[Ags]

So many options.... gotta think.

Explore Scientific Twilight I mount aka the Wobbleizer. Whata piece of junk! It can hold a small Mak ok, but certainly not the 150PDS I optimistically put on it!

Nirvana 16 mm 82 degree eyepiece - aberrations galore. Apparently the rest of the line is significantly better.

The GSO 1.25"0.5 reducer was a bad purchase for 10 years, being useless in all applications, but now it is indispensible for solar photography with my quark.

[Tomatobro]

Daystar quark. Having seen images taken with this device on the internet I just had to have one. Try as I might it just never lived up to the hype. Thankfully the supplier took it back. My 500 year old  second hand Coronado PST out performed it in every way. I know some have had a good experience with quark's but I was not one of them.

[Ouroboros]

My first one.  It’s been downhill ever since.