What was your best astronomy bargain?

[doublevodka]

Inspired by the thread below, what has been your best astronomy bargain?

Against the advice of most I like to have a poke around the wild west that is Facebook Marketplace as I'm on a budget and sometimes, just sometimes there is a bargain to be had if you are willing to get your hands dirty.

My latest was advertised as a "Helios SkyScan 2001" from a house clearance that was open to offers, so I sent the guy an offer of £20 fully expecting to get told to go away, only less politely..

5 minutes later the deal was done and I still wasn't sure what I'd actually bought until I went to collect it on the way home from work. Helios SkyScan 2001 as advertised is just an older EQ3-2 mount, but in the picture, it had a short tube refractor on it of unknown size (I didn't ask, it was a surprise to get £20 accepted and I'd have been happy with any of them).

So that evening I turn up at the house, look in the garage and there is a grubby, but functional, ST120 Helios branded refractor sat on the EQ3-2, with various bits and bobs including motors and controller.

I've no plans to use the mount (previous experience with another cheap Helios setup tells me I'm not likely to enjoy it), but the scope had rings, so, on getting it home I transferred it to a dovetail and slapped it on the AZ-GTi after a quick dust-down and it works and has already given me my best view of the Andromeda Galaxy so far 👍

Eventually I'll tear it down and give the slightly grubby objective a good clean as it's dirty inside and out, but for now it works fine and will be my new widefield scope 😁

Added bonus, because it was so cheap, the financial controller (aka wife) didn't quibble the purchase, that's a double win in my book!

 

 

 

[RobertI]

Perhaps not a bargain as such, but I reckon SkySafari is incredibly good value considering the depth of functionality, usability and the fact that you can also use it to remote control telescopes over wifi or use with Celestron’s Starsense. 

[ollypenrice]

TeleVue Genesis, bought very cheaply because it was out of collimation. I took a risk. Turned out that re-collimating the front lens cell is dead easy and took me about half an hour.

Olly

[tom.yates]

Astro physics 7" apo f9 many years ago 

It was in a shop in Southport and I walked in asking had they any big refractors

He said one had just come in with a alt az mount we did the deal I got the 7" AP and mount

And he got ETX 125 AND £500

It even had the paperwork 

[globular]

Cable tie on my focuser - transforms it into a wobble free fine focus instrument.
Honestly it's a game changer.  Less than 5 pence. 

[Stu]

My Vixen FL102S, bought from eBay in fantastic condition for a price you wouldn’t believe, so I won’t tell you 😝

[DirkSteele]

Wait, we can get bargains in astronomy?!  Sadly, I have always bought all my equipment new so nothing purchased stands out.  Perhaps I need to change that habit.

[Clarkey]

10" Dob for £90. It was a bit of wreck and the base was rotten. But after a bit of DIY for a new base and clean up, I now have a fully functioning scope for << £150. (Colour scheme from 9 year old son).

[josefk]

3 hours ago, RobertI said:

Perhaps not a bargain as such, but I reckon SkySafari is incredibly good value considering the depth of functionality, usability and the fact that you can also use it to remote control telescopes over wifi or use with Celestron’s Starsense. 

100% - it has become my right hand at the scope and a total bargain as it becomes fractions of a pence per use and actually a really nice product not just a really useful one. 

[Roy Challen]

Dunno really. Most of my stuff was bought second hand, so all of it are bargains as such. I got my hyperflex zoom from a member on here, it's easily my most used eyepiece. Or how about my Tak EQ mount, I consider it a bargain at £400, cheapest Tak mount I've seen anyway. Even my Daystar solarscout can be considered a bargain even though it bought it new, I've used it more than all my current scopes combined. Oh yeah, forgot about the Tal 1 I picked up for free a couple of years ago. Pound for pound, the best a bargain can be!

Edited September 19, 2023 by Roy Challen

[wookie1965]

3-8mm SVBony zoom £55

[CCD-Freak]

I would say one of my best astronomy bargains was when I purchased an Edmund Scientific 8" F8 mirror still in it's cell at the Texas Star Party swap meet for the whopping sum of $40

I built a nice Dob around it and it delivers incredibly sharp views.  I haven't used it much in recent years but I just can't bring myself to selling it.

[doublevodka]

1 hour ago, globular said:

Cable tie on my focuser - transforms it into a wobble free fine focus instrument.
Honestly it's a game changer.  Less than 5 pence. 

Very similar to the "clothes peg" mod I use on my Skymax 127, as an added bonus there is a ready supply on the washing line in the event one breaks 😂

[doublevodka]

35 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

Dunno really. Most of my stuff was bought second hand, so all of it are bargains as such. I got my hyperflex zoom from a member on here, it's easily my most used eyepiece. Or how about my Tak EQ mount, I consider it a bargain at £400, cheapest Tak mount I've seen anyway. Even my Daystar solarscout can be considered a bargain even though it bought it new, I've used it more than all my current scopes combined. Oh yeah, forgot about the Tal 1 I picked up for free a couple of years ago. Pound for pound, the best a bargain can be!

I haven't got to free yet but I'm working my way down 😂

[Roy Challen]

9 minutes ago, doublevodka said:

I haven't got to free yet but I'm working my way down 😂

I've had a few freebies passed my way but most couldn't be considered a bargain as the items in question were either broken and not repairable, or just plain junk.

[Swoop1]

Not me but a member of my society responded to an e mail from someone wanting to get rid of a scope and mount for free.

He came away with a C11 SCT and a pier.

I think the cost of setting up the pier somewhat offset the free light bucket.

[Ratlet]

1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:

3-8mm SVBony zoom £55

It's a bargain at twice the price!

[Saganite]

15 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

It's a bargain at twice the price!

For sure !

Mine cost £120 and I am delighted with it....

[Paz]

I don't think I have got any steals in terms of crazy low price, the bargains I have had are in terms of equipment that I have used a hell of a lot compared to their cost (things like my SLV and Delos eyepieces) and in terms of bagging in-demand items from the second hand market that get snapped up as soon as the go up and you know everybody else is also on a hair trigger watching and waiting for them, my 31mm Nagler being my finest moment in this respect.

[IB20]

Easy, a Starwave 102ED-R in perfect condition for under half price its new value. 

[paul mc c]

Probably this...£20.

[Peter Drew]

Three that I paid for spring to mind.  A 5" F15 APO triplet in a brass cell by Ross of London £15, 8.5" F12.5 achromat in an aluminium cell £500 and a 16" SCT £5000 complete with Gigawedge that itself would be £1800 new.   🙂

[CraigT82]

For me, a pristine Starfield 102 in oklop bag for £350 on here. Also my old Fullerscope 8.75” f/7.5 on its mk3 mount (can’t remember what I paid but it wasn’t much)… best visual scope I’ve ever looked through that one.

[niallk]

Lacerta dual speed upgrade (~€70) for my SW250px.  That scope was great value too, but perhaps not a 'bargain'.  The dual speed focuser was inexpensive (for this hobby!), but made a huge improvement in terms of the experience at the eyepiece 😉

[woldsman]

The steals  were a Vixen Custom 80 with mount & EPs for £80, Vixen Custom 90 with mount & EPs for £85, Tal 1 for £25 (which I bought just to add accessories to another Tal 1 gifted me - sold the core bits on), Tal 2 for £25. Makes up (slightly) for the bad purchases (of which there are a few…).