Random cheapo Newtonian to try collimation?

[TiffsAndAstro]

Missed out on an Orion star blast 4.5 for £35 was wondering about the one below. Not bothered about the mount.

Just thinking about a cheap non bird Jones F5 ish Newtonian to try out collimation before maybe buying something better that won't needs lots of fixing to make it good, in the future.

This OTA weighs 4kg so not impossible for my current mount.

 

Apologies for worlds longest URL

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116256865754?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20240315132637%26meid%3D9d7e1fe2c60c4db8bbf5485b08b19ca4%26pid%3D102055%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dnone%26itm%3D116256865754%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2MobileWithMLRV6RankerPricelessTop50Features%26brand%3DCelestron&_trksid=p4375194.c102055.m146925&_trkparms=parentrq%3Af42a24fa1900ad993dea692fffff0868|pageci%3Ac1d5d29f-4c13-11ef-9343-e6e005883b3a|iid%3A1|vlpname%3Avlp_homepage

[pipnina]

Were you going to use a newt for imaging or visual observation? For imaging you might find they all behave with their own character and an f5 will be a doddle to collimate compared to an f4. For visual, you can get it "close enough" and it will look fine, maybe you could be picky at high power.

But all the newts I've used have behaved differently. Some barely held collimation at all (8" TS Photon f4 flexed under its own weight, while my 10" dob and 5" PDS were like bricks and easy to adjust, and even survived some transportation without need for adjustment.

If you want to look at a specific newt for imaging or observing, maybe if they sell it on FLO you could pick it up anyway, with a collimating tool (my preferred is laser for fast primary alignment and secondary squaring, cheshire for centering the secondary). That way you get to see if the newt you want to end up using works for you, with the safety of the 30-day return?