Wish i hadn't bought that...

[Bryndalf]

Its funny, my wifes pregnant and we get huge amounts of advise on what NOT to buy for the baby (E.g. bottle warmers when a jug and hot water will do)

There are loads of threads on Astro things we have all bought and loved, but what have you purchased and then wished you hadn't...

Ive got the purchasing bug and dont want to buy stuff that will never get used

[russ]

Only one thing i have bought and then got home and thought "really, really wish i hadn't bought that". And that was the Orion Optics 12" Newt to go on an EQ6. It was a monster and not that enjoyable to use due to it's sheer size and awkwardness. The optics were great, as you would expect from OO but the eyepiece was impossible to get too 80% of the time and turning the tube in the rings normally resulted in moving the mount and losing the goto alignment. The OO mirror cell was also hopeless and wouldn't hold collimation if the scope was flipped on its back. The secondary spider was like something from school metal shop. Gives me nightmares just thinking about it.

In general, i would never ever own a large newt on an EQ for as long i live. It's the worst combo ever.

Other than that, there's been a few eyepieces that never lived upto expectations and getting into astro imaging turned into a regret as well.

[barkis]

Put the OTA into a Dob. mount Russ, and get another scope to sit on the EQ6. The Orion sitting on a Dob. will be so much more managable. Just something for you to consider.

Ron.

[russ]

This was a few years back Ron.....wish i had done that at the time instead of selling the tube. In the end i sold OO tube and then sold the EQ6, then bought a Meade 12" dob.......doh! Talk about not thinking straight. Although i was pretty mixed up with the hobby at the time, making the switch from imaging/visual too 100% visual.

[MickD]

I agree with the comment about Newts. on EQ mounts. First scope I purchased was a Skywatcher 150PL on an EQ3-2. Good beginner’s scope you may think. The frustration with the eyepiece ending up in uncomfortable places (no jokes please….) drove me mad. Tried to make some “rotating scope ring thing” but that never worked properly. In the end the 150PL went in the loft and put an ED80 Pro on the mount instead – what an improvement…

Mick

[Hypernova]

The rubbish toy shop "telescope" marketed under the vivitar brand, never a good start. Wobbly tripod, optics like smoked glass and even worse 0.965" eyepiece. Not worth the £20 I paid for it off eBay. I only bought because I had a sudden interest in astronomy and I really wanted something to look through.

What an improvement an 8" dob makes when you start off with such a **** scope

[yeti monster]

Mmmmm........

There's plenty a feel that I'm being made to regret buying, but so far I seem to be doing ok. Although I haven't yet broken the news to Mrs. Yeti about the 2nd TAL-1 that's going to appear in the BIG shed shortly, on the plus side, it was only 20 quid!

I think, perhaps, the 28mm UWA, might come loaded with guilt, for a wee while any hoo.

[BlueAstra]

Probably my SW reticule EP. Thought it would be useful for goto alignment, but nearly always do it now through the camera. Maybe use it in the future for drift alignment, but will probably use a camera for that too.

[Jove]

A full set of filters. They are supposed to bring out details in planets but just make them look weird. The LP filter is only occaisionally useful, and the polarising filter is too fiddly to really use that much.

[russ]

A full set of filters. They are supposed to bring out details in planets but just make them look weird. The LP filter is only occaisionally useful, and the polarising filter is too fiddly to really use that much.

ND filter is good for the moon instead of the fiddly polariser. Baader Neodymium is a great filter for Jupiter and doesn't give the wierd looking colours.

[Michael Rapley]

A 17mm TV plossl that mysteriously "Got lost in the post".... Never going to look through it and the seller has dissapeared off the face of the earth

[ollypenrice]

10 inch fork mounted LX200. Quite expensive and hopelsess for deep sky imaging both optically and mechanically. I should have left it alt-az and used it only for visual. It was okay for that and the OTA still is.

Olly

[pbyrne]

I bought a 93mm refractor from a camera store, yeah, I know, I know:rolleyes:. The scope itslef was pretty good, but the EQ mount was rubbish, the metal was very cheap, and one of the clutches for loosening the RA axis snapped off in my hand.

Lesson learned.

[yesyes]

I regretted buying a Seben telescope. It was a 114mm newt and I couldn't find anything with it. The optics were bad and the mount/tripod were wobbly. It was my first scope. I hardly ever used it. I wanted to give up astronomy and sell the scope when my girlfriend suggested not to give up and buy a better one. Now I have the one in my signature and I'm out with it whenever I can...

[gary1968]

What shouldn't i have bought, mmmmmm, everything I bought before I had that kit I have now. Should have started big (read expensive) and saved a load working up.

Gary

[kniclander]

baader laser collimator. cheshire was cheaper and better and doesn't need batteries.

[Peter Drew]

I paid 7K for a 16" SCT OTA only to be offered a full factory 16" LX200 complete with GigaWedge for 5K. Still got both though!

[Talitha]

My 22x100 binos.

Can't really say i regret getting them, because the views are absolutely stunning. I just wish i'd waited till i could afford a pair with angled, changeable eyepieces. TBH, i haven't used them in about 4-5 years because they're literally a pain in the neck (never realized the effects of whiplash would last soooo long).

[Astro_Baby]

Cheap laser collimator - was useless and like post above a cheshire was cheaper, more accurate and has noting to go wrong.

Skywatcher Panaview in 26mm - nothing wrong with it - nice EP but I just dont ever use it.

TAL-1 - bought as a restoration project and as a test bed for a few ideas. Stinky thing is driving me mental

[vlebo]

Meade ETX 105 bought on impulse sold that unused then bought a Meade LX200R 10" without really knowing what I was getting into. Fell for the hype and thought I would be able to see Hubble type views from my back garden , boy was I disappointed ! Should have joined SGL first and saved myself a small fortune. Happy with what I have finally settled for ( for now ).

[LukeSkywatcher]

My worst purchase and the only one i regret was a pair of 10X50 bins in a camera shop in Lanzarote. They cost me 90 euros. I dont know WHAT i was thinking spending that much and i am not a good haggler. The objectives are that redish/orange colour. The build quality is rubbish.

[Andrew*]

Believe it or not, my 16" Lightbridge is my most regretted purchase. I was under the delusion that I could pop it in the back of the car and take it out to a dark sky site on whim - never done it. Iffy optics and cheapo chipboard base have both caused me lots of bother. f/4.5 is ridiculously fussy on eyepieces/collimation too.

However, the views are great and 16" will never come that cheap again, so for that, I've persisted with it. Hopefully it will be back in full action once the nights draw in.

Andrew

[Beyond_Vision]

Bought an LX90 LNT 10" thinking that bigger is better with a naive view that more aperture would make it good for imaging. Then finding out that Alt/Az at that focal length would make it practically useless unless a further £500 was spent on a wedge :s.

After joining here realised that I could have bought a decent refractor+ EQ6 + camera for the same money.

[Jove]

I'm suprised to see the Meade LX scopes mentioned - I had vaguely been thinking about one as a second scope. Are they a bit of a pain in the neck?

[RobH]

I'm suprised to see the Meade LX scopes mentioned - I had vaguely been thinking about one as a second scope. Are they a bit of a pain in the neck?

My 10 inch LX200 was an absolutely brilliant scope visually, and I regret selling it.

My 14 inch LX200 GPS wasn't too shabby either, but had to go to fund my AP1200.

Cheers

Rob