SolarChat!

Dogfight for this one from the dark lord!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coronado-PST-ca ... 20cf078121

"Buy it now" for $2K...
Bargain! :whistle:

Mark

ya, what a bargain. :S :S

I'd like one but not at that price!

Are they really as rare as the seller makes out?
I would have thought they would have made quite a few hundred at least otherwise it would not be worth the development costs of producing them?

Mark

there are hundreds of them out there and they routinely sell for less than $300

I thought you guys would have somthing to say!

BTW, probably thousands of them. Just keep an eye out. ;-)

$300, I only wish
Col

Hi Joe

thanks for the link

Well, the current bid is only for $10.50 so you stand a chance at the moment

Alexandra

Hi Alexandra
You don't stand a chance until you reach or exceed the reserve
Col

Really? what's the point of bidding $10 then?

(you can tell I have never been on eBay)

Alexandra

Hi Alexandra
Well you have never lost any money then
In the fine print under the bid box is, "Reserve not met".
This means, you gota keep throwing money at it until it disappears. Then if no one else bids it is yours!
You can be sure the reserve is not low.
Col

The reserve is probably only a few hundred quid lower than the buy it now....

Hi Mark

it is for sure above 250 $

I bought my PST CaK for 350 euros (used).

best regards

Hi Pedro

thank you very much. Good to know

Hi Walter Your welcome.

I knew the group would have fun with this one

It seems to me that a used CaK PST should be worth quite a bit less than a new Lunt CaK 60mm telescope. After all, the Lunt module allows it to be easily used in a larger aperature scope. I guess in theory the PST has slightly narrower bandwidth. The B1200 module I have is super easy to use on most telescopes and is very imaging friendly. My old H-alpha PST was not very imaging friendly and I assume the CaK PST has some imaging issues as well (right out of the box at least).

Gosh! the current bid is for a $1000 !!!

I must insure mine

Alexandra

uh, that is absolutely insane.

I guess the bidder is from seller…

That is silly. The same bidder that placed the first bid placed almost all the rest too. OMG what people won't try and get a way with.

I guess the bidder is from seller…
Hmmm, I thought that was against eBay regulations.

However it's going to be impossible in practice to prevent a user registering multiple identities or groups of users collaborating. I have a nasty feeling it happens a lot. I gave up using eBay auctions for this reason ... I do buy new stuff from "eBay shops" using the "buy it now" system but I do have a very clear idea of what the stuff is actually worth.

I guess in theory the PST has slightly narrower bandwidth. The B1200 module I have is super easy to use on most telescopes and is very imaging friendly. My old H-alpha PST was not very imaging friendly and I assume the CaK PST has some imaging issues as well (right out of the box at least).
I have a PST CaK and a Lunt B1200 CaK diagonal. Not sure about "narrower bandwidth" ... I need more gamma / contrast when imaging with the Lunt but the difference is not huge.

Yes, the PST CaK has the same focusing issues as the Ha version ... but you should be fine with a short shoulderless nosepiece on a CS mount camera.

The big issues here are:

(1) against the Lunt diagonal: hard to get a full disk without a focal reducer, unless you have a large chip camera. (That's why I keep my PST CaK.)

(2) against the PST: the image is much dimmer, making closeups difficult as long exposure times result in unacceptable image degradation unless the seeing is "exceptionally good" which hardly ever occurs at CaK wavelengths

(3) against the PST: the usual issue with astigmatism from the prism assembly.

(4) against the Lunt, with some scopes: the long fat nosepiece may not insert fully into the focuser due to interference with baffles in the scope. This can make focusing impossible.

The PST CaK is a great wee scope for full disk imaging with something like a DMK41 and is so light & compact that mounting issues are non existent. Otherwise the Lunt CaK module (used with an existing small refractor) is preferable IMHO. That's independent of pricing and availability issues.

The Lunt CaK scope package is not particularly good value IMO: I got one (with the standard focuser) & it's OK but the optics in the 60mm objective are "generic Chinese quality" & the focuser (which is very clearly a generic Chinese Crayford) is just about usable ... it would be much better with the Feathertouch focuser but that makes a much impact on the price. If you have a halfway decent small refractor without baffle ridges in the focuser then the Lunt module is the way to go IMHO.

Edit: And if you can get the straight through version, it's much more convenient than having a disgonal "in the way". Cameras don't get neck strain and CaK is not really an option for visual work.

That is silly. The same bidder that placed the first bid placed almost all the rest too. OMG what people won't try and get a way with.

Yes, HMMMMMMMMM!

Wow !!! this topic really ruffled his feathers. Check it out before it ends.

hmmm, generating more hits for solarchat. can't complain about that

Is that the infamous Apollo selling the PST CaK?

Who really cares how rare this item is or isn't? "Rarity" only applies if you're a collector rather than an observer. Who collects old PSTs and who likes to overpay for the privilege?

Sheesh, one low rep bidder intentionally and without any other competition quickly bid the price up past the reserve, effectively stopping all further bidding from non-fools. I doubt anyone else is going to bid at this point. I seriously doubt the top bidder has any intention of following through with the purchase either. He's either a joker or a shill.

Wow what an idiot!
Yeah we're really jealous! :whistle:

Mark

Wow, look at the following review of this item's sister the Ha PST, which the same Ebay seller posted here:

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/coronado-person ... 4#pbe-rvws

Most of this is every bit as applicable to the CaK PST as it is to the Ha PST.

To whit:

Hmm interesting...

To be honest to expect to see anything more than prominences when the PST has a ~1A bandpass is being hopeful!
You get what you pay for or in the case of this auction a lot less!

Mark

Dan....


wow!

Hi


that's the story for klicks

ARRRRR - It's a brutal lot we are - ARRRRR!

He gotter sold! I love capitalism!

Hmm interesting...

To be honest to expect to see anything more than prominences when the PST has a ~1A bandpass is being hopeful!
I'm sorry to see this thread degenerating into a PST knocking thread. Sure the device has its limitations, but lots of us started in the solar game with PSTs, even if we've moved onto "better things".

I don't know the exact bandpass of the Ha PST I once owned but it was advertised as "1A" yet did show considerable detail on the solar surface (supergranulation, plage and filaments as well as spots). Sure the contrast wasn't as high as far more expensive rigs with tighter bandpasses but it was enough to be useful, if not great for outreach as it took several minutes to allow your eye to accomodate to the deep red image before it was seen to best advantage. Sure the image was sometimes a bit bright but this is IMHO a better fault than an image which is too dim to be comfortable, even when the sun is high in a clear transparent sky. Sure the "rust" issue makes buying unseen in the s/h market a considerable gamble ... nevertheless the things do seem to change hands at a considerable proportion of their new price. Sure there are design compromises in the "black box" but they don't usually have a major impact on visual observation. Sure the aperture and therefore the resolution & max usable magnification are limited ...

... but it works, reasonably well for its price point when compared with the rest of the specialist solar scope / filter market.

You won't find much praise of cheap hatchback cars at a Ferrari convention. That doesn't mean that they're crap: they may well have design and performance limitations but they do the job reasonably well at their price point. I fear that some of the "Ferrari owners" on this forum may be forgetting where their roots were or that many non-contributing newcomers to solar observation may well be reading this forum ... I certainly wouldn't want to put people off by assertions that the PST which they may have bought (for a not inconsiderable sum) is useless or worse, or that you really do have to spend well into five figures to obtain worthwhile equipment.

Sorry for blowing off but I think something needed to be said.

I completely agree with you Brian

I think you may have misunderstood my sentiment, I have used many PST's and also own one at the moment for my PST mod so I think they are worth the money and perform well within their design limitations.
My point being is don't buy a cheap hatchback (PST) and expect it to perform like a Ferrari (90mm 0.5A double stack) with regards to the Gentleman's review. B)

As far as solar scopes go i'm a Ford fiesta guy but still looking at the Ferrari California :rockon:

I see the CaK scope went to some lucky winner for the princely sum of "0nly" $1000 :whistle:

Mark

I see the CaK scope went to some lucky winner for the princely sum of "0nly" $1000 :whistle:

Yeah, completely crazy money when the list price of a new Lunt B600 CaK diagonal is US$718 (on the Lunt web site). Still, as has been remarked on in the past, that's the way eBay works ... sometimes you can pick up amazing bargains but if you don't know what an item is worth or you're foolish enough to get sucked into a (possibly artificial) bidding war, you can get soaked. Caveat emptor, as the saying goes (and it's been around long enough to be phrased in a language which hasn't been in common use for centuries).

It came in a pretty box though

Alexandra

Hi all


I'm so sorry that we have lost a big Hit-donor

?

Andy Lunt does not make his own glass and the thought of a former member of this club posting that ridiculous sale at 4 times the original cost of a scope that we have given away through our club numerous times is very disheartening to me.
However, I do not want another tirade of disgruntled posts referencing me personally on every website in the hobby and, since this person lurks here constantly, lets just leave it alone.

I agree here. I started with a Lunt 60, and recently received a Coronado PST doublestack and a Coronado PST CaK. Most of what I do is outreach, and the CaK is limited, but available if someone wants to look. I hope to use the PST CaK with a DMK41 to show those images to benefit those who have trouble seeing them through the scope. The doublestack PST shows much more detail than my Lunt 60, but the 60 is brighter and easier for people to see. I think the PST's will stay in my stable for outreach for years to come, I hope. And thanks to Pedro for helping me get my PST CaK going again, and Stephen, as well as others who have consistently helped me in my solar program. My outreach would be less without his, and their, generous help.

since this person lurks here constantly, lets just leave it alone.

I think he may actually be posting here, again.

under what username?

This is extremely important

email me at sramsden (at) solarastronomy (dot) org if anyone knows