To buy or not to buy, that is the question?

[veras]

I've been thinking for a while about buying some kit to view the sun - assuming it will reappear at some point. I've seen this advertised for sale by a member of my club on our forum, registered an interest and hope to view next week.

“What you get is:

Specially shortened EQUINOX 80mm APO refractor OTA
80mm Screw on Baader ERF
Modified PST with tuner with caps
Shiny metal box
2" extender to allow you to use the OTA as a standard telescope.

Price is £800”

Problem is not being at all knowledgeable about these things other than looking at advertisers blurb makes me feel anxious about parting with my £800. I posted on another forum (AstronomyShed) enquiring whether it is a good buy, combination of kit, suitable for a novice, anything else you want to add - to take their advice. The one thing I do know is that the mount I have just got will be ok.

I received a PM from one of their regular contributors’s pointing me in the direction of this forum which was very kind of him. The question remains the same - to buy or not to buy?

Thanks very much.

Vera

[Merlin66]

Vera,
Welcome to the world's best solar forum!!
You've come to the right place.

IMHO the price looks high for what it will do for you:
It's not mentioned, but it would be worth checking if the "modded" PST still has the original gold tube sitting in the box and if the objective is "non" rusted.

The Equinox is not a good donor scope...
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/equinox ... o-ota.html
it's a 500mm focal length, so you'd only end up with an effective 50mm Ha solar scope - not much bigger than the original PST!
(It's a good telescope, if your looking for a 80mm APO!)
The ERF - can he confirm it is in fact a Baader D-ERF?
(Astro-Engineering did a "mod" package for the early Equinox ED's which had the PST nosepiece and a RG630 front filter....)

I've done many PST mods, let me share:
s/h "good" PST 300-320 gbp
s/h Baader D-ERF 80mm clear, ERF 220gbp
s/h Vixen A80Mf, 80mm, 900mm focal length, 100-120gbp
nosepiece adaptors etc 40gbp
so, around 660 - 700gbp all up.

Unless you have a real use for an 80mm APO...I'd either push for a lower price or better still find a Vixen/ LyraOptics solution.
Hope this helps.

[marktownley]

Hmmmm, I have my reservations that this is not an ideal combo with the 80mm equinox ota. If this is the 80mm/500mm fl version then definitely not; it will only effectively be working at 50mm aperture due to vignetting. You really need a minimum f10 scope to be getting best use out of this... Sorry!

[marktownley]

Tee hee hee, you beat me to it Ken!

[smerral]

Hi Vera,

I told you they'd do the business! If you're interested in solar this is the place to be.

Brian

[keithatrochdale]

Hi Vera

You would be hard pushed to beat a PST Tall100RS combination, even if buying new parts.

It is rare to see any second hand PSTs and if you do they are a premium price nowadays.

[veras]

A big thank you to all who responded. I decided not to go ahead with this purchase.
But I will definitely be looking at this site regularly so something very worthwhile has come
out of my diversion into all things solar.

Vera

[peter drew]

Hello Vera.
I use the same Ha "kit" with the ERF mounted internally on a Tal 100RS, it works very well indeed. The Equinox, although not suitable for a PST conversion, is a very nice scope in its own right, you could keep it, offer it in exchange for a suitable donor or sell it to fund purchasing one. Good luck.