Coronado PST (new) vs Coronado SolarMax II 90 (used)?

[thedoci]

Well (I know i use well too often...) i was looking on a used equipment site in Germany for a CaK PST, i wanted to see if i could find one, i didn't have any luck thou. However i did find something very interesting, a Coronado SolarMax II 90 (essentially unknown condition, the seller is was very vague in the description) for only a few hundred euros more then a new PST would cost.

So my question is, would it be worth it to go for the Coronado SolarMax II 90 (once i have verified its condition) or should i go for the safe rout of going for a new PST?

The answer may seam obvious to you (the reader), but i ask anyways, in order to obtain your guys opinion.

There is just one slight technical problem, as the telescope ways about 10KG, it would exceed the rated loud capacity of my EQ3-2 Pro. It is rated at 8KG visual, but i have loaded it with up to 11KG of photographic gear before, and it still worked for imaging, granted i needed another counterweight (i improvised a bit), but it worked!

Also how would the Coronado SolarMax II 90 compare to a PST mod, as well as say a 80mm Lunt telescope?

P.S.

I have also found a used Coronado SolarMax60 with a BF10 for the same price as a new PST. The same things apply as above, but without the weight limitation. It has a front Etalon, i can only asume it to be either a Double stack, or it is an older version with only a front Etalon.

[grimble_cornet]

Other people here know a thousand times more than me but...... just a few points based on my experience:
I have a SolarMax40 with a front mounted etalon and it gives much better disc detail than single stacked pst scopes that I have tried (<0.7 etalon compared to <1.0 for the pst) BUT can't compete with a double stacked pst for disc detail - at least one in the hands of an expert imager like Alexandra who's pst DS images you have mentioned before. I guess that a SolarMax 60 - in very good condition - would be even better in terms of brightness and resolution.
I wouldn't touch any secondhand scope without trying it out on the sky - that applies even more to a solar scope - and would be very wary of any seller who was vague about what he was selling !!!!!!
I used to have an EQ3-2 Pro mount and I would hesitate to use anything larger or heavier than my 5kg 80mm refractor on it. I worry a little bit when I use a 9kg Celestron SCT plus cameras etc on my HEQ5Pro which is a much, much more robust mount.

[swisswalter]

Hi Lukas

I agree with Mike

do not buy it without a check on the sun. Get your self a sturdier mount, you will be happy

[Derek Klepp]

There is no way I would by a second hand Solar scope without looking through it first.

[thedoci]

What should i look out for, when testing a used H-Alpha Telescope? The seller is only a 3 hours drive away from were i live. And for the posability of getting a vastly better solar telescope, over a PST (if this statement is wrong, pleas correct me). I will happily drive for 6 hours!

[solarchat]

hold the etalon up to a fluorescent light source and you should see concentric rings emanating from the center. There should be no cracks or blemishes on the etalon surfaces. Nothing should shake or vibrate inside the scope. Take out the blocking filter and hold it to the light to see if it has any discoloration on either side. Look at the Sun through it and turn the tuner back and forth to make sure that it operates and that you see a ghost image of the Sun in a wide field of view go back and forth as you tune it.

None of these scopes are exactly the same as others as they are all handmade and they are all cared for differently. If you are getting a "miraculous" price on a scope it is because something is wrong with it or its a scam. This market is very strong and no one with any knowledge of the market is going to sell a scope thats in great shape for half what everyone else sells them for.

I get emails almost weekly from people who have thought they were getting a great deal only to find out that they were taken and they now have to spend more than the alleged savings to get the scope working again.

If you could publish the price the guy wants for the 90mm it would be a lot easier to tell you if its for real or not.

[thedoci]

The guy wants about 1200 euros for the scope + the eyepieces and Barlow that came with it.

also thanks for the quick reply! as well as the helpful advice!

[thedoci]

Also would the rings still be visible if the etalon (as is the case in the SolarMax II 90) is mounted more or less permanently inside the telescope tube? I would assume the answer is yes, but i am asking anyways just to make sure.

[solarchat]

1200 Euros is about $1600 US which is $2000 less than the price of the scope new here in the US. Thats almost 60% off retail. Its also 1/3 the price of the scope in the UK , and Coronado no longer supplies scopes to the UK except for special orders prepaid. Thats almost 70% off retail in the UK. Not to distrust my fellow human or anything, but I can almost guarantee you that you are being scammed.

Hopefully it isn't popular yet over there, but here in the US it is quite common for someone to advertise a deal like this, cash only, and then arrange to meet in a remote area or home location with a bunch of cash on them. Then when they get there, the person simply robs them and leaves, knowing that they have a bunch of cash with them. It may actually be a real scope for a great price, but....

Your safest bet would be to buy a new Lunt LS80.

[solarchat]

and no, you won't see the concentric rings unless you remove the etalon from the scope. I didn't realize it was an internal etalon so forget that test.

[swisswalter]

Hi Lukas

drop me an email. I may can help you

[solar]

if its too good to be true then it's probably rubbish.

[thedoci]

Well that might be, but i have talked to my parents (who have friends were the seller lives) and asked them if they were intending to go there in the near future, and the answer was yes. Thus i will get in contact with the seller and reqest some good images of the scope and blocking filter, to give me a first impression.

[thedoci]

I have done a bit of digging on the offer, and turns out its been up for the better part of 3 years now. None of the contact details are functional, and the person selling it has not reacted to my emails. Thus i am asuming the offer was either a badly executed scam, or the seller simply forgot about the post.

either way further atempts are pointless. But i did runn across a sale at Optcorp.com for solar telescopes. There the SolarMax II 90mm telescope is reduced by 1000$!!!!! (sound to good to be true in my opinion) This would make the telescope cheap enough for me to buy it new (granted i would need to get it over the pond but, i have friends in the US that could ship it to Germany)

So now the question is, should i go for the SolarMax II 90mm or the 60mm? Or perhaps get the external etelon + BF and some Refractor? (maby upgrade to a TAK (i realy want one! but that would be something for the next few years, so its unlikely)

or should i save up some more and get a lunt LS60 instead. I do like the look of boath systems (imaging wise)

here is a link to the offer: http://www.optcorp.com/coronado-solarma ... f15-1.html

[swisswalter]

Hi Lukas

a PT scope is very fine piece of equipment

[solar]

It is only a BF15 Lukas.

[thedoci]

dose the 3cm diameter BF30 make that much of a difference? seeing that the Lunt LS60 uses a 12mm blocking filter i asumed that a 15mm would be enough. But apparently it isn't.

[solar]

In short yes it makes a big difference.
Best advice I can offer is try and find some one close with the gear you want and go and check it out. Your purchase depends on what your prime objective is with the system. Visual or Photograph.