Should I sell my gear?

Welcome back Keith.
From my experience.
I was in the exact same boat and I actually sold (nearly) nearly everything I had.
Now I'm 'back' so to speak & I totally regret selling the stuff.
It sounds like you are right on the cusp of getting back into it.
it's been this long. wait at least until you've the scope fitted with the servocat and then see.
in my experience replacing a previously bought collection of eyepieces is MUCH
more difficult / expensive to replace over a scope.

Hi there,
One point that you should consider is that the 'China effect' means that used prices for used gear have collapsed. I tried to sell some stuff recently and I couldn't sell it for even 40% of what I paid for it. A friend of mine bought a 4 inch refractor on an equatorial recently for 70 Euro. The chances of getting back the 2000 plus on my Sky 90 from Takahashi are zero.
Here is an idea that worked for me when my enthusiasm waned. . Get on to astrobuysell and get a really small telescope on an alt-az. ....you may have one already. I bought a C90 for 120 quid. Put it in a corner and pop out for 10 minutes every clear night. Pretty soon, I was hauling out my large scope.
One last thing, if you really have lost interest, read a little about the concept of 'sunk cost' in Accountancy. Forget what you paid for your gear, sell it and don't look back. You can use the cash to fund another activity.....If Astronomy is a chore.....move on and do something else you enjoy! Why not?
Just my tuppence...I am no 'life coach' ....but that might be a good thing
Best of luck
Kevin

Hi Keith,
How times flies by, can't believe it was 6 years ago we were reading about your exploits of modifying the scope.
IF you decide to take up some other hobby and want to still sell your stuff, I might be interested in some of those ethos eyepieces, again thats IF you decide to head off to astronomical oblivion.
I've also got some bits'n pieces, they're almost impossible to sell...

Its tough to sell gear. I was seriously thinking of selling my CGE mount and C11. Since I got my 12" dob and a camera tracker I have only used it twice in the past two years. I would be lucky if I got a third of what I paid for it new. I now plan to put it in a permanent observatory once I settle in somewhere" permanently". I had always promised I would have an observatory since I was a kid.
I found the dob so easy to take out at a moments notice that I use it all the time. However I just bought a new grab and go scope this week, a 90mm Mak Cass from Skywatcher for those moments when I want a quick peek at the moon or planets .Should be here on Monday. It should also make a nice portable eclipse scope for the next US total solar eclipse.

Was talking to my brother about it and he was in agreement with you guys. That if it was observer fatigue he would advise selling but seeing as the lack of observing is partly down to an unusable scope he reckons I need to finish the scope and give it a chance and if after a year with a working finished scope, I haven't used it much, then sell.

Its more of a catch 22 type funk over the last few years. As I said all those house moves and renovations a few years ago depleted my financial, physical and mental reserves for a good while. Without the funds and energy to finish the scope and get it working again, there was no observing, with no observing there was no spark or impetus to drive the motivation to bite the bullet and push forward with fixing the scope.

Now I understand why Philip Lardners Observatory took so long. Gearheads seem to have a habit of biting off more than we can chew. :laugh:

[EDIT] Browsed Cloudynights and Telescope House and Teleskop Service for the first time in about 3 years just now. Surprised how little has changed in the Dob and EP scenes since the major purchases from 2009-2011....and the prices!!! Higher if anything. €2450 for a 16" Lightbridge!! €3200 for the 16" Flextube Goto!!! If I remember correctly I managed to make all my major purchases in the Goldilocks zone of limited time big discount special offers, coinciding with fantastic exchange rates and/or avoiding customs. LB16's for €1080-v-€2400, Servocats for €1200-v-€1650, Full set of Ethos for €2200-v-€5000 etc. Yep, I'd never be able to get the same level of equipment again at 2015 full prices. I'd almost forgotten how much I'd saved with well timed purchases when I originally purchased the gear. I also needed to be reminded that not even the electronic stuff has become outdated and obviously the scope and eyepieces in all the years they gathered dust. Its a slowly advancing industry it seems. All parts are as capable 6 years after I should have started using them. ie. Its not like buying an expensive PC and mothballing it for 6 years by which time you really need a new PC

Im just trying to psych myself up here