buying quality telescope

I hoping to invest in an 8" meade, celestron , orion teleccope with good accessories. I know the basics but want to invest in a good scope for life. Budget 1000 to approx. 2000euro. Where can I shop for quality cassegrain at a good price. Either web or shop in uk Ireland is fine. I tried USA but manufacturer won't cover warranty for goods that leave their borders. Help. Astronomy ireand have celestron but over priced. Would ebay.co.uk be a good investment if suitable scope was up for sale.

Hi Eamonn, First of all, you are very welcome to the boards
I've just had a quick look around: there's Andy McCrea in north down:

www.mccreaa.freeserve.co.uk/

and David Hinds in the uk:
www.dhinds.co.uk/

Also, SCS Astro in very good:
www.scsastro.co.uk/
Ebay is not bad, but make sure of the quality of the scope first, I have a Celestron C8 myself and use it all the time, one thing though, It's field of view even at low power(x50 mag) is quite small, you'll have to buy what's called a focal reducer f6.3 to get a bigger field of view. Damn good optics though, motorised also for tracking the sky...Good Luck,
Keith..

And Andromeda Optics in Dublin

www.andromedaoptics.com

And astromart if you want to get a second hand scope,
some scopes go for nearly half the new price.

www.astromart.com

And astromart if you want to get a second hand scope,
some scopes go for nearly half the new price.

www.astromart.com

Dave has quoted a good site for second hand equipment Eamonn, but the only thing to be wary of is that you don't have any warranty, unless the product is new enough to still have one, and is not coming from the U.S.

Welcome to the Boards!

Seanie.

Eamonn
are you looking for a reflector in particular or would you consider a refractor?

The reason I ask is that I know there's a few folks on astromart selling 2nd hand refractors from Europe (France, Poland, Italy) and there's also TMB who manufacture in Germany. This has advantages regarding VAT and Import Duty (which you will have to pay if you import from a non-EU country - even if its second hand).

As regards warrenty, I guess second hand astro gear, if you buy from a reputable person, has already had any faults identified (and fixed hopefully) and is unlikely to 'go wrong'. That said, its always a case of buyer beware.

Of course, if you choose new from a dealer, you get that piece of mind of a warranty but to be honest, as long as the research is done, 2nd hand is OK. Also remember that precision instruments are (usually) taken good care of and rarely have been mishandled to the point of serious damage.

Best of luck - let us know how you get on.

Dave McD