Buying a used SCT

Getting ready to look at buying a used SCT... ( C-14 ). Does anyone have any tips on things to look for when checking the scope out. I'd like to have a C dealer I know check it out but not sure how to right up a contract saying sale pending, pending check out.

Any ideas ?

Not sure how far that will get you. I am sure most any you get here on astromart from a reputable seller will check out okay.

What you really need won't really get done by a dealer. That is a real careful cooling and collimation first, then a critical star test to insure you are getting one of the better ones.

I know that this will probably get me some flames, but I have bought numerous SCTs, and have become extremely familiar with critical collimation at high mag on steady nights, cooling and star testing. After doing all this with several, I found only a couple to be truly quarter wave or better. Many of them were okay to mediocre. But they are also very reasonably priced.

The key thing a dealer probably would be able to check out for you quickly, is mirror slop, and focus shift. They could check out collimation, but it will need to be recollimated by you after shipping. Especially the bigger ones. You may want to use one of the smaller dealers, especially imaging ones. They don't necessarily need to be a celestron dealer as they may not even know as much as you think. When I first started, many years ago, The big C dealer I used told me at f10, you didn't even need to worry about collimation. That could not be further from the truth. Tells me, they were ignorant on the subject or unscrupulous.


Regards,
Kevin

Getting ready to look at buying a used SCT... ( C-14 ). Does anyone have any tips on things to look for when checking the scope out. I'd like to have a C dealer I know check it out but not sure how to right up a contract saying sale pending, pending check out.

Any ideas ?

If I were looking to buy a used SCT, I would look at Uncle Rod's website, http://skywatch.brainiac.com/used/index.htm I would consider buying uncle Rod's book: Choosing and Using the Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope and I would wait for Uncle Rod to share whatever he might right here.

Jon