immediate resale of Burgess

Started by light trap, 01/11/2004 12:53AM
Posted 01/11/2004 12:53AM Opening Post
Has anybody else noticed the recent spate of Burgess 1278's that are being offered for sale on Astromart almost as soon as the potential owners lay hands on them? In the last week alone, there have been 3 or 4 offered for sale after what can only be hours of actual use. One ad even states lens scratches as being considered by Bill B. as "normal" for polishing.

I've got no ponies in this race. But what intrigues me about this whole phenomena is that these folks have waited 'months' and are selling at what should be below market rate, rather than the more typical resale at a slight premium that long-awaited optics often fetch.

Are these scopes not living up to the hype, or have the owners simply "moved on" since ordering?

Thanks,
Mike Swaim
Posted 01/11/2004 01:22AM #1

Well one Astromart seller who is willing to let go of his new 5 inch Burgess claims he wants a smaller scope and is even willing to trade plus cash for a Televue 85 or Takahashi FS-78 or something similiar. Of course good ole fashin greenbacks work too.

Clear Skies
Dwight L Bogan
Posted 01/11/2004 04:00AM #2
Hi Mike,

It's hard to believe that an ultra modern, progressive society like Red China isn't capable of meeting or exceeding quality levels set forth by such backward nations as Japan or the U.S. ;^) I really think that people bought into the hype being thrown up around these scopes and thought they were going to get a $300 apo. Oh how I wish it were possible! Bill should be commended for trying to bring a low cost, high quality scope to the marketplace. It may be possible that the Chinese company sold him a bill of goods and his enthusiasm for the project blinded him to the reality of Chinese quality control, or lack thereof. If I bought a scope that had scratches on the objective and was told it was due to the high level of polishing I think I might be laughing too hard to be angry.

Clear Skies,

Steve
Posted 01/11/2004 04:28AM #3
I could find 2 in the current ads and archives where they sold an actual scope (folks delete ads, so this probably isn't complete):

http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=241209

http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=240565

Same last name, same home town, so probably related?

I sold mine after owning it for 2 weeks because I made the mistake of looking through a Zambuto mirrored dob. 2 days later I had sold all my telescopes (4) and bought an 11" Starmaster.

While I had it, I thought my particular 1278 was a good telescope. The 11" Starmaster is a lot better wink

Clear skies,

Tom
Posted 01/11/2004 04:43AM #4
Hi Mike,

Hard question to answer unless one has spoken to the 3 fellows selling theirs.

I have a friend who did receive his with scratches on the lens, and immediately sent his back for replacement. So this is a confirmed issue that some scopes have.

The six month wait was not something known in advance, and a number of folks either bought other scopes during the half a year, or bailed on the list altogether.

The scope I have, #57, is doing it's best to add to the hype for me. I also have the Skywatcher 120mm f8, Orion ST120 f5, and Celestron 150mm f8 achro's as well as an AP Traveler and 130EDT so I had some reference points to work with. (yes I'm a confirmed scope nut..) I suspect some of these folks might have thought they were getting a higher build quality. Or just picked up other scopes in the interim. On the other hand, 6 months can change a lot of things in a person’s life these days.

I had no illusions here, and I feel with a little care the thin tubes of the Chinese scopes are fine for what they cost (Skwatcher 120mm 8 lbs ). However Burgess did manage to get a fairly heavy tube wall (almost 11 lbs) , and also very effective light baffling. Nothing special about the focuser, but the metal knobs are a nice touch.

So I think you have a little of both, some of these early scopes have QA issues, and some folks have moved on. But for me the proof was in the image, and with the few times I have had to use it, it has delivered a sharp and minimal false color image, no magic here just a doublet lense done well. I was looking for an inexpensive grab and go 5” refractor, and for now this is the sweet spot.

I hope somebody has clear skies !!

David Simons