need help

i am looking to purchase a 12 custom made dob and need some help
it is collapsible
mirror by mark henry
heated protostar quartz secondary
wyorock focuser
f5- 1/24 wave rms mirror (1.6" thick
the deal is a trade for my 2 month ol
celestron c9.25 with asgt mount
he says the dob is a one of a kind so
i really dont know whats it value is
help!!

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Hi Victor,

I would suggest you place a “Wanted” advert here in AM as many, many more people look at that than this forum (plus asking for a specific scope as a business proposition on this forum is skirting the AM guidelines a bit).

Otherwise that’s a neat scope your after – good luck in finding it!

Tom Mengel
(Moderator – Equipment Forum)

Similar scopes are made by Teleport.
They do not make a 12" but I would guess the
price around $6000 new. Used in great condition
maybe $5000.
http://www.teleporttelescopes.com/Pricing.html

New StarMaster 12 inch is about $4400
http://www.starmastertelescopes.com/html/Hybrid11/hybrid11.htm
with Zambuto optics.

Perhaps the maker of this dob is less well known,
but it certainly looks beautiful. Mark Harry
has good reputation for mirrors, but not quite
the stature of Carl Zambuto (used in Teleport).
Your 1/24 wave RMS is a good mirror -- Strehl 93%
-- assuming the 1/24 wave is accurate -- probably
from Foucault test and not more demanding interferometry.

So with these factors maybe $2500 - $3500 for this scope.
A wide range. If I were to test it in person, and
found excellet optics and useability, I think $3500 is
possible. Others can comment. Seems like a good trade to me!

I personally find 4-pole truss scopes do not
have very stable collimation, but often it
can be fixed with some tiny steel cables, etc.

I would thing that with your scope selling for $2000 new, that the trade would be a fair trade, maybe even a good trade. Chuck made nice scopes, well built with fine craftsmanship and great materials.

Heres the ad from chuck posted on 9/27/07
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=523407
Just in case the link don't work it's ad number 523407
Roger