Buying a telescope and having it posted

[Green Monkee]

Hi there

Thankyou v much for replying to my previous question!

I have sourced what appears to be a very good 2nd hand Skywatcher,
which I'm considering purchasing for £100. However, the seller would
need to post it to me and I am a bit concerned about it getting
damaged in transit (even though this appears to be a good price, it's
a lot of money to pay if the item arrives damaged).

Do you have any experience of posting telescope or know how well they
stand up to being posted (I guess they have to be posted from
manufacturers but when you buy new you're protected by a guarantee and
warranty, whereas second hand I believe there's no protection if the
seller posts it in good faith and something happened to it on the
way).

I'm not sure whether to bite the bullet and go for a new one - however
I could only stretch to the standard 130/900 whereas the second hand
one has the motorised bit on the mount

Many Thanks

Lucy

[Robin Scagell]

Hi,

If well protected with bubble wrap a telescope should survive the post OK even if the original box with its styrofoam packing has been thrown away. You might have to tweak the collimation but that is no big deal as long as you follow online instructions such as my own:

http://www.stargazing.org.uk/collimate.html

The Sky-Watcher 130/900 is a good scope even if you don't get the parabolised version (130P). But it does need the motor to make it worth having, so I'd take the chance on the secondhand one . The other drawback is that it's not a straightforward matter to attach a camera or webcam, as the focusing range is not great enough, though you can do it if you use a Barlow lens -- preferably not the poor one supplied.

Robin

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