So today I was given a 3" Orion SpaceProbe OTA, as in for free. Came with a basic red dot finder that will probably find a home on a different scope, and what appears to be a 25mm Kellner (it's unlabeled but usable). Already not a bad deal. The original tripod was broken and long gone... probably for the best. Nothing like a terrible GEM to make a marginal scope seem far worse.
Well, to make a long story short, I collimated the thing (which was no small feat, the mirror cell is primitive to say the least). After that, I pointed it at the nearly full moon, just holding it free hand against my body. To my surprise, it resolved a pretty dang decent image. The entire moon fit in the FOV just barely with a 10mm Plossl, and the 25mm EP it came with performed well enough.
So, now I have yet another telescope, which I can basically use like an overgrown binocular. To make the world's smallest usable Dob out of it or not to is the next question. I'm thinking yes, next time I have scrap wood lying around.
Anyone else find a "junk" scope to be far more useful than expected?