I've sold a few refractors. I've given more away... Some I remember selling:
- TeleVue Pronto. I sold it because I bought a ED-80 and then found a very good deal on a William Optics 80mm Megrez II FD. That was around 2005. I loved the size and ergonomics of the Pronto but I did a lot of digiscoping and the CA would ruin photos on a regular basis. I sold the Pronto to Atilla Danko, Mr. Cleardarksky.com I still have the WO Megrez II.
- ED-80 Optically very good scope, mechanically, kind of clunky and oversized. The Megrez II is very similar optically but much better mechanically and much more compact.
- William Optic 66SD. I bought this with the idea of using it for Digiscoping but that didn't really work out. I ended up giving it to a disable CN member.
- Astro-Tech AT-102ED. I initially got the scope to review it for Astronomics in 2007, it was the very first AT-102ED. I loved it and ended buying it. I had so much fun with it during the two years I had it, that I decided to upgrade and ended up with a used NP-101. A friend was getting married so I gave the AT-102ED to the couple as a wedding gift.
- Orion 120mm Eon. A very nice scope but I was feeling a bit guilty for having just spent $1250 on three used Ethos eyepieces and it wasn't getting a lot of use because it was competing with my 10 inch Dob and the Dob was the better planetary-double star scope so I sold it. That was maybe 3 years ago. I got to missing it and realized I'd made a mistake so when someone here on CN who I knew mentioned he might be having one for sale, I bought, that was last year.
Over the years I have owned a number achromats, countless ST-80s, countless 80mm F/11s from both Japan and China, 120mm F/8.3's, 100mm F/6's and F/5's, a couple of 102 mm F/10s. And a variety of 60mm Achromats from Japan mostly, a few 76mm F/15s... I buy them on Craigslist when they're cheap and mostly end up giving them away. Currently I have a 102mm F/5 Celestron. These are more part of my hobby as a bargain hunter than as an observer.
In terms of reflectors, why people might buy and sell reflectors more often than refractors:
They're big, they can take up a lot of space..
, I keep scopes that I use. My reflector line up is quite stable, the 12.5 inch Dob, 20 years, the 10 inch, 17 years, the 16 inch, 13 years. The 13.1 inch I have for 7 years, the 22 inch a little more than 3 years.
The two that I have parted ways with:
- My 12.5 inch F/6 Meade RG. It was just too big to do anything with. A wonderful scope but it weighed about 300 lbs. When the 13.1 inch F/5.5 came along with a top quality EQ platform, the RG was out the door, I passed it along to a young CN member.
- The 25 inch F/5 Obsession. Great scope but observing alone on a ladder 50 miles from the nearest hospital seemed risky as I approached 70 so replaced it with the 22inch F/4.4 Starspitter. It's eyepiece is more than 2 feet lower so the ladder is much shorter. I sold the Obsession.
With large reflectors like the 12.5 inch Meade and the Obsession, they require a lot of space, especially if they are not disassembled after every use. One could store a whole lot of refractors in the space the Meade or the Obsession took up in the garage. I was able to fit both the Obsession and the Starsplitter in the garage but I really didn't want to deal with that 10 foot eyepiece height of the Obsession and when I purchased the 22 inch, I made a deal with my wife that I would only keep one of them.
(There's actually 4 Dobs in the photo and one of the 2 ladders)
Jon