Hello All,
Well, first off this my first post, and also I am a total beginner. The more I read on gear etc., the less I seem to know...hopefully that will change over time!
I am located near Kobe, Japan, and a longtime resident here, from the PNW/Oregon though. A few months ago I came across a vintage Takahashi TS-65-800mm that was complete and in pretty good condition. Honestly I had no clue about the brand, but loved the build and obvious quality of the parts at first site. I would set it up on my balcony, mostly for lunar viewing. Some dings aside, and a couple spots on the lens, the TS-65 is in mostly good condition and a blast to use.
That spurned me to look around for some other gear and this past week I picked up a near mint condition FC-60, with clamshell, 5x25 finder etc. As you can see, the only real wear is on the clamshell and the scope/lens itself is mint. On separate local auctions I also picked up a vari-extender as well as a OR 40mm eyepiece. Debating to hunt down a 1.25" back, as I have a nice little collection of 965 eye pieces....I did pay a little more than I budgeted, but when receiving the scope it was obviously in mint condition and I am a happy.
Unfortunately its rainy season here, and when we have some clear nights I look forward to taking it up to some dark areas nearby for better viewing.
On a side note I have a habit of hunting down old gear. For some reason sellers on yahoo auctions Japan or similar sites sometimes just list items as "telescope", without the make/model....so some deals can be had. However the used market for Tak`s here is robust, and they seem to hold their value.
My main concern is the objective/lens coatings. I have seen many Tak`s with deteriorated optics, like mold etc.
--Any tips on how to prevent this?
Japanese summers are hot/humid, so I don't imaging that helps.
Cheers!
Edited by DJ_Kobe, 17 June 2021 - 11:34 PM.
