QUARKS PLACE:

This is the place to buy, sell, and trade no-longer-needed astronomy stuff ...

Disclaimer: In the interest of avoiding copyright issues, allow me to point out how this part of our website has absolutely nothing to do with the Ferengi bartender on Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Really. Granted, Quark was a wheeler-dealer and knew how to get what he wanted, but that's about the only similarity. We named this page "Quarks Place" (sans apostrophe) simply because quarks are the fundamental building-blocks of matter (at least according to the current Standard Model). And the hardware available here is just that — the building blocks of an astronomy machine. Cash or equal value can be considered the gluons via which these quarks interact. Your latinum is no good here.

To post your BUY, SELL, or TRADE offer, email our Webmaster the text of your offer (along with any images, jpg preferred). Be sure to include your contact information. Images will be edited to fit our format (4" wide, 72 dpi). Good luck finding that special widget!

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  FOR SALE: Meade 12.5" Starfinder Dobsonian Telescope

This scope is about 8 years old, but was well cared for and is in excellent condition. This is an entire package and individual components will not be sold separately. Everything you need to get started in astronomy is included.

Features and accessories:

1. focal length = 1525 mm, f4.8
2. 1.25" rack and pinion focuser
3. 8x50 finder scope
4. eyepieces: 25 mm, 12 mm, 9 mm (all Kellner MAs)
5. Orion #56 green filter
6. Orion Variable Polarizing filter
7. Orion Eyepiece case
8. Orion LaserMate Collimator
9. Telrad finder (unattached)
10. Lumicon Sky Vector electronic setting circles (unattached)

Price: original cost total = $1432. Will sell for $1000.

Contact: Debbie Fuller at 602-978-6034 weekdays only 5-8 pm.
     
  For Sale: Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian with Vixen-clone go-to mount. Includes:
  • Meade Deep Sky Imager CCD
  • DC power supply capable of running scope and laptop all night
  • 2 sky atlases (Utah and Arizona) and 11 astronomy & astrophotography books
  • 7 Meade Series 4000 occulars (12.4-32 mm), all Super Plossls + Barlow
  • Canon DSLR T-ring adapter

Selling the whole set of equipment listed above for $1000. Reason for selling: not enough time to stay involved with the hobby, and all this great equipment was just gathering dust.

If interested, contact:

Chris Cull
Cell:602.503.0888
Home:623.551.3346
elguapette@gmail.com

SOLD
     
  FOR SALE: one Celestron 12 mm orthoscopic eyepiece. 1.25" diameter, fully coated, with protective caps, excellent condition. Experience that high-contrast ortho view with only 4 lens elements between you and your target. A real bargain at $30 (about half price). Contact Dan Heim at 623-465-7307 (or email).

SOLD
     
  FOR SALE: Coulter Odyssey II Dob, 17.5" aperture, 2000 mm FL, f.4.5 primary, 2" secondary and 2"/1.25" helical focuser, Meade 9x60 RA finder, home-made off-axis aperture stop for 4" and 6" (which also serves as a lid), and a home-made caster-based platform for ease in moving it around on hard surfaces. Of course it has the original alt-az base, and still moves easily on both axes. It has the classic orange sonotube housing. Collimation is pretty good right now, but I don't own a laser collimator, and it could probably be tweaked a bit. Brand new (1985) it sold for $1195.

It would come with only a single eyepiece: a 2" 50 mm Kelner (manufacturer unknown) that provides a 45-50 degree AFV at 28x, great for extended objects like M31, the Double Cluster, and M81-82.

Now the downside ... the orange vinyl coating is scratched in several places from years of transport, not terribly, but it looks worn in a few spots. No dents. Also, it's still the original 8th-wave mirror, which was awesome in its prime, but needs a re-silvering. The secondary appears in fine shape. Deep sky objects are still great, albeit with slight loss of contrast. Planetary and lunar show some loss of resolution due to the mirror's condition. But still, not bad when using the aperture stops. The mirror is NOT scratched, but suffered from years of storage in Phoenix where condensation of "acid smog" caused etching of the silvering. The mirror was removed and cleaned twice, following recommended procedures. I understand that re-silvering can run a couple hundred for a 17.5" (plus shipping).

Price: $500. Contact Dan Heim at 623-465-7307 (or email).

SOLD