Is this a good deal?

If a fellow with a good woodshop but not much money was looking at building
a first telescope, and didn't want to try making his own mirrors - would a
Meade 6" primary and the matched secondary be a good deal at 70 USD, or
should he wait and watch the Astromart ads for a better one?

If a fellow with a good woodshop but not much money was looking at
building
a first telescope, and didn't want to try making his own mirrors - would a
Meade 6" primary and the matched secondary be a good deal at 70 USD, or
should he wait and watch the Astromart ads for a better one?

It really all depends on how good the optics are, and how discerning the
observer. One way to look at it is that $70 is not a whole lot of money, so
why not jump in and start building and observing? For most folks who stick
with telescope building and observing, the first scope is not the last and
there will be many more opportunities to do differently/better.

For a first scope, either a 6" f/8-ish or a 8" f/6-ish is always a safe
choice. Of course, other sizes and focal ratios are interesting in
different ways, so I wouldn't automatically rule them out.

Dennis