Good amateur astronomy is getting astoundingly cheap!

On Wed, 8 Jul 2015 09:59:03 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Rich was comparing exquisite 4-inch f/15 Unitrons (apples) with rather less exquisite modern achro OTAs (oranges.)

Yes. And adding a little bit of information wasn't unreasonable. Only
you would see that as some kind of challenge that needed attacking.
Like I said, you're broken.

On Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 1:36:39 PM UTC-4, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Wed, 8 Jul 2015 09:59:03 -0700 (PDT), wsnell01 wrote:

Rich was comparing exquisite 4-inch f/15 Unitrons (apples) with rather less exquisite modern achro OTAs (oranges.)

Yes. And adding a little bit of information wasn't unreasonable. Only
you would see that as some kind of challenge that needed attacking.
Like I said, you're broken.

A quick check of the Orion site shows that they sell a 6-inch f/5 Newt on equatorial mount for ~$500, with a drive ~$100 extra. So your earlier estimate of $1000 for a modern-day equivalent of the RV6 is quite a bit off, you jack@$$.

On Wed, 8 Jul 2015 10:56:29 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

A quick check of the Orion site shows that they sell a 6-inch f/5 Newt on equatorial mount for ~$500, with a drive ~$100 extra. So your earlier estimate of $1000 for a modern-day equivalent of the RV6 is quite a bit off, you jack@$$.

But I didn't say that. I said a cost-adjusted RV6 was about twice as
expensive as an equivalent Newt today. Which you seem to agree with.

On Wednesday, 8 July 2015 12:25:45 UTC-4, wrote:
On Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 12:08:06 PM UTC-4, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Wed, 8 Jul 2015 08:43:20 -0700 (PDT), wsnell01 wrote:

At that time an RV6 Newt, arguably better, cost approximately $250.

For reference, that's about $900-$1000 in 2015 dollars. Maybe double
what an equivalent Newt goes for today? (Was that scope priced with a
mount, or just the tube?)

You missed the point, peterson.

Not many people could afford or justify a 4-inch f/15 Unitron refractor back in the '70s and today not many people want one, other than as a collectible perhaps, even assuming that it's any cheaper, adjusted for inflation.

Affording/justifying a 6-inch equatorial Newt at a fraction of the price of the refractor, or a larger Newt or SCT for roughly the same price as the refractor was, and still is, much easier.

Does that explain it well enough for you?

What point? I was just making an observation, and asking a question.

What the hell is wrong with you that you think every response is some
kind of challenge? You're really broken.

Your comment about the cost of modern-day 6-inch Newts was completely irrelevant to the discussion.

A vintage RV6 goes for little more in nominal dollars today than it did in the '70s, since so many of them were sold.

A Unitron 4-inch refractor from the same era now goes for several times the price back then, in nominal dollars, since so few were sold.

People correctly and intuitively saw the RV6 as the better value.

The 6" was a crude scope, especially the mount. The Unitron was a much finer-produced instrument.

On Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 2:25:16 PM UTC-4, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Wed, 8 Jul 2015 10:56:29 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

A quick check of the Orion site shows that they sell a 6-inch f/5 Newt on equatorial mount for ~$500, with a drive ~$100 extra. So your earlier estimate of $1000 for a modern-day equivalent of the RV6 is quite a bit off, you jack@$$.

But I didn't say that. I said a cost-adjusted RV6 was about twice as
expensive as an equivalent Newt today. Which you seem to agree with.

That is only a very rough estimate of prices. f5 Newts are more suspect, whereas one tends to hear nothing but good things about f8s , especially the RV6,optically. The mount seems to have been at the very least, adequate.

The generic f5s might be superficially and cosmetically equivalent to the RV6, but a functionally equivalent unit is likely to cost much more than even $1000 today. Try $500+ for the optics alone, if you can even find them.

And some Russian Newts that generally look like the RV6 were priced at $650 a few years ago.

As I suggested earlier, your comment was irrelevant to the discussion.

On Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 12:40:01 AM UTC-4, RichA wrote:
On Wednesday, 8 July 2015 12:25:45 UTC-4, wrote:
On Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 12:08:06 PM UTC-4, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Wed, 8 Jul 2015 08:43:20 -0700 (PDT), wsnell01 wrote:

At that time an RV6 Newt, arguably better, cost approximately $250.

On Thu, 9 Jul 2015 03:31:37 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

As I suggested earlier, your comment was irrelevant to the discussion.

Broken.