Criterion 8" f/12 SCT

OK. If ever there was an OTA that DESERVED the Ugly Duckling Award, this is it! This old Criterion 8" f/10 SCT was owned by a gentleman who has since passed away. He was a perfectionist and from what I have been told he sent TEN of these OTAs back to Criterion until he received the one that he thought was just about perfect. We all know that these have a spotty reputation, at best. However, this one IS a good scope. Look at the major modifications that he made to it! One isn't going to set up one of these for imaging and do all of the modifications if the optics are not outstanding.

The front has a built in dew heater tape. The original ownere added a Celestron Erect Image Finder. There is a B&L off axis guider with shutter. A long carry handle has been installed and there is even a bubble level on the tube! The focuser has been motorized and there is a MICROMETER to use for precisely setting the focus! This guy was WAY ahead of the crowd and was imaging with FILM well before any CCD camera was available.

Anyway, that's all that we know about it. It is another project scope that was to be cleaned up.  The Great House Cleaning Project had determined that this needs to find a new home.

We are asking only $400.00 for it. Yeah, it looks horrible, but, it does have a killer set of optics. We mounted a Moonlight focuser on it for a short while and it gave some pretty very images of Jupiter.

Come on! Be bold! Don't judge a book by its cover! Give this one a shot and see if you can get some nice images, too.

If you want the rather extensively modified mount upon which this was carried, it is listed in the mounts section.