SingAstro

cloud_cover wrote:Hahaha! congrats on your overseas study... you'll be in excellent location.
Me thinks in that case don't buy a telescope locally - it doesn't make sense when US telescopes are much cheaper and their shipping is much less (not to mention no GST, although I'm not sure if Hawaii attracts state taxes)
If you have a vehicle or can observe from a backyard/roof/balcony then your best bet would be a medium sized Dobsonian (provided you have no aspirations to astrophotography, in which case a $200 budget gets you... nowhere) - manual for budget, goto if funds are available but above all try for used. They tend to be (generally but not entirely) in good condition and for the goto scopes, offer quite a good bargain. Best of all, if you don't want to ship back here, you probably can sell it off for not much loss. Think of it as a rental or usage fee
Do check out these very useful websites: http://www.cloudynights.com and http://www.astromart.com Cloudynights is a major astro forum and has a bustling classifieds. A-mart is the main astro classifieds service (for a fee). I bought my 14" from there

antares2063 wrote:I think your 3 yrs of Hawaii skies will propel your interest further than what 3 yrs of Singapore skies can achieve...enjoy your time there man!

bornfree wrote:just to share, i was looking for a second hand setup for about the same budget SGD 200. i was looking at maybe a 4- 5" newt with mount. i ended up only getting a 6" OTA for 250, with no mount (current EQ mount is a borrowed unit). there are no eye pieces or view finder, n getting all those cost me almost 600 in total, still without the mount. maybe i just dont have the luck hunting for my scope. May the odds be ever in your favor..

ps. mcgill is offering vixen porta2 for SGD495 now. a 10% off. tempted to get it.. waiting for paycheck. =P