A deal for amateur telescope makers?

[freeradical]

128 mm F5 achromatic




http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l10608j.html

[Trouble]

I see that and I think of one thing

[spoiler]

Burning ants!
[/spoiler]

[freeradical]

Well, $265 is a lot of money to toast a few ants.

Seriously though, this is obviously nowhere near the quality of an apochromatic lens, but you don't have to give up your left nut to buy it either.

Edit: I am kind of amazed that it's an F5 lens. Normally lower end lenses have a high focal ratio to overcome chromatic and spherical aberration.

[space-time]

I usually pat that price for 50mm diameter achromats from thorlabs, so this seems like a good price

[Paul F.]

Been a long while since i kept up on telescope parts, but I think that's a steal!
I also think F5 is awfully short for a refractor... Probably would get a smaller "sweet spot" in the middle, with fringing on the edges... But compared to the last prices I remember for a big front lens for an achromat refractor, it would be worth it for a nice first project.