Does anyone out there with an 1100GTO wish they’d been able to get a 1600GTO-AE and have an interest in trading up?

I got my new 1600GTO-AE six months ago and was delighted to find I could assemble and disassemble it by myself, raising the possibiity of taking it to the field occasionally. I hadn’t expected this. But I had gotten it to put my Meade 16” SCT on, and that OTA — once I’d gotten it off its original fork mount — turns out to be more than I can singlehand. And I’d like not only to go into the field, but also to swap the primary OTA out for my 155EDF occasionally, as well as to take to our Florida home in the winter. So I’ve decided to downsize the OTA to a 14” PlaneWave or Celestron, depending on some unresolved issues. And of course, a 14” wouldn’t need a 1600 mount, only an 1100. 

I’ve also concluded that my needs don’t justify the extra cost of the AE. The price difference between an AE and non-AE is quite neatly just about the same as between a CDK14 and a C14, and given that total amount to have invested in my primary instrument, I’d rather have a CDK14 on an 1100GTO than a C14 on an 1100GTO-AE. 

So what I’m hoping to do is to trade my pristine 1600GTO-AE for your equally pristine, and recent, 1100GTO non-AE plus an amount close to the new- price difference. I think this is reasonable, since the price for AP mounts of recent manufacture, light use, and like-new condition is close to the factory price.

If interested, please contact me off-list.

—howard

howard.ritter@...