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Hello from Lancaster

mswift

By mswift
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mswift

mswift

Posted
Posted

I have had a look at your website for sometime now and find the help given from members to other members questions fantastic.

I am a complete newbie but bring a love of astronomy spanning from early childhood and it's only now nearing retirement that I am wanting to fulfil some of my ambitions namely deep sky astrophotography.

I currently have a Meade ETX 125 but want to purchase a telescope that will meet my requirements above.

I will certainly be posting a pile of questions on your site in due course so please bear with me if I ask what to some maybe quite basic or asked many times before.

I live near Lancaster, Crook O'Lune to be exact and we are blest with a lovely secluded paddock by the river with complete darkness and I would welcome members in the area to pop over and chat and use their equipment. Do they call these star parties?

I am a professional mechanical engineer but with a fascination for everything.

I am a keen photographer with a Canon 5D which I hope can be used initially for astronomy but realise it is not ideal for astrophotography.

I am nearing completion of a 5" gauge Britannia class steam locomotive (my daytime hobby), a Boeing 737 flight simulator cockpit (my evening hobby) and astronomy hopefully will be my nocturnal habitat in the future, certainly when I retire and don't have to get up at 5.30am for work!!!!!!

I did warn you that I am interested in quite few things but hope my fully equipped workshop and skills can be employed in my astronomy pursuit.

Certainly looking at joining a club in the area and I have been most impressed with members online from the Blackpool club.

Look forward to chatting with some of you shortly.

Regards

Mike

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Uplooker

Uplooker

Posted
Posted

Hi Mike,

Welcome to SGL. It is evident, as you have already witnessed, a very friendly and helpful site. You certainly seem to have a very full schedule to your day as it is. You are also in a lovely part of the country and sounds like you are blessed with good skies.

A good start in astrophotgraphy is with your current camera, a sturdy tripod and a prime lens. You will be limited to 10-20 sec exposures, until you get a tracking mount. Most people accept that an HEQ5 is the minimum mountfor AP, but an NEQ6 would see you through a couple of scopes at least.

Clear skies

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Mike and welcome to the forum. I notice that you have a "...fascination for everything" which is a statement that you don't necessarily read that often and is rather nice when it appears. Like you, I believe that everything is genuinely interesting if it's approached in the right way and if you have that natural sense of curiosity about most things then it will certainly enable you to help keep the old grey matter nourished for most of your life and not just in retirement.  :smiley:

Clear skies and hope you continue to enjoy the forum!  :icon_salut:

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Mike and welcome to SGL. Sounds like a man with steam and flying in his blood perhaps. If, as you indicate, you want to eventually follow the Astrophotography route, then your next purchase to consider, before going any further down the line, is a copy of Steve Richards book "Making Every Photon Count" available through FLO, see top of page. The book that occupies shelf space of the majority of imagers on this forum. Enjoy your Astronomy :)

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