Andrew W

Ha! after all that I've just popped my M31 cherry between the clouds. I think describing it as a sneeze might be 'bigging it up' a bit.  ;)

after battling cloud for about an hour and a half last night and only just being able to make out Cassiopeia through the mire I'm off for a sneeze.

Hi Roj,

yes, clear skies would be a blessing!

here's hoping santa delivers very early round your way ;)

I haven't even got that far yet!

give yourself a pat on the back I think.

I'm also part of the 'push it and see what happens club'!

usually something stops working or has unintended and often expensive consequences.

I'm trying to grow out of that habit and read manuals a bit more often.

It's not going very well.

Oh yes, and thanks for the offer much appreciated. you might regret it when you find I've moved in to your garden :)

Ha!

Looking through that would make you think you could actually touch the moon!

I've been having a chat with one of the members on here. The issue is there doesn't seem to be a middle ground between the ST80 which is the right size to hit my portability/cabin luggage size refractor but with obvious quality and CA issues and the synta style copies which, with a nice 2" diagonal, are starting at £300 and still have some level of CA to contend with. and that's without any eyepieces!

I'm thinking of therefore biting the bullet and trying to find a cheap as chips second hand st80 and then grab a canon 1100d for some initial observing and imaging whilst I wait for an ED80 to pop-up second hand. 

I'll have changed my mind by this afternoon though! ;)

not sure if you found your way there yet but this link will take you to 'getting started' general help forum.

http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/19-getting-started-general-help-and-advice/

Cheers Mal.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the dilema and will no doubt end up with more than one scope.

At this stage I just want to dip my toe into a bit of everything whilst I work out what really floats my boat but that perfect compromise doesn't exist.

Hence why we all spend too much money on equipment and have empty wallets  :)

Cheers, already on it :)

just got some bits via ebay. Can't make my mind up on a scope as yet!