RobC62

Astronomy for me comes a VERY close second to my rc helicopters. Skill levels in both have to be learnt and honed, but astronomy does not tend to result in equipment ending up in twisted heaps in a field when gravity wins! Haha! I have to agree with you on how the hobby - well science to be fair - has come on in leaps and bounds since my previous foray when all I started with was a book by J Texeraux, a 14" pyrex blank and a whole plethora of grinding materials as a first attempt at making a mirror. 8 months or so down the road of abject monotony of hogging, grinding, polishing ad infinitum and it was done. And, according to the test reports, remarkably so! The rest was easy to fabricate with access to a machine shop and soon I had myself a quite good driven equatorial newtonian. This time round is a wholly different episode, with pretty much everything bought in (could not help motorising the focusser and filter wheel with steppers and home brewed circuitry though! Old habits!) and I have myself a low-end 8" nice Skywatcher EQ5 GOTO second hand, but nowhere near as powerful scope for not a lot of money (not saying how much, but it was VERY cheap, but the tube had been left open during a house renovation and the mirrors were needing a c... l...e...a...n. lol!!!) I am sure it can be improved, but as it is, it is remarkable how it can all done for the prices, plus it is a useful tool for use doing my late-in-life physics/astronomy degree. And my batch two children positively jump for joy when the get to see the moon and jupiter etc. Great fun and very educational.

Excellent stuff. Of course cleaning mirrors will go part way to restoring performance. Reading this thread and some on other forums recently having returned to the hobby after a 25+ year absence, I know I am right to keep quiet about how I maintain and use my astronomy eqipment, as there are always those all too ready to treat people as idiots, as they always know best.