WatcherF

New to the hobby, I'm looking for some reasonable sites to observe around Fife, Scotland once lockdown ends. I've seen that Loch Leven RSPB centre is used by local clubs so I guess anywhere around there that isn't obstructed would be good. Equally, East Lomond has been mentioned and is relatively high up. Does anyone have any other favourite sites that they would recommend. My scope is a Celestron 130EQ and I'm happy to lug it a few hundred meters from the car if necessary.

As a brand new practical Astronomer (as in, I'll be using my own telescope for the first time tonight) I just wanted to say how useful this post is. Its sets expectations well and, as you said, will probably help avoid disappointment and indeed stop people just putting their scopes down after a few attempts. From a newbies point of view, it's also easy to understand, even in the 'beginners' sections of this forum I've seen terms and references I just don't recognise. None of that here; clear understandable messages with pics to show us what it actually means. Great post and thank you. W.

Thanks @DaveL59. Summerhouse it is then. Can't see there being a problem with spiders & stuff, I use it as an office too :-) W.

Celestron 130EQ. Has a motor drive but not fitted it coz I want to actaully understand how everything works before automating anything. So motor will still be in box in a drawer for a bit yet.

@rwilkey thanks for the tip. I'm using stellarium already as part of my course. Great piece for software. I'm also hoping to get few photos with an old M4/3 camera when I get going so I've also downloaded starstax for stacking images. I'll post the results. I've been using and old pair of binos up to now and it felt like the time to progress. All tips welcome😀

My new (and first) scope just arrived (on the first cloudy night of lockdown 😶 ) and I'm well pleased with it. I have it all set up and aligned and now I need to decide where to keep it. I can keep it in the house but I also have a summer house in the garden and I'm thinking it might be better to keep it in there so it's closer to the outside temperature when I want to use it. No idea whether this is a good idea or whether it's better to keep it inside where the temp won't vary as much. Any thoughts?

Hi, I'm Wayne, a Yorkshireman who moved to Scotland in 2006. IT Manager by day, I've had many interests over the years, only a few of which have endured. I've had an on/off interest in the universe at large as long as I can remember and have recently decided to get a bit more serious about it. To that end I'm planning to take a degree in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences but given I've had no formal education for over 30 years I've started some basic studies to get my brain back in gear. Very new to practical Astronomy I've just bought my first scope, a Celestron 130EQ, to do a bit of back yard viewing while in lock down. Great to see so much content and hope to be adding to it really soon. WatcherF