Pain in the Neck

I’ve only been a member for just over a month, but loving every minute. What a great bunch of people!

Hello from a fellow beginner. You’ve definitely come to the right place!

Hello and welcome from a complete beginner. Your setup is very similar to mine, so I’m looking forward to finding out if you have the same questions as me! You’ve joined the right forum.

Hi sparkles63, and a warm welcome to SGL from another beginner. You’ll find this site an absolute gold mine of information, so I would recommend browsing the forums while you’re waiting for your kit. That’s what I’ve been doing, and I have just heard today that my Skywatcher OTA will be delivered on Monday, following a month’s wait. Hooray!!! 😀

I ordered my Skywatcher OTA (Explorer 150 PDS) on 04/07/2020 - still waiting. I realise that it’s not even a month yet, but it seems an age when the skies are clear...

Welcome to SGL - enjoy the ride! I am considering getting my old Pentax 35mm SLR refurbished to attach to the end of my OTA, but I'm unsure whether the wait to see the results would frustrate me too much.

The clouds that roll in the minute the streetlight outside my back garden switches off...

I would love to have somebody living close to me that would be willing to give me some advice and guidance to a complete beginner. The dark arts of star-hopping, polar-aligning an EQ mount, and collimating the dreaded newt would (I think) be so much easier with a one-to-one session (or perhaps two) with an experienced stargazer. Astro Societies are obviously a non-starter at the moment, and online advice (even the legendary Astrobaby guides) are just not the same.

Hi Maho, and a warm welcome to SGL. I was in the same situation as you just a few weeks ago, not having a clue what to buy. Everyone will tell you it depends what you want to view, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted! After lots and lots (and lots) of research I set my budget (bearing in mind all the essential extras I knew I would need), went for the best mount I could afford, and the biggest aperture I could comfortably transport to a dark-sky location. Unfortunately I still don’t know if I made the right choice, as my OTA is a victim of the supply issues caused by COVID. Very pleased with the mount and eyepieces though - they all look lovely (and quite complicated!) sitting in the garage. Enjoy!

Hi Ross - welcome from another beginner from over the Severn. If my first images turn out as pretty as yours, I will be well pleased! Regards, Charles

Being a techie person, I use the Windows weather forecasting method. I open the curtains and look out of the windows...

Thanks Richard. No point in me checking out the Mendips just yet - I am so new to this hobby I don’t yet have a telescope! I ordered my kit a few weeks ago, but the chosen OTA was not in stock, so just a mount, eyepieces, barlow, collimating eyepiece etc. at the moment - not much use on their own, although I have at least managed to practice polar aligning the mount. Hopefully no more than a couple of weeks now, so no doubt the clouds will start to roll in... Keep in touch!

Oh yes! As I said on my very first SGL post a few days ago, I’m sure Neil and Buzz played a part in my interest in astronomy. I was allowed to stay up all night (I was a young teenager at the time), and although the video quality was a bit lacking by today’s standards 😀, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Happy memories!

Hello Doc, welcome to the lounge. There is indeed a massive amount of information available on the SGL, and they seem to be a very friendly (and patient) bunch of people. I am sure to make hundreds of silly mistakes in my new-found hobby, just not sure I’ll admit to all of them! Charles.

Hi Richard, and welcome to SGL. Unlike you I am a complete beginner (my first post on the forum a few days ago - ‘Yet Another Newcomer’), but have the same issues as you in looking for some easily accessible decent dark sky sites around Bristol. I am in east Bristol, but the Mendips are not too far to travel. I was also looking at joining Bristol AS before the lockdown, hopefully to benefit from some knowledgeable and experienced observers. Please keep us up-to-date with your location searching, and who knows, I might see you there one evening. Clear skies! Charles.

Well, what a friendly bunch of people you are! Thanks for the warm welcome - I’ll just pick a couple of people to respond to individually. x6gas (Ian) - My comment about not needing help and/or advice related only to my initial purchases. I am absolutely positive that I will be calling on the wealth of expertise and experience out there in SGL-land in the not too distant future. Please be patient with me when the time comes. Floater (Gordon) - Don’t worry, ‘er indoors is already well aware of me flexing the credit card. I think I can get away with it at the moment because I bought her an electric bike to assist with her lockdown exercise regime. Not sure for how long that excuse will be valid though... John - The Bristol Astro Society is something I would like to know more about, but I guess it is difficult in the current situation. In particular I would love to take advantage of other people’s’ knowledge of suitable dark-sky locations around the Bristol area, as my back garden is bright enough to read by! An update on my situation - kit has started to arrive. Unfortunately the OTA is out of stock, but will hopefully arrive in the next couple of weeks. However, looking on the bright side (if that’s a valid expression for astronomers), it gives me the golden opportunity to get to grips with the HEQ5 beast without the distraction of looking skywards. First attempt at polar alignment introduced me to the infamous altitude bolts which are apparently made of cheese. Wow, although I had anticipated a struggle to get the altitude aligned, for a while I was thinking it would be easier to move house to somewhere at about 40 degrees latitude rather than force the bolts! Still, I got there in the end, with both bolts still straight and intact. Luckily I can practice in daylight, as polar alignment appears to be a case (for me at least) of reading loads of instructions rather than twiddling dials. I’m confident it will become easier in due course. Anyway, once again, lovely to meet you all. Charles.

It would appear to be a tradition on SGL for ‘newbies’ to post about their new-found hobby, so in the unlikely event that anyone is interested, I thought I’d relate my short astronomy journey so far. I should add straightaway that I am not looking for any advice or help, as I have always firmly believed that the best way of learning is from making your own mistakes. For as long as I can remember I’ve had a background interest in stargazing – staying up all night long to watch Neil and Buzz probably helped! However, although I have been a keen photographer for >50 years, and had a lifelong technical career in radio communications and I.T., I’ve never actually looked through a telescope in my entire life. A few months ago for some unknown reason I started reading telescope reviews, requesting equipment catalogues, sending tentative e-mail to suppliers, reading SGL posts etc. After much reading of books, manuals, forums, magazines – even going outside to look up at the sky on quite a few occasions armed with my brand new planisphere, I decided to take the plunge – and that’s when the real problems started. What a minefield! Refractor or reflector? Big aperture or portability? Goto or manual? Visual or imaging? So many decisions! After deliberating for 3 months, I have at last chosen and ordered. I was fortunate enough to have a bit of disposable income from my pension, but didn’t want to waste my money. So, do I go cheap and risk an immediate upgrade, or get something first time which will last me a bit longer? Do I go for computerised, or learn the night sky the hard way? My eventual thought process went roughly as follows… I decided Sky-Watcher was about my level, so I opted for the 150P-DS. It promised some basic imaging capability, but was still luggable to darker skies (I live in a heavily light-polluted suburb of Bristol). I went for the HEQ5 Pro mount. Probably a bit over the top for the chosen OTA, but should still be OK for the first tube upgrade – and also capable of imaging. I would ideally have preferred starting with manual to gain some sky-searching knowledge before eventually upgrading, but the bigger payload mounts seem to invariably include computerised goto. Annoying. Baader Hyperion 2” starter set. Again, maybe a bit OTT for my capability, but looked good for starting some AP. Various bits including barlow lens, filters, red torch, collimating tools etc. So I’m now waiting patiently for the courier to deliver my goodies, watching the skies cloud over. I just hope SWMBO doesn’t catch sight of it all before I get a chance to hide it in the spare bedroom! In due course I might let you know how it all goes. Clear Skies everyone!