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Greek Tony

By Greek Tony
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Greek Tony

Greek Tony

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Hello All, I have just joined up and thought I would introduce myself, I'm Tony from East London. As a little boy I was interested in Astronomy, the stars, planets, space etc....but I never got round to taking it up as a hobby. However now that I have a lot of time on my hands I have decided to and start to fulfil my boyhood dreams and have taken the plunge, very excited indeed!

I purchased the BBC Beginners Guide to Astronomy book from the newsagent a few weeks ago, to refresh some of the very basic I knowledge I already had and thought this would be a good place to start, I found this book very beneficial and a great introductory read and you can't go wrong with the BBC can you? LOL!

On New Year’s Eve, after much browsing, mainly topics on this site (so thank you), I popped into town to MicroGlobe and purchased a pair of Helios Quantum 4 15 x 70 Bino's. My word, what an amazing piece of equipment for the price, I couldn't believe that these could be so relatively inexpensive. And a nice case to go with them too, lovely jubbly.......

My first use was New Year’s Day first thing in the morning, it was light however the moon was right there begging me to pop my cherry, "come on baby" I said to my new toy and WOW, I was amazed, so happy, what a way to start the New Year. I know it was lightish but it was an impressive start I thought.

So last week I purchased some books from Foyles on the recommendation of reviews from the Star at Night Magazine website, I got The Practical Astronomer, The New Astronomy Guide & Exploring The Night Sky With Binoculars by the late Patrick Moore (god rest his soul) and a copy of The Cambridge Star Atlas. Plenty of reading to be getting on with and really enjoying the learning.

I then took delivery of the mount bracket for the Helios, a SkyWatcher red torch and a luminous compass. The intention was to get started with the Binoculars and use them for viewing the sky and knowing where things are, I had planned to use a camera tripod I had lying around but this proved to be too flimsy and a real pain in the backside to get stable. I kindly asked my dad (aka the A-Team) to see if he could rustle up some kind of static mount, weather proof, and with enough height and adjustments so I could stand comfortably or sit on a high stool......My dad is a genius, what he found in his garage and come up with was nothing short of marvellous. I have attached the pics, all this from pieces of junk laying around, there is an extendible pole under the bracket for the Bino's that goes up another 18 inches, now I understand him when he says in his English-Greek accent, "Tony, you see, I don't throw anything away" HAHA....

Anyway, sorry for the long one, I am excited and much looking forward to some star gazing very soon and talking to peeps on here and advice for a newbie......Just wish for some clear skies for a change, but hey, what do we expect living in the UK!! I had a couple of questions and was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction to post them?

1. I intend on purchasing my first telescope in the next few weeks, I have had a quick browse around on here for reviews, opinions etc plus some other review sites as well as the BBC one. I was thinking of either the SkyWatcher Explorer 130P or the Explorer 200P (EQ5). I know I am new to this however I would like a scope with some scalability, something that I can use later on for imaging and any other beneficial add-ons etc....I also don't really want to upgrade too soon. Can anyone advise me?

2. Obviously being on the outskirts of London, there is a lot of light pollution where I am. I was wondering if there were any places to go throughout the night not too far from me? I don't mind staying in a hotel for a night or two if it's a fair drive away. Are there places where people go and til dawn? Can anyone recommend any sites to check these out?

Cheers for reading.....:-)

Tony

P.S. BTW, It's not really sunny in East London!!

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JamesF

JamesF

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Welcome to SGL

Looks like a nice little setup you have there for the binoculars. There's an astronomy group that meet quite regularly in London called the Baker Street Irregulars so they might be worth looking up. They also plan trips further afield for star parties (I think they went to south Wales for a long weekend recently?).

Using a telescope is like making... Oh, hang on, that was Swiss Tony :)

James

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Greek Tony

Greek Tony

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Thank you very much James, that's great, I will check that out for sure. I'm hoping I can get a few hours under my belt soon so I can really enjoy a full night somewhere proper dark. I also heard about a place in Leyton, part of Lea Valley parks that's open 24 hours with advice and notices for star gazing, will have to find out more. Not sure I want to be carrying lots of expensive kit in a dark place in Leyton though!!

HAHA, love the Swiss Tony joke, nice one :-)

Cheers,

T

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Greek Tony

Greek Tony

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Cheers guys, thanks for making me feel welcome :-)

I did quite a bit of research before parting with any cash, I'm glad I'm going the right way, I want to do this properly but of course enjoy it along the way and understand more!

If I find it's not dark enough where I am, I was thinking about just looking at the forecast a few hours before sunset and just book myself into a hotel out in Essex or Herts countryside for the night and get some good hours in to familiarise myself more.

Tony

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Greek Tony

Greek Tony

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Hehe, you should have seen it before it was painted!! I regret not taking any pics but my dad was swearing too much to disturb him!! Must admit, it does look great, most of the pieces are from an old tall standing fan, the feet and chrome poles for the extendible arm. We threw a load of sand down the metal stand for more stability. Can't wait to start using it :-)

T

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Rich MedRev

Rich MedRev

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Welcome to SGL Tony

I have just replied to your question re the scope on the beginners forum, I wish I had read your intro here first!!

good luck and give your dad a proper pat on the back for the bins mount - top effort indeed :icon_salut:

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Greek Tony

Greek Tony

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Cheers Rich, thanks for the comments, my dad saw the smile on my face so knows he's done a fab job!

"Errrrrrmmmm, dad, can you now make me an observatory please out of that load of wood over there??!!" HAHA...I might try and see what he says!!

I will look at your reply, cheers for taking time to advise.

T

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Greek Tony

Greek Tony

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Thanks all, its good to know I'm in safe hands for my new adventure.......There's a burning smell coming from my pocket, but hey, you only live once and I'm going all out on this :-) Looking forward to getting the new Bino mount into action and the upcoming Scope purchase......Nice!

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. Although the 200P you saw comes on an EQ5 mount, it is also available on a dobsonian (alt-azimuth) mount which you might find a little more stable than the equatorial mount which in my opinion is really at it limit with the 200P sitting on it. Of course it is possible to add motors to the EQ5 mount which are useful for observing (..tracking) but won't be sufficient if in the back of your ming you are thinking of using this set up for any future astrophotography. Equatorial mounts are great but they can place newtonian scopes in awkward positions whereas the dob is more 'accessible'. Food for thought anyway.

Clear skies for now and hope you enjoy the forum.

James

P.S I think we might borrow your dad's ears to see if can advise us on any tips in the DIY section, as his creation in the above photo looks really good!

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