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AP costs so far


HenryW

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A beginners toughts:

For  few years ago i started With Visual astronomy, bought me a Scope and eventualy a couple of Naglers and a 30mm 2inch eyepiece. After a while i bought me a BM 127 refractor and was happily spending Nights observing.

Then the AP bug attacked me this fall. I started incerting my wifes old Cannon EOS 350D to the SW 200P and took some pics of the moon and Jupiter. For me it was some wow moments and familiy and friends was even more wowing. (The costs so far was about some  £1000 for telescopes, eyepieces and small pieces)

Then i found out that i wanted more to get some Nice pics: A planetary camera, a "New"  Canon With liveview (EOS 550D), but it wasn't enought. I started a Reading session, read the camera manual, huge amount of webpages including many aticles at this site and bought "Making every Photon Count".

Then bought me a New Scope for imaging purposes and found out that i needed guiding. So i went and bought a guider, guiderscope, polarscope, bathinov mask, crosshair eyepiece, OIII and UHC filter, some bits and pieces to fit the Things together.

Then i found out that my old Laptop could'nt handle the huge amount of pics for Processing, so a New powerfull Laptop was needed.

The cost so far? All the "New" stuff= £1500 and i haven't even begun imaging With autiguiding.....and all this is considered as cheap AP setup.

Well, i know i will eventually go for a CCD camera if i'm reasonably happy and get the system to work all right, also i see in the future a New Mount and an APO.

I was planning a New car within a couple of years, i think i will postpone the New car for a while...

Just my 5 cents thoughts about this hobby :grin:

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I prefer not to add anything up, including old stuff I have spent more than the cost of my car and probably someone else's as well. Add into that 'old' money where I have sold camera equipment to fund astro stuff and that means that I've actually spent very little :smiley: .............. that's what I tell my husband!

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As someone of an older generation where you really had to justify every bit of expenditure I do like posts like this as it makes me feel less guilty about spending money on something I want.  But when I sit down and think about it what I really want more than money or equipment is time and clear skies.  On the other hand, if I had the money I could stop dreaming about all this lovely equipment that I could use if/when I get that time!

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Sure In read of one person who posted some time back that they had spent about £16-18,000 so far and that with another £5,000 they might end up with the AP system that they wanted.

It is hard to explain to someone entering astronomy exactly what the cost of imaging and AP can actually be.

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Hello Henry, had similar thoughts this summer about the wallet busting madness and started this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188543-how-much-do-you-think-you-have-spent/, makes for some really interesting (and scary) reading !!!

I believe it's a downward spiral to eternal poverty once you look down that first blessed eyepiece !
 

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Money is a tool for enjoying yourself.  Whether that be beer, fags, football, golf or scopes.  Stop beating yourself up about it and enjoy it.  You are a long time dead.  You regret the things you didn't do, not the things you did.  There is much truth in these cliches.

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Most hobbies start to cost a lot of money when you count it all up: woodwork for instance: Bandsaw £500, Thicknesser £400, router £150, router bits ~£200, lathe £850, lathe tools, about £500, chainsaw £200, chainsaw clothes £200 etc. It all soon adds up. I probably have about £1000 of wood in the garage in one form or another, and I dread to think what the drills, sanders, chisels, hand planes, rulers and gauges come to all told.

Our other hobby is medieval reenactment: tent £1000, furnishings for tent ~£1000, 4 season sleeping bags for the whole family £500, clothes ~£1000, longs bows ~£150 each, armour upwards of £1000, trailer to put it all in £2500; car big enough to tow the trailer £7000 second hand etc...

Work is what I have to do in order to pay for the things I want to do.

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Hello Henry, had similar thoughts this summer about the wallet busting madness and started this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188543-how-much-do-you-think-you-have-spent/, makes for some really interesting (and scary) reading !!!

I believe it's a downward spiral to eternal poverty once you look down that first blessed eyepiece !

Sure it was an interesting read :cool2:  But don't get me wrong, i wasn't  complaining, just a "warning" for aspiring astrophotographs. There is a lot of way to spend Money, restaurants, booze, cigarettes, expensive clothes, bars, pubs, vacations to exotic Places, An Audi, Mercedes, BMW and other insignificant items that only serves to show others what a "great" person you are.

But standing alone in the dark, watching the beauty of the nightsky, hearing the electromotors tikking rythmicaly and an ocasional Nightingale or owl in the distance is an unbeatable experience that is Worth all the Money, as said above, you only live once :angel10:

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Nightingale or Owl in the distance....... :laugh:

In this country it's barking dogs and loud women..... :rolleyes:

Well, i have a cabin in Telemark free from barking dogs. Here is some views from my "observatory" one taken in summer and the other in Winter:

post-8905-0-46912900-1387616373_thumb.jp

post-8905-0-24317500-1387616393_thumb.jp

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Sure it was an interesting read :cool2:  But don't get me wrong, i wasn't  complaining, just a "warning" for aspiring astrophotographs. There is a lot of way to spend Money, restaurants, booze, cigarettes, expensive clothes, bars, pubs, vacations to exotic Places, An Audi, Mercedes, BMW and other insignificant items that only serves to show others what a "great" person you are.

 

But standing alone in the dark, watching the beauty of the nightsky, hearing the electromotors tikking rythmicaly and an ocasional Nightingale or owl in the distance is an unbeatable experience that is Worth all the Money, as said above, you only live once :angel10:

What about the bats.......don't forget the bats.....

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Stop counting and enjoy ...  :rolleyes:

Agreed.

You can count if you wish, just for reference, but I've just stopped caring. It's only money, and it's only there to be spent at one point or another. Does it matter that I've spent enough to cover a 2nd hand car? Not at all, I enjoy using what I've bought and I'm not about to sell it all and trade it for a car ;). A car is merely a utility, my telescopes are pure enjoyment. I know which I'd have.

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