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Just a quick hello

WBB

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WBB

WBB

Posted
Posted

After months of lurking and really enjoying all the great information on this site I've finally joined if for nothing more than to say thank you for such a great site. There is truly a wealth of information here without a lot of rubbish. An excellent place. 

My first experience with astronomy was during the 1986 Halley's Comet. My dad had brought home a small table top refractor hoping to get a close up look at it. I was only 7 years old and trying to see a moving object through that telescope was hopeless. We did get to see it with our naked eyes at least. The scope did provide a nice view of the moon. Seeing it's scarred up surface was fascinating. I kept asking him to show us the stuff left on the moon from the Apollo missions and he did his best to entertain us "look close, see the flag!" Sadly that was the end of my optics aided star gazing for nearly 30 years. That telescope was horrible. The mount was heavy but sloppy, had no fine adjustment controls, no diagonal and a tiny aperture.  

Fast forward a bit and here I am. I discovered this site while trying to choose a beginner telescope for my son and I. The choices were overwhelming and I really couldn't make up my mind. I didn't wan't to waste a lot of money on a poor quality scope or have a lot of money tied up in something we discovered we really weren't as interested in as we thought we might be. After several weeks of research I still had not decided what to buy. All these choices and I couldn't choose anything.

During a trip to one of the big box dept stores I spotted a Celestron Powerseeker 70az on the shelf for $36.95. I brought it home and our little journey begins. From everything I had read I knew telescopes like these were considered to be pretty much junk. I picked it up to have something to look through and test the waters to see if there was any interest from my son. My expectations were extremely low for the kit but $37 was basically a risk free way to give it a shot. The first night we set it up was fairly clear and Jupiter was in a good position for us to test it out. After several minutes of fiddling with the focuser, changing eyepieces and getting annoyed at the shaky mount we finally had our view. Jupiter and 4 moons. Using the included 10mm EP we could make out 2 of the bands and as long as we were careful not to breath while close to the scope the sight was amazing. We were hooked.

Over the last few months we have upgraded the EPs and the diagonal along with a few home grown upgrades to the mount. Even though we have spent many times more on upgrades than the cost of the scope I still feel this scope was a very good bargain and along with decently informed expectations it was a great value that got us started in this wonderful hobby.  

I still haven't chosen that "decent beginner scope" I was searching for but I am delighted I found that crappy little Celestron and this site. It has provided us many hours of enjoyment and some amazing (to us) views. Sites like this one let me know what to expect and more importantly what not to expect. Having realistic expectations goes a long way in the level of enjoyment one experiences. The community here seems great and hopefully I can give a tiny bit back for the wealth of information I have gained from all of you. 

Thanks for having me!

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swag72

swag72

Posted
Posted

Welcome to SGL - As I understand it, the best scope you can buy is the one that you use. So whatever the thoughts on your scope, it's got you and your son out and you're having a ball. That's all that matters. A great intro and I hope that you continue to enjoy your hobby.

Look forward to seeing you around :smiley:

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LeeWilky

LeeWilky

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Posted

Hi nd welcome to SGL :)

No scope is a bad scope if it gets you out there and excited.  When conditions allow you can always get a better one and for a reasonable price the Skywatcher 200p Dobsonians are fantastic scopes!

Good luck and see you around.

Lee

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