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Finally doing it!!

Anarchist

By Anarchist
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Anarchist

Anarchist

Posted
Posted

Hi folks.

I'm new to this practical stargazing lark although I've always been an armchair astronomer (watching The Sky at night etc, etc).

A few years ago I bought a scope (Meade ETX90) but found myself intimidated by the goto aspect (I'm a total technophobe).

Anyway, my wife bought me some 15x70 binoculars at Christmas 2012 and I've loved being outside with them and it gave me the push to get the scope out of the cupboard. I'm still not using the goto but manually aiming the scope. I've had 2 short sessions of looking at Jupiter which has been a dream come true to see the equatorial bands, and I have to say I'm hooked.

I'm looking forward to help & advice from the good folks on here so see you around.

Anarchist

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. Well you prove one rule and that is not to get rid of old kit as you never know when you might get the bug again. Congratulations on find and observing Jupiter which is clearly going to be at its best this month. You might want to consider taking a look at "Turn Left at Orion" which list some 100 objects that can be observed with modest equipment including binoculars. Lots of great maps and written instructions on how to find the objects with a section explaining what you are looking at in order to further appreciate the view. If you want some idea as to the layout, you can take a look here. My only other suggestion would be to download a free piece of planetarium software called "Stellarium". Lots of features to help you learn the sky and it can be configured to show you an identical night sky to that which you can see from your viewing site. There are plenty of other features to keep you entertained when the clouds come - which they seem do with great frequency.

Clear skies for now and hope you enjoy the forum. Don't forget to post any questions in the relevant section as and when they arise - there are plenty of people here to help you get the most out of your kit.

James

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ronin

ronin

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Get a 32mm eyepiece for the Meade, if there is anything with a wider final view then get that and let me know.

You do not need it to give a good image you literally want as wide a view as possible,

The reason is simply to get the first alignment star visible when the scope slews to it.

After that a Meade is pretty easy to get aligned, with a little care.

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Pete Presland

Pete Presland

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Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire :smiley: the GOTO is not as dificult as it seems, there is a website here http://www.weasner.com/etx/techtips.html that is dedicated to all things ETX. it does look like its updated much these days but it might help. failing that there are without doubt some tutorials around on the web.

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Anarchist

Anarchist

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Thanks for the warm welcome folks. Thanks to JamesM for the "Turn left at Orion" suggestion. I've heard it's a good book so will bag a copy. And to Ronin for the 32mm eyepiece with goto advice.

Hey, HIP3802! I'm a native East Lancastrian who drifted a bit. :smiley:

So many people encouraging me with the goto that I promise to get some batteries this weekend.

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