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Hello from Deepest, Darkest (Not Really...) Ottawa


Tanglebones

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Hello all. I'm very new to astronomy, though have wanted to get into it for many years. Alas, I never actually took the first step until very recently when I bought a fairly advanced mount and scope. Bucking traditional advice, to be sure, but I wanted something I would grow into rather than wish to sell a few months after obtaining.

I plan on astrophotography eventually, but not yet. First is a visual exploration and learning my way around the sky. I'll shortly be starting some informal certificate programs from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) which should be an excellent way to begin my edu-ma-cation.

So - two weeks or so before the tools of my new hobby arrive. It is interesting to note that I'm still as impatient at 52 as I was at 22... :-)

- Stu

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Welcome aboard Stu! What setup did you get?

Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome.  

WRT my setup...well...this is going to sound insane, and I can hear echoes of my long-gone Glaswegian parents saying "Yer a bampot, son.  Ye've mair money than sense...".  I have not yet gazed through my first eyepiece but, in my defence, I have had many years of quiet pining to work this out.  I purchased an EQ8 mount, so I could get into some serious AP in a year or so, and finally settled on a Sky-Watcher BKP 300 DS scope, which I believe is the Explorer 300 PDS in the UK.  

I know I will end up with more than one scope eventually, but I wanted this first one to be satisfying for visual astronomy as well as reasonable for  beginner AP.  I know that large newts are a easily affected by wind and therefore not advised for any serious picture-taking, but I reasoned that if any mount could help with that it would be one that was designed to hold 110 lbs of capacity.  Also, to my eyes, a 12" scope seems to be right on the balance point between 'stunning views' and 'too bulky'.  I looked at the weight of the tripod/mount head/scope very carefully and while I don't want to be lugging it up and down stairs all night, I do think moving it to star parties and deep sky sites will be reasonably easy.  Especially if I can convince my wife to carry the heaviest piece. ("Hurry up, hon, it's getting dark.  You don't want to be out here alone in these woods with the wolves, do you?" :-)

I was a bit alarmed after reading on here about the problems some people are having with theirs, but can only trust that it will eventually work out.  If nothing else, I have something to keep me busy for a while.  Again, thanks for the warm welcome - much appreciated.  

- Stu

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Welcome to SGL and enjoy your new equipment, we nearly share the same sky

Hi, and thank you.  Yes, we share the same skies and unfortunately they don't look promising for the upcoming lunar eclipse.  Apologies in advance if my purchase of a telescope/mount has resulted in increased cloud cover in our region. :-)

- Stu

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