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Radiosnail

Radiosnail

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Posted

Evening All.

Another would be / occasional stargazer located in Basildon. Being a flaet dweller I observe from a large open window with the camera tripod half on my miniscule balcony. I know this is very bad in theory, but it is the best I can do.

Started in my teens using a pair of 7 x 50 binoculars South of the River. Then graduated to a number of small telescopes. First was a SCientific and Technical 40 x 40 which showed adequate views of the Moon and allowed me to see the phases of Venus.

The best I had in my teens was a 60 mm mail order refractor from one of those gadget catalogues that came with a Sunday colour supplement. I saw two orange stripes on Jupiter as well as the four principal Moons.  Saturn was different and the Moon looked fantastic. I remember identifying trhe Straight Range.

I read my Moon map using an Ever Ready rear bike lamp so as not to spoil my night vision. 

Barring occasional binocular usage I did little more until about five years ago.

I briefely owned a Meade ETX80 which I could not get on with.

Since then I have taken a lot of pictures of the Moon using superzoom and DSLR cameras on or off of tripods.Most revcently via s spotting scope.

Afer reading around the subject I have taken the plunge and bought a used Skywatcher 127 on a motorised alt azimuth mount. NOt the "Go to" variety, the one you aim and then it trys to follow what you aimed it at.

SEttled on the Skywatcher for various reasons. The fact it didn't take up too much space was one of them. THe simplicity of a Dob appealed, but would have been awkward pointing through a window to say nothing of the temperature differences. 

So watch this space. I'll have either made an excellent choice or a bad one.

Prattle over.

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swag72

swag72

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Hi and welcome to SGL - Glad that you found us and hope that you enjoy your time here. Maybe your balcony conditions are not ideal, but if that's what you have and it keeps you looking skywards then that's perfect. We're not all blessed with big clear dark skies and ideal conditions :smiley:

Look forward to seeing you around :smiley:

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