Destination Or The Ride

[Liquid360]

I'm not really sure how to approach my question without sounding like materialistic person, but one of reasons I utilize a board like this is to seek out others in what for me is a very solitary pursuit. When I purchased my first scope, the engineering and sense of aesthetics played what may have been too great a role. The saying "beauty is skin deep" is a cliche I've never really understood. Beauty goes to the core. The scope and its optics, the mount it rides on and the machined stellar precision of all parts in between, they play as much a role to me as what I see through the glass. I'm just wondering, to what degree aesthetics play a role in picking your hardware? Is how you get to C as important as A&B? Or is C what matters most to you? Just wonderin'.

[laser_jock99]

Sure the engineering is important but I'm not too concerned about the appearance of kit- just so long as it works.

I take the same approach with my cars, nothing new or fancy - just rugged, reliable working vehicles. Can't be doing with this 'shiney new car every three years' bandwagon. I've got better things things to spend my money on!

[John]

I like equipment to be well designed and engineered because those attributes deliver practical benefits in use but I'm not that bothered about the aesthetics really.

[JamesF]

To quote Steven Tyler (who was surely only re-quoting others) "Life's a journey, not a destination".

As laser_jock99 above, I really don't worry too much about what it looks like if it does the job and at first that might seem at odds with Aerosmith's lyric, but I'd beg to differ because finding out what works for you is certainly a journey and whilst achieving that goal might be a milestone, it's just one more step on the journey of exploring and learning about the universe of which our planet is part.

That said, I'm a sucker for anything that's genuinely beautifully engineered.  There's a point at which engineering becomes art.  But if any one thing is a journey and not a destination, art is that thing

Besides, destinations are so tedious.  What are you supposed to do after you get there?

James

[Jim Steele]

I agree with John. If it's well designed and easy to use that's fine by me and 'looks' are a bonus.

[avtaram]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what matters to me is the view I get through the eyepiece.

Avtar

[neil phillips]

I'm not really sure how to approach my question without sounding like materialistic person, but one of reasons I utilize a board like this is to seek out others in what for me is a very solitary pursuit. When I purchased my first scope, the engineering and sense of aesthetics played what may have been too great a role. The saying "beauty is skin deep" is a cliche I've never really understood. Beauty goes to the core. The scope and its optics, the mount it rides on and the machined stellar precision of all parts in between, they play as much a role to me as what I see through the glass. I'm just wondering, to what degree aesthetics play a role in picking your hardware? Is how you get to C as important as A&B? Or is C what matters most to you? Just wonderin'.

Most people are like this to a degree. If we wanted a sports car, most would prefer a un blemished brand new Ferrari. A nice watch a un blemished Rolex, ect.

When I got my first meade Mak  many moons ago. I too was looking for things like finish blemishes. The scopes were so beautiful to look at, It seemed wrong to have a slight mark here, a slight mark there. And I did actually look for them. Many years later, as I got into planetary imaging. I realized Some scopes were better than others, I sold my old beloved Orion Europa Newtonian.

It had been dented years before during a aborted robbery attempt on my house.  

Well I tried other equipment. But I missed that scope so bad. I actually purchased it back a year later for the price I got for it. Marks dents and all. The reason I did this was it just had a way of producing some of the best planetary shots, I had ever taken.  I realized it was a mistake to have sold it. yes it wasn't pristine. it had marks and dents. But it also had one of the best optic sets I had ever tried. Possibly in the country. The planetary images. Meant so much more to me  than a new shiny coat.

If you ever got a scope, that blew your mind when you looked at planets and the moon. Then sold it. Got another that was new and shiny. Looked at the same moon and planets. and suddenly saw, for some reason, maybe inferior optics. That the view wasn't as nice. It just didn't grab you and make you say WOW like your old scope did.

I reckon you would want the old scope back. If you got the old one back, but saw some scratches on the tube, lets say happened when you sold it. I reckon all that would melt away. when you looked at Saturn, and saw the planet looking sharp and vivid. And you had that WOW feeling all over again. You would likely cherish that scope. Beyond gloss and shine. Because telescopes can do so much more than look pretty. And once you get that Buzz for yourself. You might get attached to the scope, in a way that presently you have not experienced.

And knowing it is really a great optical instrument, will likely mean a lot more to you then, than  if it has a couple of scratches or dents.

My old Europa has tape stuck all over it. where I taped fan leads to the back. Its scratched and old and beaten. But one of the best planetary Newtonians in the country. I think most who know me on here, will likely not disagree with that.

Of course. Things have changed a bit over the years Now. Cheaper Telescopes with Chinese Optics have taken over. And for the most part, the optics are generally excellent. Though consistency may vary slightly. How much I am unsure. Most sellers say not at all. But I doubt that. Still amazing images can be seen and captured with these cheaper instruments, as friends of mine on here are doing all the time.

 I own a large Chinese Newtonian now myself. But recently my smaller telescope outperformed it on Saturn. There can be many reasons for this. But I don't think it was seeing. Focusing is more difficult. The telescope doesn't cool very well. Collimation is more sensitive. I still cant tell if the optics are as good as my Smaller scope. Sometimes it appears its better. mainly on Jupiter. other times it seems worse, mainly on Saturn.

Would I ever sell my Old beaten Europa Newtonian again. No Dents and all. Its a part of my life, and I love it, but not in a material way. All the memories. all the wonderful images it has captured for me. Much more important than gloss.

[Mr Spock]

Most people like to have nice things, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not sure if it makes much of a difference to kit which only ever goes out in the dark

I'd always go for performance kit first, though it helps if it looks nice too

[gkec]

I have a short fat telescope.  However my guitars and motorbike are entirely judged on aesthetics.

[Joel Shepherd]

To me, the journey is learning how to get the most out of what you have. I definitely appreciate the mechanics -- grinding bushings and sloppy fits are a bummer -- but at the end of the day the equipment you have is what it is. There is a lot of satisfaction in learning how to work with it to maximize what it delivers for you.

[sbooder]

Absolutely!  I glean as much pleasure form tinkering with my setup and even just staring at it on occasion.  Engineering has always attracted me, not just the intricacies of the mechanics themselves but the aesthetics too.

I took consignment of a new Brooks B17 Imperial saddle for my touring bike about 3 months ago and I cannot stop looking at it.  My wife thinks I am mad but I find it a thing of beauty, as iconic as the Zippo lighter or a Bauhaus chair.

[Paul73]

Given the UK weather, we spend more time looking at our scopes rather than through them........

I like the feel of really well (over) engineered kit. I have a £100 corkscrew. I know very well that I have free corkscrews of a similar design that get the cork out of the bottle just as efficiently. But I smile every time I use it. Can't afford to do that with astro gear.

Paul

[Luke]

For me now, the most important thing is that I am clear what the jobs are for the scopes and that they do that job well. I have had a few scopes that didn't have a clear job that they did better than the other scopes, so they didn't tend to get used, even though they were good scopes.

I appreciate good build quality and good optics, but sometimes I go for bang for buck, it depends on the job and the budget.

[Moonshane]

For me the most important thing is how well something works.

This naturally suggests that something must be well designed and engineered otherwise it would not achieve the above primary goal. In conjunction with this my secondary goal is to look good. To me there is beauty in simplicity and I prefer things to be of a spartan design rather than with unecessary 'go faster stripes'.

My tertiary goal is to get my money back if I sell. Again, buying good quality means this is usually feasible.

[Scott]

First and formost, I want a product that does exactly what I want it to do. Being thatI don't do solar and I'm usually in my garden at night, it doesn't really matter how it looks

If I can get pretty for around the same price as ugly, of course I'm going to get pretty

Edit: Naturally the pretty one has to perform as well as the ugly one.

[Mukv]

looks are of little importance but function rules,

take my wife for example boy she is ugly but she is a cook without equal and our two kids  are world beaters!

Andy ( we separated several years ago but that's another story )

[MattJenko]

It boils down to form and function. Function is the bedrock. Without function, form is meaningless. When you have both, then you have the thing of beauty that you describe as 'to the core'.

This also applies to me, function first and this is absolute, and then as much form as I can afford.

[spaceboy]

For me it is a must that the scope looks good as cloud usually means I spend more time looking at it than I do through it.......

[swamp thing]

I think its both for me, but I dislike design for designs sake. 

Simple always works best. simplicity is beauty in itself. I dislike complicated designs. 

[Daniel-K]

i think it depends on how much your paying really. if your paying 3k for a TAK thats got chipped paint everywhere your not going to be too happy are you?? i expect the same no matter what i buy. everything has got to be in pristine order. maybe its just me but i feel that i should have the best i can afford.

[lonick]

I have bought vinyl LP's because i like the album sleeve art work but not expensive stuff.

[ollypenrice]

One member on here described our Mesu as 'looking like a bag of spanners.'   Well, a) I like bags of spanners and b ) I couldn't care a hoot! This is what is beautiful in a mount, for me, and nothing else;

And what do I find beautiful about the Takahashi FSQ? This;

Marks on eyepiece barrels, bits of missing paint, faded anodizing, the odd scrape? Couldn't care less! I just want the data. No telescope is as beautiful as the universe it can show you.

Olly

[Tiki]

Looks don't matter, 'feel' and performance do however. ie. Scopes which are solid and smooth in operation.