Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Hi. Brand new to astronomy.


Tony H

Recommended Posts

Hi guys and gals.

My wife has always had an interest in astronomy so I trawled fleabay and bought her a scope for her birthday after reading up as much stuff (lots from here) on the best scope for a beginner.

Neither of us know what we are looking at in the sky generally, although we do have star charts and a planosphere.

I opted for a newt with goto as at least once aligned it tells us what we are looking at. :-)

We know we have a lot to learn.

Already stunned by looking at night sky with naked eye and seeing a few dozen twinkly things then through the scope thousands.

I'm reasonably tech savvy.  A little stupid. 9 & 1/2 years of RAF Air Traffic Control will do that to you..

Currently I pump gas for a living but among my previous achievements you can all blame me for the UK banks that got taken under govt control.   They were fine until they became my clients.  ;-)

Hope to connect with loads of you.  Wife may input occasionally in between glasses of wine.

Tony

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 34
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Hi Tony

Other than blaming you for everything!

Welcome to SGL.

Don't be afraid to ask any questions, no matter how stupid they may sound. A lot of us probably want to know the answer too. (I'd do one of these smiley things here. Except I am not tech savy. At all...... Tbh, the thought of go-to sends cold cold shivers down my spine).

What scope did you go for?

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Paul.  Again thanks for the welcome.

Red wine?  Cheese? Did I mention I'm a bit of a cook?  No?   Ah well perhaps another time. :-)  (another smiley thing there for you.  Lol.

You can blame me for it all. Don't care.  Sloping shoulder syndrome.  It all slides off. 

My firast job when I arrived in our NY office was to shut down a bank within a bank. Something to do with money laundering and the US govt having to have some way to pay their agents I believe. Anyways, whatever the issue with a bank, it's probably my fault.  Wife tells me often enough it's all my fault.  :-)

Scope?

Well.  Limited budget despite previous mega bucks income. 

I opted for a relativly slow newt at f8 with a 130mm mirror.

I could have gone for a refractor at 80mm  but went with the newt as it had the go to..  I paid £54 for it so figure i got a bargain once I'd spent 3 hours learning how best to collimate the thing then actually getting a night where I could test out my learning.

I have it spot on now.  No laser collimation junk used.  Just pure math, and a bit of my physics degree knowledge used. 

I'm already looking at buying a 150mm refractor as according to the wife, a telescope "you look through the end of".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not going to take a guess at the name of said bank. The authorities do tend to get a bit angsty about that sort of thing. No excuse really. Bet that you were Mr popular!

Provided that your sky is relatively light pollution free. You'll see loads.

No point in going from a 5" to a 6" (no matter what your dear wife may say). In visual Deep Space Astronomy, there is no substitute for inches. Provided that you can store and transport the thing. Your next scope needs to be a 10" or 12" Dobsonian (heavily biased here).

Don't feel bad about the banks. Could happen to anyone. Was kind of inevitable with the glory of hindsight....

I run a team of risk analysts looking at infrastructure projects (multi £bn). We aren't very popular at the moment. Can't remember the big bucks though. :)

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tony and welcome to SGL, sounds like you have had some fun along the way!!

A great book to help you find your way around is Turn Left at Orion, you wont be disappointed. There are a few others that other members will provide details on.

Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha   You really need to meet my wife.  She knows EVERYTHING.

You have a crystal ball I see.  Already considering building a 10"  newt dob mounted.   I won't be doing the mirrors. 

I really can't stretch to anything exotic. Minimum wage Texaco gas pumper now sets the budgets.

Mega bucks?  They had me as Director, Regulatory & Compliance Solutions USA. That brought the bucks in.   Lol  :-)  Then they worked out I hadn't a clue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.