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Best advice

Littleguy80

By Littleguy80
in The Astro Lounge

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

Posted
Posted

I've received so many great tips and advice, since joining SGL, which have made a big difference to what I've been able to see and what upgrades I've decided to spend my money on.

What I'd like to know is what is the best astronomy tip/piece of advice that you've received? Something that just made things click into place for you. A lightbulb moment!

For me, collimation was something I was nervous about. I didn't want to misadjust and end up making things worse. I got a good tip to adjust the primary mirror so the spider vanes were the same length and the screw heads are equal depth. It's obviously not precise but gave me the confidence to have a go at collimation. It was the start I needed. 

Looking forward to hearing what's helped you :)

 

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John

John

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The best advice that I had was "keep it simple" :smiley:

For me that means quick to setup and tear down, minimal cool down time, no electronics, must be portable enough to move it around the garden.

Another one is to buy the best quality that I can afford.

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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16 minutes ago, John said:

The best advice that I had was "keep it simple" :smiley:

For me that means quick to setup and tear down, minimal cool down time, no electronics, must be portable enough to move it around the garden.

Another one is to buy the best quality that I can afford.

I am with John on this, for observing i use 120ED on Giro mount, but for imaging i still keep it simple, EQ5 with dual dc drive

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John

John

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4 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

... Opportunities for viewing are limited so it's always a case of get out and see as much as I can in the time available 

True. Some would argue that this favours GOTO systems of course :evil4:

 

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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4 minutes ago, John said:

True. Some would argue that this favours GOTO systems of course :evil4:

Haha I've never used  a GOTO system so can't really pass judgment but I am a software engineer. Based on that I can say that you get the most out of automation when you can do it all manually yourself. You need to understand what the system is doing for you. I wouldn't think there are huge gains for an experienced astronomer with a GOTO system. 

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domstar

domstar

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I think the thing I need the most is the little voice that says "Go on. Get out there." My biggest enemy is lack of initial motivation so the advice I listen to is to observe at every opportunity.

Oh and get an eyepatch. It really improved my observing experience.

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Stormwind

Stormwind

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Just now, domstar said:

I think the thing I need the most is the little voice that says "Go on. Get out there." My biggest enemy is lack of initial motivation so the advice I listen to is to observe at every opportunity.

Oh and get an eyepatch. It really improved my observing experience.

How do you use your eyepatch? 

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domstar

domstar

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Just now, Stormwind said:

How do you use your eyepatch? 

Errm I have it on my head and put it down over my eye when I put my other eye to the scope. Then if I have to go indoors, I pop it over my observing eye so as not to ruin my dark adaptation. I have heard you don't need an eyepatch if it's dark enough to keep the other on open without problems. We could all do with skys that dark on a regular basis.

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Stu

Stu

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Much good stuff already. Keep it simple and have a scope you use frequently is great advice. I've had big scopes, had fabulous results but used them infrequently so they have gone. The ones I use frequently are the ones that have remained. Make sure your kit fits your lifestyle and available time.

One I'll add is that proper dark adaptation makes a huge difference to what you can see. I do use SkySafari on my iPhone, but have the brightness set so low that you can't see it in the daytime and it doesn't affect my night vision. Keep any lights you have as dim as possible, even red lights and you will see much more. It can take 45 mins to get properly adapted, and just a second or so to lose it.

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domstar

domstar

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12 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Plus Pirates are cool ;)

Yes, my wife got me the patch and it has a skull and crossbones on it.:hmh: 

Seriously though, I love it and it's the cheapest astronomy equipment you'll ever get. Some people have complained of headaches so I always remove it when I haven't got my eye to the scope. I just raise and lower it when needed.

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John

John

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10 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

Take time to observe an object, don't get it in the FOV and then move on...

 

Thats another really good one :smiley:

Most targets really repay time spent observing them. During my early years in the hobby I wondered why "famous" things like the Cassini Division in Saturns rings and Jupiters Great Red Spot were not jumping out at me. I gradually learned that I had to be patient and train my eye to see these details. Initial impressions of most objects (apart perhaps from the Moon) can be unimpressive ...... just given them more time :smiley:

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cloudsweeper

cloudsweeper

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# Magnification is not everything!

# The principle of balancing mag against FOV to get good contrast to see faint objects.

# A controversial one: The principle of diminishing returns when shelling out on EPs.  (Although I'm saving for an ES 30/82!)

Doug.

 

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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37 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

 

Take time to observe an object, don't get it in the FOV and then move on

 

I'm definitely guilty of this. As I haven't been using a scope long I'm like a kid in a toy shop. Too many different things I want to see. I need to get in the habit of taking time over the objects I find 

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