Saying hello at last

[iammart]

Hello all

Sorry to say I've been lurking here for some time taking in advice and inspiration, but never got round to making introductions...

I've loved astronomy since childhood but in recent years been mainly an armchair astronomer, that was until my wife bought me a Orion 70 Observer (eq) out of the blue a couple of birthdays ago! I don't think I would have chosen it myself but in reality it has been a perfect scope as it rekindled my interest and got me outdoors again, so it was almost the best present ever ? It's actually quite a good instrument apart from the wobbly mount, but it doesn't seem worth investing in a better mount when I could get an 8 inch dob for not much more, from what I read ? Anyway SGL has been great so far in helping me get the most out of what I have and looking where to go next.

I live in Dunham, south Manchester on the Cheshire border, so skies round here aren't great, and I recently found out about the local High Legh observers which seem a friendly bunch. We've also just been to France on holiday, and although it's mid June, popping out to a sun lounger after midnight I had forgotten what unpolluted skies are like, and I've been amazed what I can see with a pair of binoculars... Cruising the milky way, globular clusters, nebulae, and Jupiter & Saturn... all great inspiration

Thanks,
Martin

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[Floater]

Welcome. Enjoy the forum and the hobby.

[PeterCPC]

Hello Martin and welcome.

Peter

[ronl]

Hello and welcome to the community, hope you enjoy your time with us,

see you around the forums.

Clear Sky's.

[sloz1664]

Hi Martin and a very warm welcome to the Lounge

Steve

[RiponJas]

Hello there and welcome. 

[Demonperformer]

Hi, Martin, and welcome to SGL.

An 8" dob is a good instrument and will give you views that will far outstrip your 70. A cheap tip for making wobbly mounts more stable: hang a bag of sand/sugar/other from the bottom of the mount. This (1) lowers the centre of gravity and (2) causes vibrations to die down faster.

[JRM]

Welcome to the lounge Martin, nice to have ya with us.

[Sunshine]

Welcome!

[iammart]

3 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

Hi, Martin, and welcome to SGL.

An 8" dob is a good instrument and will give you views that will far outstrip your 70. A cheap tip for making wobbly mounts more stable: hang a bag of sand/sugar/other from the bottom of the mount. This (1) lowers the centre of gravity and (2) causes vibrations to die down faster.

Thanks all, and I will try that tip!

 

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Martin, welcome. 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire ?

[mcinek82]

Hi, welcome ?

Enjoy the stars!