Hello from a Total Noob in Herts

[ukuleledaveey]

Well i collected my scope from Cambridge today it certainly takes alot of room up in our flat lol i said to the wife ahe can use the holes for the lenses as a umberella stand. 

Cant waiy to learn to use it now but its looking cloudy here in east herts.

[Kn4fty]

Great looking scope! Of course it's cloudy, you just got a scope! It's the telescope curse. We've all fallen victim to it. Buy a scope and the clear skies automatically cloud up for at least a week! ?

[ukuleledaveey]

9 minutes ago, Kn4fty said:

Great looking scope! Of course it's cloudy, you just got a scope! It's the telescope curse. We've all fallen victim to it. Buy a scope and the clear skies automatically cloud up for at least a week! ?

Lol yep and the wifes panicking where we going to store it but i reckon once i get her looking at the moon she will.soften up.

My list of things to get over the coming months,in no particular order.

Collimating tool of some sort

Turn left at orion

Moon filter

Some more eye pieces

Bobs knobs for collimation.

Once again thanks so much for input and help very much appreciated. 

[Kn4fty]

Happy to help! You're starting on an amazing journey!

Something that will help and can be found free for download on the net is a good telescope calculation tool. It'll give you min and max magnification, your scopes magnitude limits ect. It'll even help you with EP choices based on exit pupil , budget, usable ECT. It's a big help when getting started. 

A couple books that I have really enjoyed are "Nightwatch" by Dickinson and "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" by Dickinson and Dyer. Two great companion books. A good star atlas helps too. 

[fozzybear]

3 hours ago, ukuleledaveey said:

Lol yep and the wifes panicking where we going to store it but i reckon once i get her looking at the moon she will.soften up.

My list of things to get over the coming months,in no particular order.

Collimating tool of some sort

Turn left at orion

Moon filter

Some more eye pieces

Bobs knobs for collimation.

Once again thanks so much for input and help very much appreciated. 

 Hello from france and welcome

"Turn left at Orion" a must, plus "Sky and telescope pocket sky atlas"  I have both pocket and jumbo version.

regards

Andy

[Stu1smartcookie]

Congrats on the new scope ... it looks in great condition  

Cloudy skies at the moment , but it should be clear by midnight (well thats the theory) .

good luck 

[ukuleledaveey]

48 minutes ago, fozzybear said:

 Hello from france and welcome

"Turn left at Orion" a must, plus "Sky and telescope pocket sky atlas"  I have both pocket and jumbo version.

regards

Andy

Hello Andy and many thanks. Thick cloud cover here in Hertfordshire i maybe having to wait for my first night lol.

[ukuleledaveey]

31 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Congrats on the new scope ... it looks in great condition  

Cloudy skies at the moment , but it should be clear by midnight (well thats the theory) .

good luck 

HI ya Stu yes it looks great  and takes up loads of room in my little flat.I think i will be fast asleep by 12 tonightim constantly cheeking the sky hoping for a break in cloud cover.

Have you ordered your telescope ?

[Stu1smartcookie]

im really in two minds what to do...i want a dob ..i did look at the goto version of yours but in flex tube form ... but im really keen to start astrophotography and ive seen some cracking small lens sky watcher ED's which are really portable but are also a bit pricey .. and i would need an EQ mount as i am currently using an alt-azimuth . I am lucky in that i can visit the showroom which is near to my job at Ely . Im defo ordering tonight and i reckon i will go for a dob . ( My wife hasnt been a lot of help though ... when i asked her what scope i should go for , she said "microscope"... zzzzz . My budget is limited to around £600 max ! (in reality i want to spend thousands ) If anybody on here has any advice please shout at me !

[ukuleledaveey]

Good luck Stu yeah the flexi version is a bit pricey.The actual scope fits in one of my kitchen cupboards its the mount ive got trouble with.i might have to keep that in the car or im lucky my flat has a loft but it wilk be heavy to lift.i might go over to a tripod in time i think.

I had to say mine was cheaper than what i paid lol but i was still in thr dog house.good luck with your purchase.

I guess you have some experience,me im a total noobie and dont understand alot.my grandad was a pro photographer in the old days so he knew about lenses focal length and all the stuff giving me a headache lol.

I didnt realise there was a shop in ely,there is photosound in stortford but ive not been there.

Any how keep me posted on what you get.

Besy wishes mate .

[Sunshine]

Welcome to SGL! i would certainly opt for an 8-10 inch range dobsonian as my first scope, can't go wrong!

[MoonNut]

Dave and Stu, welcome to the hobby and to what is without doubt,  the best Astro Forum in the entire cosmos!

You will not fine a more helpful and supportive bunch of people anywhere, there will always be an answer to any question and suggestions/advice for any problems.

Oh, and welcome to the endless cloud and aperture fever too...enjoy ?

David B.

[ukuleledaveey]

22 hours ago, ukuleledaveey said:

Good luck Stu yeah the flexi version is a bit pricey.The actual scope fits in one of my kitchen cupboards its the mount ive got trouble with.i might have to keep that in the car or im lucky my flat has a loft but it wilk be heavy to lift.i might go over to a tripod in time i think.

I had to say mine was cheaper than what i paid lol but i was still in thr dog house.good luck with your purchase.

I guess you have some experience,me im a total noobie and dont understand alot.my grandad was a pro photographer in the old days so he knew about lenses focal length and all the stuff giving me a headache lol.

I didnt realise there was a shop in ely,there is photosound in stortford but ive not been there.

Any how keep me posted on what you get.

Besy wishes mate .

 

4 hours ago, MoonNut said:

Dave and Stu, welcome to the hobby and to what is without doubt,  the best Astro Forum in the entire cosmos!

You will not fine a more helpful and supportive bunch of people anywhere, there will always be an answer to any question and suggestions/advice for any problems.

Oh, and welcome to the endless cloud and aperture fever too...enjoy ?

David B.

Hi guys and many thanks.yep been on here a couple of weeks now and absolutley love this forum.

And through the advice given i purchased a used skyliner 200p yesterday was thick cloud so no observing.keeping my fingers crossed for tonight.

Once again many thanks for the warm welcomes and helpful advice.

Cheers dave.

[ukuleledaveey]

On 27/08/2018 at 19:57, ukuleledaveey said:

Good luck Stu yeah the flexi version is a bit pricey.The actual scope fits in one of my kitchen cupboards its the mount ive got trouble with.i might have to keep that in the car or im lucky my flat has a loft but it wilk be heavy to lift.i might go over to a tripod in time i think.

I had to say mine was cheaper than what i paid lol but i was still in thr dog house.good luck with your purchase.

I guess you have some experience,me im a total noobie and dont understand alot.my grandad was a pro photographer in the old days so he knew about lenses focal length and all the stuff giving me a headache lol.

I didnt realise there was a shop in ely,there is photosound in stortford but ive not been there.

Any how keep me posted on what you get.

Besy wishes mate .

 

9 hours ago, MoonNut said:

Dave and Stu, welcome to the hobby and to what is without doubt,  the best Astro Forum in the entire cosmos!

You will not fine a more helpful and supportive bunch of people anywhere, there will always be an answer to any question and suggestions/advice for any problems.

Oh, and welcome to the endless cloud and aperture fever too...enjoy ?

David B.

Hi guys and many thanks.yep been on here a couple of weeks now and absolutley love this forum.

And through the advice given i purchased a used skyliner 200p yesterday was thick cloud so no observing.keeping my fingers crossed for tonight.

Once again many thanks for the

[Kn4fty]

The skies will clear...... eventually. All part of the new purchase curse! Lol

In the meantime it gives you a chance to get use to the scope's movement. Play around with it and see if there are any "eccentricities". Play around with moving it. It might take a little getting used to when it comes to tracking things. As humans we tend to track based on what our eyes see. When using a reflector we need to train our muscles to do the opposite of what our eyes tell us. A good exercise is too find a bird in a distant tree and try to track it as it goes from branch to branch. Just try to keep the bird centered. It will make a world of difference when you finally get to use it on a planet or DSO. Most of all just have fun! ☺️

[Kn4fty]

Don't know why the smiley face looks like that hahahaha.

[ukuleledaveey]

Hi all well i finally got to use my 200p tonight after pacing around for an hour grumbling about the cloud cover.i was all resigned for night 2 being a no go.But we spotted mars in the sky and then a twinkle or two of some stars.

So i climbed 2 flights of stairs and brought down the dib stand then back up for the scope.i wad soon set up it was dark by now and the odd star was about.no collimation or adjusting the viewing scope,i just decided to have a look round.i put in the 25mm eye piece and focused it wow it just blew me away all the stars i could see but not with the naked eye it was amazing, my friend had a look to and was very impressed.

I totallt get what people say about the finder scope,definately awkwars.I decided to try the 10mm i personally found this absolutely useless couldnt really see anything or get a sharp focus.

By now the moon was popping up i tried lining it up with the finderscope ,getting into some strange contorted positions and came to the conclusion it is out of alignment something i will do another night.I managed to getbthe scope trained on the moon with the 25mm all i can say is wow it is amazing i was absolutely transfixed as weee my 2 neighbours and wife.o tries the suppliex 10mn lense on the moon,seriouslymot impressex with this lense so sticking to the 25 mm, i think over the weeks im gonna need some more eye pieces but not sure what.

I was very impressed with what i saw my first night the stars looked awesome and the moon was magnificent. Now inside having a cuppa tea as i got work in the morning. 

But im so happy.

[adyj1]

Glad to hear you had a good night with it. Persevere with the 10mm - the focus will need to be adjusted quite a bit between the two eyepieces. Perhaps try it on a bright star; as you get closer to focus you see the star get smaller... go through the focus point so the star starts getting bigger again and then you know approximately where the point of focus is. Hopefully this will help, although you may need to get used to the sensitivity of your focuser and the 10mm lens. If (when!) you do acheive focus, it will be in the same place for the 10mm every time, so a pencil mark on the focus tube can help.

Good luck for your next outing!

 

 

 

[Kn4fty]

As Adyj1 said, don't give up on the 10mm yet. So many things can affect an EP. Could of been that seeing was bad. Not unusual given the conditions of the sky prior to clearing. There are some nights where seeing only allows me to use low magnification, but other nights I can max out the scope. Glad you were able to use the scope!

[cletrac1922]

On ‎27‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 23:14, ukuleledaveey said:

Well i collected my scope from Cambridge today it certainly takes alot of room up in our flat lol i said to the wife ahe can use the holes for the lenses as a umberella stand. 

Cant waiy to learn to use it now but its looking cloudy here in east herts.

 

Welcome from land down under

Collapsible dob would had taken up less room, height wise, through base still the same

Invest in a right angle finderscope, as currently with Jupiter and Saturn overhead, very hard laying on the ground, and aligning primary mirror, with finderscope

Attached image shows my 10" collapsible dob, with right angle finderscope 

John

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

So ... ive purchased my scope (hopefully arriving thursday ) i will collect it direct from Widescreen @ Ely , cambs ...its so good that there is major supplier near to my job . 

I also purchased a laser collimator , and ive studied a few you tube videos on how to do it . Not sure if i will be as good at collimating , but , as they say , practice makes perfect and its something i will need to do . Dave , im so pleased you were able yo use your scope the other night . Im already scouring the weather forecast for the hopefully clear skies this weekend lol

Thank you to you guys for offering a welcoming hand by way of advice ... its ALL gratefully received . Astronomy is a fantastic and fascinating hobby that will always offer something new , every night . 

wishing everyone Clear Skies :)

 

[ukuleledaveey]

ive been studying these Stu 

clearoutside.com/forecast

 

metcheck.com/WEATHER

 

and concgrats on the scope, what did you go for in the end ? i need to get  collimating tools and another eye piece or two, will have to catch up at some point.

best wishes from me

[Stu1smartcookie]

Hi Dave ... ive bought a 250mm flex tube (im still struggling to think where im going to store it !) . My wife was notably shocked when she realised i was buying such a scope lol ... i tried to soften the blow by saying that it collapses down, but  It was almost like i had invited another woman to live with us lol. . What was your view of mars like , when i looked at it the other night with my other scope there was hardly any colour. I think there are dust storms on mars at this time so im not sure how much detail we are able to see. if im wrong , someone correct me please .

[Kn4fty]

Congrats on the scope Stu. Collimation can seem overwhelming, but after a couple times it'll be old school.

Dave, did you get the scope out tonight?

[Stu1smartcookie]

Thanks Kn4fty.