A tip for impatient newbies like me...the pros are right. Take lots of time to observe your targets.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Some very wise and true words there.

And mostly summed up in the first reply about catching the bug.

I am pretty much still a newbie and started around 2 years ago with my first scope. Luckily I found this forum before I bought anything and got some good advice. Like most starting out for the first time it is so easy to be underwhelmed with what you see to begin with. I think expectations are always so great when you start that you think you are going to get Hubble views of the universe and see huge galaxies and nebulas everywhere you look.

Also there must be so many starting out like this buy without good advice and then their very first scope is up on Ebay again or in the loft after a few weeks because they just bought the wrong equipment. Without this forum I may have been one of them.

Luckily my first scope was a 2nd hand Dobsonian, cheap so did not deplete my available cash too much but capable of great views. No fancy goto, which originally was a must for me, but that was good it was like the difference between satnav and reading a map. Satnav very convenient (when it works correctly) but in the days of atlases you kind of knew where you had been to get to your destination and if you did it enough then you didn't need the atlas any more you had learned something.

And the views through the scope were certainly not underwhelming. Yes the stars were just bigger dots but so much more of them, so many it was hard to comprehend what was out there, and clusters, and feint galaxies. It was bewildering. A great start to a great hobby for me, and maybe this would not have been the case if I had bought something off my own back?

I am I admit mainly into imaging but still have all my visual equipment and with retirement looming and more time to stay up on those all too often rare clear cold nights I will be using it all again.

But as said when you stop and look things just appear you never say before, it is amazing there is no doubt.

 Steve

[MKHACHFE]

23 hours ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Some very wise and true words there.

And mostly summed up in the first reply about catching the bug.

I am pretty much still a newbie and started around 2 years ago with my first scope. Luckily I found this forum before I bought anything and got some good advice. Like most starting out for the first time it is so easy to be underwhelmed with what you see to begin with. I think expectations are always so great when you start that you think you are going to get Hubble views of the universe and see huge galaxies and nebulas everywhere you look.

Also there must be so many starting out like this buy without good advice and then their very first scope is up on Ebay again or in the loft after a few weeks because they just bought the wrong equipment. Without this forum I may have been one of them.

Luckily my first scope was a 2nd hand Dobsonian, cheap so did not deplete my available cash too much but capable of great views. No fancy goto, which originally was a must for me, but that was good it was like the difference between satnav and reading a map. Satnav very convenient (when it works correctly) but in the days of atlases you kind of knew where you had been to get to your destination and if you did it enough then you didn't need the atlas any more you had learned something.

And the views through the scope were certainly not underwhelming. Yes the stars were just bigger dots but so much more of them, so many it was hard to comprehend what was out there, and clusters, and feint galaxies. It was bewildering. A great start to a great hobby for me, and maybe this would not have been the case if I had bought something off my own back?

I am I admit mainly into imaging but still have all my visual equipment and with retirement looming and more time to stay up on those all too often rare clear cold nights I will be using it all again.

But as said when you stop and look things just appear you never say before, it is amazing there is no doubt.

 Steve

Agreed. I almost bought a cheap goto last year. I'm so incredibly happy I held out and researched night after night, narrowing down my options till the XT8 was chosen. I honestly feel that had I gone with a cheap goto, I would not have been as enthusiastic about this hobby as I am. A dobsonian seemed like the best for price to performance ratio. 

Cheers

[teoria_del_big_bang]

1 hour ago, MKHACHFE said:

Agreed. I almost bought a cheap goto last year. I'm so incredibly happy I held out and researched night after night, narrowing down my options till the XT8 was chosen. I honestly feel that had I gone with a cheap goto, I would not have been as enthusiastic about this hobby as I am. A dobsonian seemed like the best for price to performance ratio. 

Cheers

Yes definitely worth it in the long run. Yes I have now spent loads more money as many said I would but at least the majority has gone on good bits of kit that really worked for me. Another good thing I have found is that the Astronomy shops I have used have been so helpful and have not tried to push more expensive item on be because of my lack of knowledge which is good in this day and age where often Sales people will try to get as much of your cash as possible. Anyway going off track of this thread a bit here so apologies to the O.P. 

Steve

[MKHACHFE]

22 hours ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Yes definitely worth it in the long run. Yes I have now spent loads more money as many said I would but at least the majority has gone on good bits of kit that really worked for me. Another good thing I have found is that the Astronomy shops I have used have been so helpful and have not tried to push more expensive item on be because of my lack of knowledge which is good in this day and age where often Sales people will try to get as much of your cash as possible. Anyway going off track of this thread a bit here so apologies to the O.P. 

Steve

Agreed on the astronomy shops. I bought my right angled finder very soon after getting my first scope and the guy running the shop was incredibly forthcoming with good advice.

 

Sadly when I went to his house to pick it up (he runs the online shop from there), he told me it's no longer possible to make a profit by running a dedicated astronomy store in the high street.

 

Shame really. I remember when I was very very much into mountain biking as a teen and into my 20s, it was fun to hang around the local bike shop and meet people and chat. 

 

I guess that's what astronomy societies are for but it's not quite the same IMO.

 

Cheers