Are we putting beginners off!?

[Supernova74]

well that went down like a lead balloon 

Hi guys and girls on the stargazers lounge an I hope you are all keeping well firstly.

ive decided to bring up this topic to you all in the lounge as I truly feel it’s relevant and important and as I’ve only been a member for a few months I’ve kind of noticed a set pattern,trend emerging in the forums.in the last three years or so I’ve recently got back into Astronomy and this time round have been more serious then ever before and now I’m currently 46 years of age so not over the hill yet or a spring chicken either and always have had a passionate nature around Amateur Astronomy since I was 13 sticking a 2” refractor out the window in hopeing to find Halley,s comet how I was a fool back then and nieve and I consider my knowledge of the subject and the equipment we use at a intermediate level some where in the middle so to speak and for a the few which say thay are advanced is just lieing to you in my books as it’s most probably the most advanced of the sciences in the history of man besides Astrophysics,Quantum physics ,and string theory etc those are just some exsamples. However if I was starting out as a beginner and asking for advice on telescopes and direction of the night sky on the forums it would be a strong possibility it would leave me feeling very confused and lack of direction to go in.for exsample we are all the same at end of the day creatures of habit have at times strong views and opinions around  certain subjects especially in something we all are passionate about and believe in also stubborn at times and we live in a day and age of free speech which all entitled to however my fellow Astronomers are we putting beginners off buying there first scope maybe!?as apart from all the tec jargon most of us are familer with regarding that perfect scope for a beginner is a little different as it just don,t exsist for another exsample we all to blame here myself including an beginner will say is this scope any good and we all at times can recommend different telescope optical types,mounts,eyepieces and so on and leave the newbie very confused for choice as I would be as a general whole of things we all have different opinions another exsample for me recently was a member he had a bad experience with a goto mount yet no good for him without thinking it could possibly be a user error or something simple or perhaps bad,connection,firmware update or something mechanical as let’s face it from time to time an product with electric curcuit boards in and mechanical moving parts will go wrong thats the law of average.thease are just some exsamples guys that could put the beginner off asking us for help on stargazers lounge which could make or break them purchasing there first telescope.

[Grant]

I'm not really sure I understand your message but if you think SGL is putting beginners off astronomy then you are barking up the wrong tree.

Evidence is that SGL is a huge resource that gets cited all the time by beginners for helping them get into and grow their interest in the hobby. Is there things we can do better and improve? Sure, all the time we are considering new ideas etc.. but by and large I think SGL has a very positive effect on beginner astronomy.

 

[DaveL59]

gave up reading the OP after 2 lines, too much effort to decipher...

[Spikey]

Try finding any other astronomy forum (or any other forum for that matter) that is as welcoming, beginner friendly, well run, invested in and well moderated as this one. 

[Supernova74]

2 minutes ago, Grant said:

I'm not really sure I understand your message but if you think SGL is putting beginners off astronomy then you are barking up the wrong tree.

Evidence is that SGL is a huge resource that gets cited all the time by beginners for helping them get into and grow their interest in the hobby. Is there things we can do better and improve? Sure, all the time we are considering new ideas etc.. but by and large I think SGL has a very positive effect on beginner astronomy.

 

 

3 minutes ago, Grant said:

I'm not really sure I understand your message but if you think SGL is putting beginners off astronomy then you are barking up the wrong tree.

Evidence is that SGL is a huge resource that gets cited all the time by beginners for helping them get into and grow their interest in the hobby. Is there things we can do better and improve? Sure, all the time we are considering new ideas etc.. but by and large I think SGL has a very positive effect on beginner astronomy.

 

 

[maw lod qan]

I find I still like to think and act like a spring chicken, even with my "spring" count numbering 65 of them.

I started at 13 or 14, then had almost five decades of no telescope, even though I still looked up and loved what I saw.

I have found the members here to be excellent when it comes to assisting beginners.

They are honest and truthful, which is still probably the most important trait we need in friends. Even distant ones.

If a beginner wants to learn this hobby, there might not be a better place to learn than here.

Just my 2 cents.

[Supernova74]

I think so far perhaps some have got wrong end of the stick 

[andrew s]

As someone who studied physics and tries to keep up to date with Astrophysics and Quantum theory I found your post difficult to understand.

I never try to give beginners advice on equipments as my experience is too far removed .

If I do try to help I tend to recommend the site sponsor FLO as they have the experience to help.

Regards Andrew

PS could you explain what you mean in a short clear statement. 

SGL is difficult for beginners because... and list few points.

Edited May 22, 2020 by andrew s

[johninderby]

Wpuld help a lot if you broke the big block of test up into small paragraphs. Makes it a lot easier to read that way. 🙂

[Waddensky]

I think your post would be a bit easier to read for a non-native speaker like me if you inserted a line break or punctuation here and there. I'm really interested to understand the point you're trying to make.

[Craney]

Indeed.....

rule no 1 .... make questions  or statements concise. 

Otherwise you will get 50 well meaning answers that all push and pull the original problem in every which way, sometimes overlapping with each other.

Which presumably leads to the post originator becoming 'lost' and confused.     It takes small steps to climb Everest.

[Supernova74]

What ever 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

14 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Wpuld help a lot if you broke the big block of test up into small paragraphs. Makes it a lot easier to read that way. 🙂

I nearly suffered a hypoxic faint 3/4s of the way through then took a breath... 😉

SGL couldn't be more beginner friendly, and just friendly overall, especially compared to another large astronomy forum which shall remain nameless and online forums in general.

Just the fact there's rarely an argument makes a difference.

Jargon in the beginners sections is kept to a minimum. It's hard to avoid some degree of tech talk, afterall there are newtonians, cardiotropics, achrochromatic refractors, apochromatics, maksutovs, equatorial mounts, dobson mounts etc etc, the list goes on, but the language used to explain the differences between setups is about as plain as it can be.

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Pompey Monkey]

Hmmm.

It might be time to close this thread...

[vlaiv]

I'm rather sad I missed all the commotion here

 

[RayD]

I think I understand what you are trying to say, albeit I do agree with some of the above in that you haven't explained it very well.

SGL is incredibly welcoming to new members, and you will always find people willing and happy to provide help and guidance to not only newcomers, but those with more experience who are perhaps trying different equipment or software for the first time.  However, what can be difficult for beginners to decipher is the right information from the varying opinions which they will receive.  Each person has their own view on certain equipment, software, methods and ways and, as you appear to be saying, will put that point across with some vigour as it is their experience.  The one thing that is generally the case, as I'm sure you will agree if you look through many of these posts, is that everyone will say get Steve Richards' excellent book, and go to @FLO for your bits as they will offer good and expert advice.

I think you raise a valid point of help potentially raising confusion, but you really need to have all the information and ammunition to make a balanced decision and, in my experience, most of the advice given on these forums is pretty good, and delivered in such a way as to put other forums I could mention to shame.

[Spikey]

Pretty pointless threads now as the OP has decided to delete the comments in the initial post. Leaves me wondering what the point was in the first place.