New to SGL From Cannock staffs

[ALZASCOPE]

Hi guys my name is Alan i am very new to astronomy but always been interested in the sky at night

Im 63 years old i am a very very keen fish keeper which upto now as taken all my spare time and money. I have often come back from a dog walk at 11pm spent more time looking up at the sky rather than what my dog is doing and say to my wife i should get a telescope.

Anyway long and short of it I've bought a telescope ive hovered around your forum for a while getting hints and tips and purchased a sw 250p classic I live very close to Cannock chase forrest so light pollution is not too bad so purchased something i could just manage to manhandle myself.

We've not had good sky's yet but very impressed with what i have achieved at present.

I will asap upgrade the eye peices so will be seeking advice on those very shortly.

Anyway you seem a very nice knowledgeable bunch of people and hopefully we will talk soon

Thank you for reading this

Regards Alan

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[sloz1664]

Hi Alan and a very warm welcome to the Lounge. congrats on your new scope and here's hoping your nights are clear and stable

Steve

[PeterCPC]

Hello Alan and welcome.

Peter

[Neil H]

Welcome to SGL , you know a new Telescope comes with 2 weeks of clouds in  the box lol curse of the new Telescope enjoy your new hobby 

Neil

[Mr Spock]

Hi Alan, welcome to SGL 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @ALZASCOPE and welcome to SGL. 

[Floater]

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun. 🙂

[richard ashbee]

welcome to the group, hope you get some clear skies

[banjaxed]

Hi Alan, welcome to SGL.

[Dr Strange]

Welcome Alan!

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂

[ronl]

Hello Alan, and welcome to the community, hope you enjoy your time here in SGL,

see you around the forums.

Clear Sky's.

[ALZASCOPE]

Thank you for the warm welcome

[Trikeflyer]

Welcome to the hobby Alan. Great scope you have. I live in Walsall Wood. 
 

Steve 

[wookie1965]

Great scope choice, welcome to SGL. 

I keep tropical fish I suppose you are into koi carp. 

[mh6081]

Hi Alan, like you also a newbie this week to SGL and also live in Cannock The only difference being I ain't bought no kit yet. I'm one of those getting led down different paths however I am now thinking something around either a Sky-Watcher Explorer 130ps AZ GTi or a Celestron Astro Fi 130mm. From what I can make out they both appear to be similar so any help from anyone would be helpful. Once I get round to understanding things plan is to add a CCD camera

[ALZASCOPE]

8 hours ago, Trikeflyer said:

Welcome to the hobby Alan. Great scope you have. I live in Walsall Wood. 
 

Steve 

Hi Steve small world my friend i was born in Walsall wood many moons ago pardon the pun haha

[ALZASCOPE]

8 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Great scope choice, welcome to SGL. 

I keep tropical fish I suppose you are into koi carp. 

Hi wookie I have a small koi pond yes but my passion is tanks and i do have MTS (multi tank syndrome ) 6x2x2 marine. 9ft x 18 x18 freshwater planted a 2ft giant shrimp tank and a 2ft african shellie tank been keeping fish for 40yrs for my sins 

Thank you for your interest

[ALZASCOPE]

8 hours ago, mh6081 said:

Hi Alan, like you also a newbie this week to SGL and also live in Cannock The only difference being I ain't bought no kit yet. I'm one of those getting led down different paths however I am now thinking something around either a Sky-Watcher Explorer 130ps AZ GTi or a Celestron Astro Fi 130mm. From what I can make out they both appear to be similar so any help from anyone would be helpful. Once I get round to understanding things plan is to add a CCD camera

Hi fancy you living in Cannock where are you based i live in Huntington 

I know what you mean it is a minefield out there it doesn't help that you can't actually have a good look and feel at what you are buying but these guys here have the knowledge they will assist im sure

Anyway good luck with whatever you choose and I'm sure we will talk again soon

Alan

[mh6081]

2 minutes ago, ALZASCOPE said:

Hi fancy you living in Cannock where are you based i live in Huntington 

I know what you mean it is a minefield out there it doesn't help that you can't actually have a good look and feel at what you are buying but these guys here have the knowledge they will assist im sure

Anyway good luck with whatever you choose and I'm sure we will talk again soon

Alan

Cheers Alan, I am only in Wimblebury, yes, just being able to go to a shop and spend an hour picking their brains is worth it and getting a feel for the equipment. I don't know about you, but you feel that you are asking the same SFQ's as a newbie that have been asked a 1000 times on forums and you then spend ages trying to research the subject matter and then find yourself being dragged off onto something completely not what you were looking for and by the time you have realised you ask yourself 'how did I get here and what was I looking for originally' or is that age?? 🤣 All the best

[ALZASCOPE]

21 minutes ago, mh6081 said:

Cheers Alan, I am only in Wimblebury, yes, just being able to go to a shop and spend an hour picking their brains is worth it and getting a feel for the equipment. I don't know about you, but you feel that you are asking the same SFQ's as a newbie that have been asked a 1000 times on forums and you then spend ages trying to research the subject matter and then find yourself being dragged off onto something completely not what you were looking for and by the time you have realised you ask yourself 'how did I get here and what was I looking for originally' or is that age?? 🤣 All the best

Yes your right i had to simplify it a little by setting a budget because of my other very expensive hobby

I knew i wanted the biggest aperture i could get for my money and kept it simple brand never came into it.

I think the biggest mind field is what eyepieces mate thats where the money is they are expensive

Good luck

[Merlin66]

For the novice, eyepieces are a minefield!

IMHO until you've trained your eye to see detail in the object being observed stick with the ones that came with the scope or cheap alternatives.

Do don't need $$$$$ Nike running shoes to enjoy a stroll in the park. By working with what you have, you gain experience and knowledge which later will help guide you to a "better" eyepiece - why? because by then you appreciate the limitations (and what impact they have on you) which you hope to solve.

Softly, softly..........

[ALZASCOPE]

8 minutes ago, Merlin66 said:

For the novice, eyepieces are a minefield!

IMHO until you've trained your eye to see detail in the object being observed stick with the ones that came with the scope or cheap alternatives.

Do don't need $$$$$ Nike running shoes to enjoy a stroll in the park. By working with what you have, you gain experience and knowledge which later will help guide you to a "better" eyepiece - why? because by then you appreciate the limitations (and what impact they have on you) which you hope to solve.

Softly, softly..........

Very good advice many thanks

Although i am very impatient haha

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Alan, welcome.