SHOW US A PIC OF YOURSELF WITH YOUR FIRST TELESCOPE

[paulastro]

I will come clean, this is not my first telescope, but it is the first pictures I have of myself with a telescope.  The night time picture was taken on November 5th 1970 (I don't remember what I was observing at the time) and the pictures of me projecting the sun were taken in February 1971.  They were taken by my mum in the garden of our house in Kidderminster where we lived at the time.  I was a youthful 15 years and 6 months in November 1970!

The telescope is a Fullerscope 'Utility' 6 inch f8 newt on their Mk11 Utility Mount.  Utility because it wasn't painted so you could save money and paint it yourself.  As some people will recall, Fullerscopes supplied a variety of mirrors (many by David Hinds) from 1/4 wave to 1/10 wave.  I went for the 1/4 wave as I had very little money.  Having said that, the scope performed very well, I suspect far better than some modern offerings which claim to have far better optics.  I certainly has some good views of Mars during the 1971 opposition.  I also couldn't afford a finder of any type at the time.  The one on the scope was bought about a year after the scope, it was about an inch aperture and bought from Dudley Fuller when I visited his workshop, then at Golders Green in London.

The focuser was RAS screw thread fitting, at the time 1.25 inch eyepieces were just appearing, and you could get an adapter to use a 1.25 inch eyepiece in RAS screw thread focuser.  When I bought the scope I could only afford one eyepiece, it was a one inch focal length Ramsden.  I had a barlow by the time of the 1971 Mars opposition. 

People coming to the hobby now just don't realise how lucky they are with such good equipment available at such modest prices 😀.

By the way, the camera I'm holding in my left hand is an early Polaroid camera which only produced black and white prints - no digital back then!

Anyway, I hope others will post up their own pictures with their early scopes, I for one would love to see them.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ags]

That’s a great setup you had there!

[dweller25]

Here’s my first scope bought when I was 25 in 1986.

 

[paulastro]

Ah great stuff, that's a Peter Drew telescope!

[Sunshine]

Well, just like the OP I don’t have a picture of myself with my first scope back in 1986 but, I do have a “first” picture of me with my telescope.

[John]

This is the only pic I have of me with any of my telescopes. It was taken about 3 years ago:

This is my 1st "proper" telescope, purchased in around 1984:

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by John

[Marki]

Lovely thread. I have plenty of pics of my scopes, but none with any of them.

Edit - I did find this; not my first scope but first pic I can find with one (Istar 150mm Perseus f/10)

Edited November 28, 2020 by Marki

[paulastro]

Gosh, that looks a monster Marki 🙂.

[Marki]

Indeed - in fact, didn't I get this one from you?

 

[John]

14 minutes ago, paulastro said:

Gosh, that looks a monster Marki 🙂.

Mark had the F/10, I had the F/12. They were monsters.

There was an F/15 in the van when my scope was delivered - the box seemed to go on for ever !

[dweller25]

2 hours ago, paulastro said:

Ah great stuff, that's a Peter Drew telescope!

Yup, though Rob Miller sold me it from the Luton office.

[Peter Drew]

I looked hard at the photo to see which one of us had made it but the resolution wasn't quite good enough to see the difference.  On the attachment knobs on mine I used to turn a little recessed styling whereas Rob left his flat.  Being that it was sold by Rob I'm pretty sure it was one of his.      🙂

[Debo]

My first big scope was this 10'' from Astro Systems.

I don't have a photo of me but do have this one of the scope accompanied by my son (taken in March 2000).

Edited November 28, 2020 by Debo

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, Debo said:

My first big scope was this 10'' from Astro Systems.

I don't have a photo of me but do have this one of the scope accompanied by my son (taken in March 2000).

You know you’re a serious amateur astronomer when your child can comfortably fit inside your telescope.

[almcl]

Thought I'd posted this picture before, but apparently not.

Taken more than 60 years ago...

Edited November 28, 2020 by almcl

[Jasonb]

Great idea for a thread!

Given that I'm a complete newbie to this hobby, I'll be able to take my picture next week when my telescope arrives! 😀

[JamesF]

4 hours ago, John said:

This is the only pic I have of me with any of my telescopes.

I could swear I'd seen a photo of you cradling a large refractor in your arms posted on SGL.

James

[Sunshine]

4 minutes ago, Jasonb said:

Great idea for a thread!

Given that I'm a complete newbie to this hobby, I'll be able to take my picture next week when my telescope arrives! 😀

Thats exciting, cant wait to see! i recall loosing sleep waiting for delivery of a 4.5" reflector my dad ordered for my birthday.

Edited November 28, 2020 by Sunshine

[Mark at Beaufort]

I found this photo of my first telescope taken (I Think) at the partial solar eclipse in September 1968. I am stood behind my 60mm frac with fellow astronomy friends. The location was my parents home with my home made observatory.

[John]

2 hours ago, JamesF said:

I could swear I'd seen a photo of you cradling a large refractor in your arms posted on SGL.

James

Actually that might be so. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Jasonb]

2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Thats exciting, cant wait to see! i recall loosing sleep waiting for delivery of a 4.5" reflector my dad ordered for my birthday.

Yep, I'll be giddy on Tuesday opening the box alright!

 

[andrew s]

Sorry but my Daguerreotype plates have deteriorated beyond restoration. 

Regards Andrew 

[Tiny Clanger]

1 hour ago, Jasonb said:

Yep, I'll be giddy on Tuesday opening the box alright!

 

Will be giddy ? 😀 You sound so excited already I think you may explode !

Fingers crossed for you to get some nice clear skies for that first light !

Heather

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I found this photo of my first telescope taken (I Think) at the partial solar eclipse in September 1968. I am stood behind my 60mm frac with fellow astronomy friends. The location was my parents home with my home made observatory.

What a bunch of cool cats! Did you start a band by any chance Mark?

[Sunshine]

22 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

What a bunch of cool cats! Did you start a band by any chance Mark?

I had no idea the Fab Four were into astronomy! have to admit, i love the image, reminds me of pioneering bunch of cats who went on to revolutionize physics or something.

Edited November 28, 2020 by Sunshine