Greetings from Yuma, Arizona

[jschner]

I had joined awhile back, thought I'd say hello from Yuma.

I have always had a love of looking up at the stars.  Over 30 years ago, I had a Tasco and was looking around and spotted an open cluster as my very first object. I had no idea what it was, but knew it had to be something special.  Since then, I have been to a few star parties in N. California and climbed a few ladders with those humbling views.  I think I was most impressed with an old 13.15" Coulter Dob, the contrast views in that scope were mesmerizing, something I could look through for hours if they would have let me.  Been to a couple outings local to Yuma, small group but, some nice setups. 

For the most part, my career got in the way of the hobby most of these years, but I picked up a few things along the way. A pair of Meade 11x80 binoculars. Hardin 12" Dob. A few months ago picked up a Sky-Watcher Star Adventure . And then a week ago, came across a Craigslist Ad I had to jump on. Meade SN10 with Moonlite focuser on an Orion Atlas AZ/EQ-G Pro. It also had a few eyepieces, Meade MWA 15mm, 5mm, a 14mm UWA, ES 24mm and ES4.7mm.  Everything looks like new, even the older scope looks near new. I figured this would be a good upgrade to get back into the hobby. And what's a 12hr drive through covid-19 infested lands for a good astro deal right?  

I had the SN10 setup out a few times trying to learn the ropes, full moon and all. I am almost starting from scratch with my first electronic setup. My first attempt at polar alignment ended up with the scope slewing the opposite direction for Jupiter which was humorous. I'm slowly roping things in. My goal right now is to get the scope setup down for accurate tracking. The sn10 is probably a little heavy for the mount, but I'm curious to see what I can do with this setup as is in my Bortle 6 skies. Once I get good with the setup at home, I have Bortle 2 skies about 45 minutes away that I realy want to try.

Anyway - I look forward to giving things a go and reading the boards for tips and tricks. Thanks for having me.  -  Jim

Edited December 13, 2020 by jschner

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[Ruud]

Hi Jim, thanks for joining!

[Mr Spock]

Hi Jim, welcome to SGL 

[SStanford]

Hi Jim, welcome. Bortle 2 should provide some amazing views (and b.6 beats my b.8!)

[bish]

Welcome to SGL.

[PeterCPC]

Hello Jim and welcome.

[Floater]

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun. 🙂

[sloz1664]

Hi Jim, and a very warm welcome to the Lounge

Steve

[banjaxed]

Hi Jim, welcome to SGL.

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Jim, welcome. 

[mikemarotta]

Welcome, Pard. You will find maybe half a dozen discussion boards around. They all seem to be international. Astronomy is small group. The global marketplace has been variously estimated to be between $125 and $250 million, about a tenth of anything comparable such as coin collecting or sports equipment and miniscule compared to cosmetics. So, we all get to know each other over time. You have an impressive arrary of telescopes for a self-defined beginner. I look forward to reading your reports.

Best Regards,

MIke M.

 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂