Apologies - and hello

[savcom]

Hi everyone.

Apologies for posting a question when starting my membership of SGL and not saying hello first!  I didn't see this forum till tonight otherwise I would have said hello.

I'm here now and I'll try and make amends.

I'm very recently retired, having moved to Wiltshire mid-2019 from Surrey.  We're perched right on the edge of Cranborne Chase, so we're close to dark skies (Bortle 3 to 4 in my garden).  I'm an electronic engineer by training and enjoy tinkering, so I am looking forward to desiging and building the control systems needed to watch and image the stars.

I have an old Jessops 80mm Newtonian on a dreadful mount and will be putting this on a simple Dob mount as soon as I can.  More recently, I bought a Star Adventurer Pro and have had fun (skies permitting) taking pictures of Neowise, the Pleiades and Andromeda, learning something about stacking and processing images afterwards.  Very recently I picked up an old Startravel 150/750mm refractor on an EQ5 mount, both of which will need servicing and I've just ordered an Altair 72 EDF refractor to use as a grab'n'go and, more seriously, for imaging.

So lots of equipment - and now I've the time to get to grips with it. 

Hope to learn from you all - and in time to get to help others too.

Martin

[DanWri]

Evening Martin, and welcome aboard!

[Neil H]

Hi Martin welcome to SGL

[dave34]

A big welcome from me.

[Gmx76]

Welcome

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[Floater]

Welcome. Seems you’re going to be very busy!

Hope you have lots of fun. 🙂

[PeterCPC]

Hello and welcome.

[Mr Spock]

Hi Martin, welcome to SGL 

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Welcome Martin to SGL and no apology necessary.

Steve

[M40]

Hello Martin, enjoy both your retirement and the site. 

[banjaxed]

Hi Martin, welcome to SGL.

[savcom]

Thank you everyone.  It's nice to be made welcome.

Surely these cloudy nights can't last much longer?  At least I can take advantage of them to get to understand the EQ5 and how it all interacts electrically.  I'll also be able to service the mount and clean/refresh the Startravel 150/750 so that they're both ready to use when the clouds lift.

Clear skies, everyone - and stay safe.

Martin

[toshapetriji]

Hi Martin welcome to SGL

[Nigella Bryant]

Welcome to the forum, enjoy your time and your scope's.

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Martin, welcome. 

[PXR-5]

Welcome Martin 😃

[savcom]

Thanks again everyone.

[richard ashbee]

welcome to the group

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂