It seems I have been very, very bad...

[Greymouser]

Well, it al started on the Solstice, when I cheered that the days were now getting shorter. Harsh words were exchanged, with the boss. Then just a few days later she was moaning about the heat and I said just be patient the frosts are coming soooon . Slap! Now today, I said I was going to Nottingham to get another scope at a bargain price, only to be told over her dead body! There are too many in the house, ( apparently, ) but there is only eight! Mostly of a smaller size! There are also six mounts, depending on how you count them, but she doesn't know that, so I should get away with just selling one of them...

I now have a limit of seven, with a one out, before another arrives. I guess that is quite generous considering it is not the biggest of homes, added to which we may have to downsize soon. Never mind Bortle 6 skies. But, how can there be too many scopes? It does not really compute.  I doubt it does to some of you either who have far more than eight, I suspect.

I can see one that can go straight away, but then it gets more difficult as they all have a purpose. Honest.

[DaveL59]

40 minutes ago, Greymouser said:

 Now today, I said I was going to Nottingham to get another scope at a bargain price, only to be told over her dead body! There are too many in the house

ooh you had me worried there!

Hmmm, at present in this tiny house I have 7 but one will be going to my daughter and another couple I may ease out the door someday as they never get used (SW130-EQ2 and the little NatGeo 76/300 tabletop). Luckily living alone I can only argue with myself if I can really justify another one, and the bank balance I s'pose tho that usually loses the argument real quick lol.

 

[scarp15]

Not bad, just 'compelled', in a covert kind of way.

[Sunshine]

This makes me totally understand what our better halves go through with our hobby, which can be a burden when we begin collecting telescopes like they were coins.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Sunshine

[DaveL59]

5 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

This makes me totally understand what our better halves go through with our hobby, which can be a burden when we begin collecting telescopes like they were coins.

guess its better than collecting bigger things like cars tho 😉 

[cajen2]

I get whinged at for having two.....! Mind you, one is an 8" dob which is a bit difficult to hide.

[Craney]

The secret is for your other half to live in a separate house.    Works just fine for me.   

To quote the boss "A relationship based on the phases of the Moon and the vagaries of the British Weather."

I'm allowed to leave batteries, cameras and adapters all over the kitchen work surfaces (more or less permanently), she gets to do 2000 piece jigsaws on the dining room table.

I can be up all night faffing, she can go to bed at 9:00pm.

One day, we shall live together and all hell will break out !!!!

[Guest]

I guess I am lucky.  My wife enjoys astronomy as much, if not more then I do.  I have a 10 inch dob in the garage and Stellina lives in the house.  I told her that we should have gotten a bigger scope and she said go for it.  So slowly I am researching the various 16 inch dobs that are out there.  I am a lucky guy.

[F15Rules]

I'm very good with scopes these days..I have just two, 4" and 5" refractors (always fracs for me 😁)..

My vice is eyepieces at the moment, specifically binoviewing pairs, of which I currently have 6 pairs while I decide which magnifications suit me best..but I'll slim that down to 3 pairs and c 8 individual ones once darker nights come back.

And at least eyepieces are easier to hide than scopes!  

Dave

Edited July 1, 2022 by F15Rules
Typo

[Paz]

Getting away with having 7 or more scopes in the house is a good deal!

[Dave scutt]

I'm lucky my wife is quite understanding,  or I have to do is mention the 100 pairs of brooks runner's, or  the pairs of shoes she has one pair for each day of the year with matching bags and coats.

But my dob lives in the shed just easier to wheel it out and observe. 

[jacko61]

11 hours ago, Greymouser said:

 I said I was going to Nottingham to get another scope at a bargain price, only to be told over her dead body!

A new patio would solve that problem (in a Brookside manner if you know what I mean 😉).

Graeme

[LaurenceT]

At the  moment there is a 200p Dobsonian sitting in the lounge because the garage is too full of rubbish and will be until our son removes his unwanted furniture.

Not a word has yet been made about the Dob but if I step out of line I suspect that may change.

[F15Rules]

59 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

At the  moment there is a 200p Dobsonian sitting in the lounge because the garage is too full of rubbish and will be until our son removes his unwanted furniture.

..er, easy fix to that one:

Give him a deadline to remove his stuff. If he doesn't..

1. Hire a skip

2. Fill the skip with his junk ( if he doesn't want it ("unwanted")..

3. Send him the bill.

Job done 👍

Dave

 

[Dave scutt]

1 hour ago, LaurenceT said:

At the  moment there is a 200p Dobsonian sitting in the lounge because the garage is too full of rubbish and will be until our son removes his unwanted furniture.

Not a word has yet been made about the Dob but if I step out of line I suspect that may change.

Sell the furniture and buy another scope 😉

[L8-Nite]

13 hours ago, Greymouser said:

Well, it al started on the Solstice, when I cheered that the days were now getting shorter. Harsh words were exchanged, with the boss. Then just a few days later she was moaning about the heat and I said just be patient the frosts are coming soooon . Slap! Now today, I said I was going to Nottingham to get another scope at a bargain price, only to be told over her dead body! There are too many in the house, ( apparently, ) but there is only eight! Mostly of a smaller size! There are also six mounts, depending on how you count them, but she doesn't know that, so I should get away with just selling one of them...

I now have a limit of seven, with a one out, before another arrives. I guess that is quite generous considering it is not the biggest of homes, added to which we may have to downsize soon. Never mind Bortle 6 skies. But, how can there be too many scopes? It does not really compute.  I doubt it does to some of you either who have far more than eight, I suspect.

I can see one that can go straight away, but then it gets more difficult as they all have a purpose. Honest.

I have five scopes with related accessories, Zeiss, Questar, and an Intes-Micro; but haven't had the motivation to observe or even keep up to date with the Forum here for some time now. Should really sell a couple as it would simplify life, which at my age is a good thing. Three scopes would be more than enough really.

[Greymouser]

9 hours ago, L8-Nite said:

 haven't had the motivation to observe

This bit I understand only too well. It has been a very long time since I last observed with my C9.25. Tiredness and other commitments do not help either.

[Ags]

I am always grateful that my family is understanding of my singular obsession. I try to stick to a limit of three scopes though. I have a C6 lightbucket cooling outside right now, a ZS66 (my main scope, for quick looks, travel and photography) and a Solar Scout. The Scout is a great buy as my partner can share the views without worrying about stepping on a perambulating slug at some unsociable hour after midnight. I would like to add a fourth - something widefield like the ZS66 but with a bit more reach.

[bosun21]

I can sympathize with you all as I decided to rekindle my love for astronomy back last year. My intention was to buy a single little scope with which I could entertain myself of an evening. That didn’t work out for me as after my initial purchase of a skywatcher 127 Maksutov Go to, which I love and is great, but I talked myself into 3 more inches of aperture as one does. The result was an 8” Stella Lyra Dobsonian. Then it was “ I wonder what a refractor is like?, which resulted in an Evostar 120 on an EQ5 pro go to mount. I am contemplating what to buy next. It’s either a 102mm Apo, or a 8”SCT(7” Mak). This is without so much as a mention of all the accessories etc. I’m hopelessly addicted 🪐🔭

[DaveL59]

ugh I can sympathise @Ags as slugs are a real problem where I am too even finding their way into the conservatory somehow. The wee hedgehog largely derelicting its duties of late as well, tho when it visits it makes me feel guilty being out there as its very timid and runs off when I move. Can't win lol

[F15Rules]

11 hours ago, L8-Nite said:

I have five scopes with related accessories, Zeiss, Questar, and an Intes-Micro; but haven't had the motivation to observe or even keep up to date with the Forum here for some time now. Should really sell a couple as it would simplify life, which at my age is a good thing. Three scopes would be more than enough really.

I think most of us have found our enthusiasm "waxing and waning" (pun intended!😁) from time to time, often driven by work (no time, too tired) and family (no money, too tired), and also advancing age (no energy, too cold, too tired)... a theme there, I think!

..but most of us come back one way or another. I agree that too many scopes  can be a distraction..I had 8 or 9 some 10-15 years back, but hardly used most of them at all. I now just have two, so easier choices..and I know both scopes really well now, so don't have to waste too much observing time faffing about making  choices of equipment.

I now usually get more observing done in an 60-90 minute session than I did in 2-3 hours when I had loads of scopes.

I hope you get your mojo back, and I heartily recommend you let at least 2 scopes go and get the others out under the stars as regularly as you can😊👍

Dave

[Franklin]

22 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I'm very good with scopes these days..I have just two, 4" and 5" refractors (always fracs for me 😁)..

My vice is eyepieces at the moment, specifically binoviewing pairs, of which I currently have 6 pairs while I decide which magnifications suit me best..but I'll slim that down to 3 pairs and c 8 individual ones once darker nights come back.

And at least eyepieces are easier to hide than scopes!  

Dave

Absolutely.

We all love astro-gear and owning stuff can and does, get out of hand. I had a bit of a spree over the last couple of years but in the end common sense won out. All my gear is kept in a spare room and the room was getting quite full. So I decided to leave whatever gear I used in an out-building. a) to make it easier to access for use, and b) so I don't have to keep dragging everything up the stairs. Out of 6 scopes, 4 mounts and too many eyepieces, I found that I was using 2 scopes, 2 mounts and half a dozen eyepieces. I have since been having a cull.

[Ags]

11 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

ugh I can sympathise @Ags as slugs are a real problem where I am too even finding their way into the conservatory somehow. The wee hedgehog largely derelicting its duties of late as well, tho when it visits it makes me feel guilty being out there as its very timid and runs off when I move. Can't win lol

I am seeing far fewer slugs this year for some reason.

The C6 Performed better last night with my new diagonal, so my drive to buy a new scope is diminished. But now I am rethinking my eyepiece collection...

[iapa]

I am finding myself wondering why I even have some of these

there must have been a good reason at one point.

Of course, there are the guide scopes as well as the finders.

[TheycallmeRiver]

My slug problem vanished when I redid the garden with artificial grass.  I’d forgotten all about them until I read this topic!