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Not exactly a beginner, but it feels like it!

russ.will

By russ.will
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russ.will

russ.will

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More of a re-introduction I suppose; so hello from The Fen Edge and here's a story plus advice from a re-beginner....

I joined SGL about 12 years ago, took advice in the early days, gave some in the later days. I had 12" Dobs (one push and one GOTO) SCTs, two ED fracs and everything in between. I started with BST Starguiders and had a full cases of everything from Televue Delos (meh!) through ES82s (some nice, some meh!) to ES100s (Wow!) Baader classic Orthos (nice if you like touching your eyeball) Televue Plossls (also wow!) and a fair few I've forgotten. Mounts? HEQ5 Pro, Minitower II and the only one that I really miss; an Exos 2 GOTO. Dunno why, other than it just worked. There were others, plus binoviwers and all the other silly stuff you can get sucked into.

The I got divorced, moved to a cute and rented mid terrace ex-Victorian converted school house with no garden and sold up. Divorce is an expensive business...

Early in Lockdown 1 I bought a Bresser 8" Dob and some Baader Morpheus EPs (wow) but mistakenly parked them at my house in France. That sounds extravagant, but you can buy a 400 year old oak framed granite walled farmhouse for less than the cost of a static caravan on the Norfolk coast and oh my word, is it dark in rural Normandy.  However, I get out there 5 weeks a year and it rains a lot. The chances of observing have thus far, been nil.

A couple of weeks ago a local(ish) chap listed a pile of stuff for £300 and I took a punt. Evostar 120, a seriously ugly (but perfectly functional) SW 200p Newt, ancient HEQ5 mount, two Baader Hyperions and some super-annuated cameras and a pile of bits that are paying off the layout. I got excited and (re?) bought a Minitower II with upgrades off UKABS because I remembered mine could handle a decent size frac with care. The Evostar 120 cleaned up really nice so I treated it to an Astro Essentials dual-speed focuser and 9x50 StellaLyra RACI finder from FLO. Money out and money in and I'm back in the game with a 5" fraxc and GOTO for £600. 

It should rain for a month, but it is not. For the first time in the history of the world, I'm on the lawn the day after the last pieces came together with a scope, leveled,  cooling and parked ready for action. Went down't pub and came back to find the skies clear and so straight out under a full moon. Well, you cant have everything.

So why am I posting  this in the 'Welcome' forum? I looked up and realized that due to the intervening six years, I do not know where anything is. It hasn't moved - It's all where it should be, but I'm now a man out of time. Hell, I can't remember if I'm heading into galaxy season or glob season. Indeed, have I missed both? It's a mystery all over again.

So, I am a beginner again and that's why I'm posting here however, there is some pre-reincarnation wisdom  I should pass on to other fellow beginners that I do remember from last time:

1. A decent 4-5" F9 achro frac and/or 8" F5-6 Newt/Dob are a real sweet spot in terms of VFM. Bigger is not always best for a number of reasons under our unstable UK skies.

2. Yes, mega-bucks EPs are very nice but honestly, you're 99% of the way there under £200.

3. Assuming your scope is suitable, buy some Baader Solar Film and enjoy astronomy under The Sun. The Sun is quite literally the only astro subject that can look different from one hour to the next, not to mention the only star you can observe as anything other than a colorful pin-point. It is fascinating.

This means for the first time in my astro journey I'm enjoying astronomy for the sake of it and not worrying about what it could be like for a few $$$ more. As such, the time on the lawn tonight was oh so long overdue and despite the full Moon, glimpsing a distant Mars for the first time in a long while was actually more satisfying than how I used to fret about what I could spend to resolve 2% more detail.

Russ

PXL_20230407_232254020.NIGHT.jpg

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Telescope40

Telescope40

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Hello Russ. Great to see you back under the stars 

10 hours ago, russ.will said:

2. Yes, mega-bucks EPs are very nice but honestly, you're 99% of the way there under £200.

Best comment I've noted on here for a very long time.  Goes for all astro gear as far as my wallet is concerned. Get what you can and what your budget allows and then use it as well as you can. 

John 

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Telescope40

Telescope40

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11 hours ago, russ.will said:

This means for the first time in my astro journey I'm enjoying astronomy for the sake of it and not worrying about what it could be like for a few $$$ more.

Like this sentence as well.   Enjoy your gear Russ. 

 

John 

Edited by Telescope40
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Ratlet

Ratlet

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19 hours ago, russ.will said:

This means for the first time in my astro journey I'm enjoying astronomy for the sake of it and not worrying about what it could be like for a few $$$ more.

Welcome back.  Love the attitude in the quote! 

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russ.will

russ.will

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On 08/04/2023 at 06:53, garryblueboy said:

Great to have you back Russ looks sweet on the ioptron mount nice set up 

And thank you Garry for your assistance in securing the Minitower. You'll be pleased to know I've already had it apart, cleaned it up and started printing things to make it 'better'...

Russ

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garryblueboy

garryblueboy

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1 hour ago, russ.will said:

And thank you Garry for your assistance in securing the Minitower. You'll be pleased to know I've already had it apart, cleaned it up and started printing things to make it 'better'...

Russ

The fever has got you 

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russ.will

russ.will

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On 11/04/2023 at 20:26, ED Splitter said:

Welcome back, will look forward to your future posts. 
currently pondering whether caravans in Norfolk are too expensive or houses on the continent are too cheap🤔

Both!

Russ

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russ.will

russ.will

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On 17/04/2023 at 12:28, The60mmKid said:

Did you use the words "binoviewers" and "silly" in the same sentence? 👿 

 

😉

 

Welcome back 😊

Indeed I did. Binoviewers are, to observational astronomy, the equivalent of surround sound to the reproduction of stereo music within a finite budget. A novelty.

Unless your budget is Denkmeier + Televue/equivalent (that your eyes work with) save your money and max out on mono viewing. One higher quality channel beats two at half the price.

Russ

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The60mmKid

The60mmKid

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15 hours ago, russ.will said:

Indeed I did. Binoviewers are, to observational astronomy, the equivalent of surround sound to the reproduction of stereo music within a finite budget. A novelty.

Unless your budget is Denkmeier + Televue/equivalent (that your eyes work with) save your money and max out on mono viewing. One higher quality channel beats two at half the price.

Russ

Thanks for the advice, Russ 😉 I've owned and enjoyed a Binotron 27 and found the powerXswitch a wonderful feature. With that said, the self-centering Clicklock eyepiece holders on the Baader Maxbright II make it my preferred binoviewer since those reduce the difficulty of merging shorter focal length eyepieces.

By playfully commenting on the silliness of binoviewers, my intention was to make friendly banter welcoming you back to the hobby 😎

Clear skies!

Edited by The60mmKid
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