S&T 50 years on

[JeremyS]

I bought my first copy of S&T in January 1974. It was the last day of the Christmas school hols and my mum took me to the planetarium at the Old Royal Observatory Greenwich.

The January 2024 shows the same edition in its 50 years on column 😮. My, how time flies!

[mikeDnight]

Is that your original copy Jeremy? If so, I'm impressed!  S&T was the best, especially back then. I especially loved the ATM section which had some genius ideas. Of course the old Unitron adverts were up there too, along with some of those beautiful classic Newtonian double page spreads. They were so gorgeous that even a refractor nut job like me would love to own one. Rotating rings essential of course!

[JeremyS]

I remember thinking at the time that I’d be prepared to wear a shirt like the boy in the ad if I could have a C14

[JeremyS]

19 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Is that your original copy Jeremy? If so, I'm impressed!  S&T was the best, especially back then. I especially loved the ATM section which had some genius ideas. Of course the old Unitron adverts were up there too, along with some of those beautiful classic Newtonian double page spreads. They were so gorgeous that even a refractor nut job like me would love to own one. Rotating rings essential of course!

Not the original, Mike, but a replacement I picked up 8 years ago.

Talking of Unitrons and Newts:

[Ceramus]

Great Unitron ad! I had one along time ago, the 3" 142  EQ. Bought second hand but eventually had to sell it, wish I had kept it...

 

[Bugdozer]

3 minutes ago, Ceramus said:

Great Unitron ad! I had one along time ago, the 3" 142  EQ. Bought second hand but eventually had to sell it, wish I had kept it...

 

Downside: weighs as much as a piece of Stonehenge.

[maw lod qan]

What did a C14 sell for way back then?

[DirkSteele]

17 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

What did a C14 sell for way back then?

I believe the fork mounted C8 sold for $795 back in 1974 so goodness knows how much the C14 was!

[johnturley]

18 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

What did a C14 sell for way back then?

Around £3,000 I think, I was thinking of getting one around 1983, and the price from Astro Systems (Luton) was around £3,500, but then the pound fell sharply from the high of about £1 = $2.40, pushing up the price to around £5,000, so I opted for a fork mounted 14in Newtonian from Astro Systems, which then cost £2,950.

John  

[John]

My 1st S&T was bought in Flagstaff in 1989 🙂

Before that I used to get the other US magazine "Astronomy" from around 1980. I've still got my early ones of those somewhere. 

I still have the my first year of "Astronomy Now" starting with the April 1987 edition, when it was just quarterly. As well as the articles it actually had some proper astro classifieds in each edition which was a nice alternative to relying on the "Technical and Scientific" section of Exchange & Mart 🙄

Why do we keep these things ? - nostalgia I guess 🙂

The glossy equipment adverts in the US magazines were quite an eye opener when I first saw them  Then at the back of the magazine was a tiny advert for a brand called "Tele Vue". What a naff name for an astro company I thought - I'll bet their stuff is rubbish 😏 

 

 

[globular]

1 minute ago, John said:

What a naff name for an astro company I thought - I'll bet their stuff is rubbish

Why has SVBONY just popped into my head? 🤔

[jjohnson3803]

5 hours ago, DirkSteele said:

I believe the fork mounted C8 sold for $795 back in 1974 so goodness knows how much the C14 was!

I paid around US$1100-1200 for a C8, wedge, and tripod in 1982 or 83.  Bought my first S&T around 1967-68.  I wish I had kept that issue.  But mainly I wish I had had the money (and a place to house) one of those huge Unitrons.  😁

[JeremyS]

9 hours ago, John said:

My 1st S&T was bought in Flagstaff in 1989 🙂

Before that I used to get the other US magazine "Astronomy" from around 1980. I've still got my early ones of those somewhere. 

I still have the my first year of "Astronomy Now" starting with the April 1987 edition, when it was just quarterly. As well as the articles it actually had some proper astro classifieds in each edition which was a nice alternative to relying on the "Technical and Scientific" section of Exchange & Mart 🙄

Why do we keep these things ? - nostalgia I guess 🙂

The glossy equipment adverts in the US magazines were quite an eye opener when I first saw them  Then at the back of the magazine was a tiny advert for a brand called "Tele Vue". What a naff name for an astro company I thought - I'll bet their stuff is rubbish 😏 

 

 

Ah Exchange and Mart! I bought scopes 2 and 3 (6- and 10-inch Newtonians) via that venue.

[tomato]

I subscribed to S&T in the late 1980s, IMHO  it was way better than AN back then.
I remember  the review of the SBIG ST-4, it sent me down a very deep rabbit hole…☺️