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New UK astonomy magazine.

GazOC

By GazOC
in The Astro Lounge

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anthony

anthony

Posted
Posted

I've taken out a 6 month subscription on the strength of reports from UKAI members. I have not got a copy yet, though it sounds good. There has been a bit of negative feedback on the layout of articles, though that will hopefully be improved. What sounded appealing to me was that it seems to be a bit more indepth, greater relevance to practising amateurs - whereas S@N etc can be a bit more general, catering for a wider audience.

Looking forward to it myself.

Anthony

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Greg

Greg

Posted
Posted

Thanks Gaz,

If I can be perfectly honest.....among friends!!

S@N is ok....aimed too much at beginners.....perhaps

AN....Too geeky for me!.......Perhaps.

Sky&Telescope...Just right...For me. However...All that lurrverly stuff at US prices does not do me any good at all.

It's only my opinion!

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Naz

Naz

Posted
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Lucky you have the choice, there are 5 shops in Kirkwall that stock magazines of anytype, and only one stockls astro mags, I have asked if they do Astronomy Now, and they said no demand?, but they could order it for me. I like to have a peek at them first and then decide wether or not to buy. I didn't bother with last months S@N due to pages devoted to Mrs moore!

naz :D

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FLO

FLO

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Sky@Night can be great but it is still a bit patchy for my liking and I'd like to see them toughen up and flesh out the equipment reviews. Mind you, its only their first year.

Astronomy Now is getting really good of late - perhaps as a result of the new competition.

Just my opinion...

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GazOC

GazOC

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The reviews are generally pretty poor, the GOTO mount reviews in this months issue are verylightweight.

Theres also quiet a few factual errors cropping up in the magazine in general, it's mentioned in two seperate articles that SCT have a wider field of views than Maks, not "generally" or "tend to" and no explaination as to why this is the case (even in the beginners article on CATS). Theres plenty of f10 Maks about with the same FOV as the SCTs.

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daz

daz

Posted
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Looks worth a read.

I cancelled my AN sub for S@N, but the last two issues have made me wonder if I did the right thing. AN does not have the backup of the BBC behind it, but the last 2 issues have been pretty good.

The CD on S@N is good, but not sure it's worth the extra price.

Mrs Moore's drawings indeed!!!

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daz

daz

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My astro society buys them so i have a wee read when i go but they have not been too impressive

of late.

I was going to post a "you-tight-fisted-git" comment, but then, if you were buying mags all the time, you couldn't afford those lovely WO scopes, could you!! :D

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Jamie

Jamie

Posted
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My astro society buys them so i have a wee read when i go but they have not been too impressive

of late.

I was going to post a "you-tight-fisted-git" comment, but then, if you were buying mags all the time, you couldn't afford those lovely WO scopes, could you!! :D

Exactamundo!

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anthony

anthony

Posted
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Got my first issue today. Very happy with it. A very good appraisal of the ed80 - balanced highlighting plus pionts and flaws. Very readable planetary imaging tutorials, some superb astrophotos in the readers gallery. Seems a genuinely good mag - quite specific to practical astronomers! Also has a very solid finish. A strange way to describe it, but the quailty of the paper and cover is excellent and will help this mag survive as reference material on my book shelf for a good length of time. Thumbs up from me.

Anthony

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russ

russ

Posted
Posted

Is this mag by delivery only? Only ask because my WHS has never heard of it, nor has Martins. Already signed upto S@N, don't really want to sign up to another.

I agree the last two issues of AN have been much improved, the May issue especially. Almost certainly as a result of S@N because AN has been downright awful for a few years now.

S@N looked very promising to start but not so sure now. Agree the reviews are lightweight and the articles are becoming very AN like. Not much in there too keep me interested. I doubt i'll renew my subs.

US Astronomy used to be my fav back in the 80's and early 90's. But now its the worst of the bunch, awful mag.

S&T has been fav since the mid 90's. Pitched just right. Reviews are okay although they could still learn a lot from your average car mag on how to write a decent product review.

I want the astro equiv of What Car? or even one of the Camera mags or PC Format. They know how to do excellent articles and reviews that pull no punches. Don't care if they pee off the manufacturer, just say it as it is. And rate it accordingly.

Well that's my say.

Russ

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GordonCopestake

GordonCopestake

Posted
Posted

Well said Russ. I dont have a subscription to any astronomy magazine, not because im tight, but because everyone i've read just seemed parp and didn't interest me. I have a subscription to New Scientist and find it interesting, entertaining, educating and funny. No astronomy magazine i've read can claim that. I also agree about the "What car" analogy, and i'de go further: i want Jeremy Clarkson to make a television series called "Top Aperture" where he tests various telescopes and makes cutting comments. Although on this program I fear he'de only test the most expensive and out of reach equipment on the market :D

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anthony

anthony

Posted
Posted

Hi Russ,

I am fairly sure that it is by delivery only. Have a look on the website - www.practicalastronomer.com - and read some sample articles. No punches pulled on the review of the ed80. If it stays as good as the first issue I rate it above the other UK mags without hesitation. The others do have their merits but Pract astronr has hit the nail right o the head.

(ps I am just a happy first issue owner, no connection to mag or anyone involved)

Anthony

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GazOC

GazOC

Posted
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I've just read the first issue and, although it's obviously early days, if they keep this up things look very promising to say the least.

If you look at the ED80 review and compare it with the S@N reviews, well theres no comparision really. The review is unbelievably in depth and reads more like a proper test than a magazine article (zygo reports, interferometer graphs etc).

As Anthony said, its got a very solid feel, more like an broucher (sp?) than a magazine.

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daz

daz

Posted
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Bleddy good service!!

I put my subscription in on Friday last week, and it turned up yesterday, first issue as well!! I was expecting a few weeks delay and then to start at Issue 2.

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