In retrospect, I wish I hadn't...

[Macavity]

Time to come clean. What do you regret purchasing or doing (DIY etc.) - Astronomy Wise?

We won't hold you to account (though you Bank might)!

Me? Well, I regret purchasing (and selling) so many eyepieces, in a generally vain quest,

to find the "best" one! In the end, you pays your money?

"Modifying" things. My poor old ST102's OTA looks like a "Swiss Cheese" - Not sure I'm any

the wiser. But I have a substantial collection of (modified) tube rings, dovetail bars etc.

Undoing an (albeit fine Moonfish) Eyepiece... No Problem. The problem came when I came

to reassemble, one of the elements "stuck" at an angle. They make good paperweights.

Selling my little MAK90? (And probably any Maksutov)

P.S. For all the money expended, I wish I'd bought a (Autotracking) Dobsonian.

I suspect I could've bought a matching pair of 'em...

[Ben Ritchie]

Selling things, generally - my TV60is, Borg 77ED and TMB80/480 are all 'scopes I wish i'd never parted with.

[Roy]

Selling my complete imaging set up only to realise six months later that I missed imaging, so had to buy a new set up.

Lost a fortune selling the old gear and spent even more replacing it.

[Sam]

I wish I hadn't left it so long to get into astronomy!

[blinky]

taking appart my William Optics Linear Power focuser for a regreas and not realising (till I heard the ping, ping sounds) that it had ball bearings inside it!

[Rusty Strings]

Dismantling my old Prinz 330 refractor, cleaning the objective and discovering how to remove the coating, taking the eyepieces apart to clean them. If I've learnt one thing it's to leave well alone.

John

[ron.s.g]

buying a big scope that is heavy to lift onto the tripod/ not having an obsy yet as it would fall down if i built it.

ron.s.g

[The Warthog]

Not buying an 8" scope instead of the 6".

[TheThing]

Been caught in a compromising position with the vicar.

Oh! Astronomy wise!

Not traded my Skywatcher 130pm for a Meade ETX-70AT (WHAT was I thinking?!?)

Spent more time looking at stuff with my dad (too late now he's gone....)

[Phil Fargaze]

Selling the Tasco telescope I used when I was a boy.

[Herakles]

Interesting thread ! No real regrets here. I believe every days a school day , things happen for a reason.

I had thought possibly getting into proper stargazing earlier but then family/work commitments would have dicated other wise .

[Astro_Baby]

Wishing I hadnt left the hobby years ago.

More lately wishing I still had my house in the country so I could have an obs.

Buying and selling - wishing I had bought a CPC-1100 - at least when my 8" scope plays up.

Technical DiY - wishing I could just leave things alone at times without forever being OCD about everything. I've not had a disaster yet - even when stripping down a succession of car engines (and once even stripping down a jet engine) but I wish at times I could just ignore the odd niggle rather than endlessly pursuing perfection.

[stev74]

I suppose it'd be the missus who'd be answering this one......

I wish I hadn't bought him that cheap telescope from Jessop's last xmas!!!

Needless to say I caught the bug and now the proud owner of a SW Explorer 200p on EQ-5 mount, rigel quickfinder, cheshire, dew shield, solar paper, red light torch and headlight..... mmm need to be upgrading those stock EP's next, maybe get some this xmas!!! :D:D:D

[Talitha]

My only regret is not holding out for big binoculars that have angled eyepieces which can be changed. The 22x100s are wonderful but i often wish i could get more than 22x and TBH they're a pain in the neck when viewing above a certain altitude. Other than that, i'm good.

[SteveL]

wishing I`d started earlier...

[Talyn]

I had an 8.5 inch Astrophysics (or Astrosystems, can't remember which!) Newtonian reflector, and a Vixen Super Polaris mount, which I was forced to sell in order to pay the rent back in 2003, after I got into some bad financial difficulties. To this day I regret selling that scope but at the time I had no choice.

Also, I regret wasting far too many clear nights over the years, due to tiredness, having to get up early the next day for work, laziness, etc, etc.

And finally, I was in Australia this year and joined some astronomy friends from Texas for a star party in the Warrumbungles. Unfortunately I could only stay one night as I had to go back to Sydney the next day, for a pelagic bird watching trip. I kept having the feeling I should bin the pelagic and stay on, especially as the only night I was there was wet and windy, it was a vile night. Anyway, I left the next day, went back to Sydney and then onto the town of Wollongong for the pelagic trip. Only the blumming thing was cancelled due to the high winds and mountainous seas. I knew I should have listened to my inner voice and ditched the pelagic idea, especially as the weather cleared nicely, and I couldn't get back to Coonabarabran due to dwindling funds...

[adamsp123]

Getting back into astronomy after such a long break, and then realising that imaging was going to float my boat big time thus I could have saved loads on visual observing bits and bobs.

Pete

[Tim]

Regrets? I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.........

[neilmr]

I wish I hadn't left the hobby for twenty years before rediscovering it, for buying a 8" reflector then large goto scope before realising I need two smaller refractors for imaging and for putting my beer just there as it's now all over the floor.

[John]

I've dismantled and cleaned eyepieces that I shouldn't have - I still have the "remains" of an Antares Ortho 6mm and a Russian TAL 25mm plossl / konig to remind me not to do it again.

It's taken too long and too much cash for me to realise that i) you get what you pay for, and, ii) you never regret buying quality.

I've bought and sold too many equatorial mounts - I just don't like them !.

Other than that .....

John

[DemonicOmelette]

Cleaning my primary mirror with motorcycle degreaser and wire wool.

Throwing my eyepieces into the river, fully expecting my dog to fetch them.

Mounting one of these in my backyard. Really doesn't help light pollution in my neighborhood.

[part timer]

1) When I got my first telescope I should have bought a couple of decent eyepieces and just learned to use it!

2) After getting a good scope which came with excellent eyepieces, I should have bought just one to fill a mid range gap and then just enjoyed the sky.

Instead I have wasted more than the cost of the telescope in eyepieces I didn't like.

3) Cleaning a Tal 25mm eyepiece with lens fluid which penetrated in between the cemented elements and took the blackening paint of the lens edges with it, thereby ruining a perfect eyepiece!

4) Waited 3 years to get a replacement motor for the mount and lost patience. Mount now looks like a cruise missile has hit it and the motor I bodged on is too noisy! (OV then immediately imported some spare parts for the first time in years:mad:)

5) Went out on a lousy night just because I was being arsy with the weather gods. Dropped my 90mm mak and killed it.

6) Spent a LOT of money on astronomy equipment which I use at most once every 2 or three months due to family and so on. Should just have stuck with the 4" newt until the kids grow up.

7) Bought a house without checking properly for night time conditions. Ended up with 6 flood lights over the garden for the first few years. They havent been lit for a year or so now, but I live in fear!

I could probably go on for hours!