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Hi, is it safe to come in?

Rob998

By Rob998
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Rob998

Rob998

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Hi, just a quick first post to say hello.

I was recently handed a hefty document for my perusal. It turned out to be my eldest (7yo) Little Monsters christmas list. Fairly prominently positioned amongst the requests for endless Barbie accessories, puppies and her very own sweet shop was the word "Telescope"!

She's recently been doing a topic at school about the Apollo programme, and she loved it. So did I as I was a bit of a space nut when I was a kid & I enjoyed helping her make a model Saturn V out of pop bottles! Any way she's become a bit entranced with the whole space thing and often leaves her bedroom curtains open at night so she can stargaze.

So she's getting a telescope, I've done a little reading here so it'll probably a Celestron 130 or similar, although I've seen some very tasty exotic kit on fleabay (dont worry I've not been seduced by those Seben things!). I tell you what, I can't believe how cheap well regarded kit can be had for these days. I remember looking at a reflecting telescope as a kid, and it was being touted in the shop as a decent first "proper" 'scope and it was about £500. There was no way on earth my mum could afford that so I had to do my moongazing with an old pair of WW2 naval binoculars that weighed an absolute ton!

I reckon most of our time will be spent looking at the moon & the planets to begin with & then moving on to the further afield attractions. I've downloaded Stellarium to give us an idea of where to look for stuff!

I'd like to try some simple photography, using the afocal method to begin with, which will be easy enough for my Little Monster to try too. When the price of DSLRs drops (or more likely, when some decent 2nd hand kit starts appearing at cheap prices!) I might try some more advanced stuff.

I'll no doubt be popping in here occasionally for advice & to see what attractions are due to appear if the cloud cover allows!

Anyway, I see my short first post has turned into a bit of an epic, so I'll finish up now!

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Ant

Ant

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Welcome aboard Rob,

You're going to be starting off with similar stuff to the rest of us - so ask away if your get stuck.

You'll enjoy the imaging side, it is amazing what you can get with a simple digicam - thats how I started off.

Cheers

Ant

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Rob998

Rob998

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Dont underestimate the power of a simple digicam. If you buy a universal digital camera adapter and hook your cam to your scope you will get adequate results.
Welcome aboard Rob,

You're going to be starting off with similar stuff to the rest of us - so ask away if your get stuck.

You'll enjoy the imaging side, it is amazing what you can get with a simple digicam - thats how I started off.

Cheers

Ant

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! And it's good to know that we'll be able to get good results with a basic camera. She's got a nice little Nikon that we got her for her birthday last year. It was only £45 from Asda (reduced from over £100!) and it gets really good results, so hopefully that performance will carry through to this hobby!

I think you've all worked out by now that my Little Monsters christmas prezzie is also going to be partly mine :) ! A bit like the iPod I bought for Mrs Rob a couple of years back, that now lives on my bedside table!

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stev74

stev74

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Hi Rob welcome to SGL,

I'm sure you and your 'little monster' will have a great time with the scope. Both my 'not so little now...monsters' (9yo & soon to be 11yo) love spending time at the eyepiece (EP). :)

If you do go for a reflector on an equatorial mount, I'd recommend a small set of step ladders so your daughter can reach the EP. The design of the scope and mount means the EP can be quite high up, depending on what your looking at.

Cheers

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DavidB

DavidB

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Welcome Rob.

I joined this gang a week or so ago and I am now hooked. Didn't get to bed until one o'clock last night from reading the threads and the last thing I saw was Sirius through the roof window twinkling away like a Christmas tree light.

I am new and bought a Celestron 130 SLT. On my first "piece" I had a bit of a moan about aligning it but now find using two star auto it is absolutely no trouble. Really enjoying it.

Hope we hear from you again. It would be great to get your daughter's reaction on seeing the moon etc. My six year old granddaughter was blown away when I showed her our moon and the moons of Jupiter - especially when they were in exactly the right place compared to the diagram on the computer!

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Jupiter Martin

Jupiter Martin

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Hi Rob and welcome

I only started here a couple months ago myself for excactly the same reason my six year old daughter was doing about the solar system in school and she asked for a telescope for xmass and now I'm hooked bought a scope and now upgrading. So hope you have deep pockets as can get expensive.

The help you get here will be a great advantage as I jumped head first before I found this site.

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Rob,

A warm welcome to SGL, yes it`s quite safe to come in, but close the door it`s freezing to-day here in the North of the country, but clear skies last night, I am sure you and your Daughter will enjoy the forum, by the way I bought my Mrs a circular saw, a router and other tools for Christmases past, had the distinct impression they did not go down to well.

John.

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