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Greetings from Eastbourne

Supay

By Supay
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Supay

Supay

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Hi everyone,

I'm returning to astronomy after quite a break. I used to have a small telescope and regularly attend my local AS and pretty much ate and drank information on all aspects of astronomy.

Unfortunately, I got lazy and bogged down with other parts of life and I haven't really touched any of it for about 6 years now, which seems incredible now I look back on it.

Hopefully my knowledge hasn't atrophied too much and can be revived with some hands-on work. I've been thinking more and more about getting myself a new scope and back into it and decided the other day to stop "thinking about it" and actually do it.

So, I have on order a Sky Watcher 8 inch Explorer 200P, with some additional equipment, and am ready to bore my poor girlfriend to death by making her stand with me in cold fields and risking her wrath sneaking extra equipment into the house without her seeing.

I can't wait!

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Supay

Supay

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Good decision, nice scope - as for the g/f - buy her a pair of Ugh! boots and she'll more than happy lol :D

Not sure if they are the ones with the curved sole, but if I bought her some of those she probably would keep quiet for a while.

They are something hideous like £100-120 which makes me feel a bit ill, think of the extra astronomy or computer equipment you could get for the same price of a pair of shoes!

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Supay:hello2:

A warm welcome from me to the forum. Just to let you know - the stars haven't gone away and they're still in their usual place waiting for you and your new scope. :D

You can certainly 'bore' me with how you get on with the 200p, they are popular scopes and let you see plenty. I wonder if your girlfriend has ever seen Saturn? (..her amazement might just allow you to sneak in a bit more kit :D:D)

Clear skies

James

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Supay

Supay

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No, Eloise knows absolutely nothing about astronomy and would likely have problems identifying Orion! I have been slowly passing on some information to her with some naked eye observing so she knows what those big blobs of light are and a small amount of binocular viewing but she's never used a telescope.

She did grow up in central London though and it's not exactly the most pleasant spot for seeing the stars, so I imagine that was a major part of her not paying much attention to the sky.

I previously had a smaller telescope, a battered second-hand 4 inch Newtonian, and I loved it. I considered getting a similar smaller, cheaper one again, but although I am extremely rusty, I think I'd regret not getting the larger scope as I've done plenty of work at lower powers already.

I also elected to not get Goto of any kind as I'd rather relearn the sky and telescope handling properly and not get tempted to do it the easy way. I can always add it later if I desire.

Eloise has also never been camping so I'm considering taking her on a camping trip somewhere remote and dark in the UK later this year, once the nights lengthen and before the winter weather comes in. Hopefully that'll open her eyes to it all and allow me to make some more purchases now and again.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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You wont regret the 200 - its a great bit of kit. You never know your g/f might like a romantic evening under the stars - get some hot cocoa in a vacuum flask to stay warm with and I am sure she will come round.

My first reasonable scope was bought by an ex b/f as a romantic present.

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Supay

Supay

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Well, scope is on its way!

I know it's not the best time of year to do observing, but it'll give me time to get up to speed in relearning handling it properly and used to putting it together and taking it apart so that I am ready for the better nights.

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Supay

Supay

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The scope has arrived, the equipment is all checked over and assembled and I'm ready to go outside and get calibrating and viewing.

And it's raining and cloudy. blumming typical UK!

I've just finished a 6 day working shift where I have been working 1330-2200 and it's been sunny and clear. Now I am off for 3 days and have my new scope, the weather has turned. Here's hoping for a good weekend!

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