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Boa Noite ... from the far Western Algarve

Damnit

By Damnit
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Damnit

Damnit

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Just thought I would drop a line in here to introduce myself and say hello.

I am a total and utter astronomy noob, just been looking up at stars and the night sky in awe for years and thinking how great it would be to own a telescope, but never took the time to learn anything about it or invest in a scope ... till now ... the skies here in The Western Algarve (near Vila do Bispo) are simply so stunning most nights that it would very be rude not to get to know more about them :)

[bTW ... I originate from Lancashire, but have not lived there for 15 years or more].

So ... I recently purchased a planesphere, turn right at orion, and after a few nights of looking around and getting a few bearings in the night sky, I decided to say "sod it" and after a fair bit of research I invested in a Skywatcher Explorer 150/750P on an NEQ3 mount, plus a few basic accessories like a polarscope, laser collimator, moon filter, etc ... but no additional eyepieces yet other than what is delivered with the scope (2x Barlow, 25mm & 10mm Super Ploessl).

A motor drive (non-goto) is probably on the cards at some point so that I can do a bit of astrophotography too (I am a photographer myself so can hardly resist :))... but for now its just a bit of looking around and enjoying it all.

I have to say that so far, I am seriously impressed with my purchase, despite not having the faintest clue about 99% of what I have seen up there, but this is being treated as relaxation and a slow and steady learning process for me and the family rather than an intense school project that I have to try and finish in 2 weeks ... if you get where I am coming from :hello2:

Anyway ennuf for now ... looking forward to learning and chatting with yas all ... catchyas around the forum - Damnit

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Chris H

Chris H

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Hi and welcome to the forum, I've been going to the Algarve for a few years now to Luz and I go through Vila Do Bispo to get to two of my favorite beaches Praia do Castelejo and Praia Da Bordeira its a very nice part of the world. I take my 10x50 bins with me when I go the skies to the north of Vila Do Bispo are excellent.

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barkis

barkis

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Welcome along to the SGL Forum Damnit.

I hope you enjoy being a member of this great place. Don't be shy in asking for help if you need it.

Do you know about the COAA in the Algarve, It is an Astronomy Holiday Centre, and might be worth a visit if it's not too far away from you.

Website here.

Ron.:)

http://www.coaa.co.uk/

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Damnit

Damnit

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Cheers all ... nice warm welcomes there, and yeah, we love this area of The Algarve too for many, many reasons hence our very conscious decision and major effort to move here ... and as was said, the skies from our back yard are truly amazing (to me anyhow).

I used to do a lot of mountain sports, including snowboarding, mountaineering and rock climbing and saw many a beautiful night sky whilst camping or walking out in the middle of nowhere, but only one night sky I remember seeing (near Lake Tahoe in California) ever compared to what we have literally from our back door nearly every day, so I am looking forward to learning a lot more about what is up there and hopefully sharing some of my experiences and eventually pictures with you all ... but we are maybe getting ahead of ourselves here, as I fear I may be leaning on you lot for help a lot more than I am able to give in return to start with :) :)

(First request for help going in on the equipment thread about eyepieces in a moment ... )

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Damnit

Damnit

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Do you know about the COAA in the Algarve, It is an Astronomy Holiday Centre, and might be worth a visit if it's not too far away from you.

Website here.

Ron.:)

http://www.coaa.co.uk/

Thanks ... and yes I have seen it before but never visited it - I am sure once I am able to appreciate it a lot more then I fully expect I will be taking a trip there esp. to check out their bigger scopes.

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Damnit

Damnit

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Thanks again and hope the clear skies come back for you who are suffering soon - we had a couple of cloudy nights over this past week ... I was almost grateful as my neck is killing me from all the spotting I have been compelled to do :)

... therein lies a question actually - do many of you regularly adjust (twist) your newtons whilst stargazing to make it more comfortable viewing, or do you just put up with the crick in your necks like I have mainly been doing to date :D

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Damnit

Damnit

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Thx Nick (edit: and Gary ... and all once more) ... and nope, not a contortionist, but was starting to feel like I needed to become one :D

I have thus far been adjusting it, but to be honest I have been lazy and only been doing it when absolutely necessary, as I seem to end up moving the tube laterally in the rings and messing up its balance. Noob issues I know :)

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