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A quick hello from east sussex!

matt_man21

By matt_man21
in Welcome

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matt_man21

matt_man21

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Hello there!

I supoose a good place to start is to introduce myself. I'm matt i'm 26years old and i'm an alcoho... (oops wrong group) I live on the outskirts of peacehaven near brighton I'm just getting in to astronomy although the sparks been there since i was a kid it's taken me till now to have the time and a little bit of money to put towards my intrests. I guess the one thing that really clinched it for me was realising that the middle star on orions sword wasn't actually a star atall it was a nebula this thought alone captivated me and made me wonder whjat else was out there... we spend all our lives looking at the ground and rarely look up to see what's actually happening siletly above our heads. i heard a software package called stellarium crop up a few times in threads on here and after playing arround for a few months can now name a handfull of stars and identify some of the visible planets.

Last week i took the plunge and decided to get my self a small scope "a la ebay" IT's a skywatcher 4" refractor at f5 on a small light equitorial mount EQ2-3 it came with two eyepeices 9.7mm and 6.3mm plossl's and a 2x televue barlow all for just shy of £100 the scope appears to have been fiddled with a little judging by the stripped screw threads and the loose focuser but after a little TLC, new screws and a gentle dusting with my photography lens kit (it appears someone has tried to WASH the objective lense assembly as there are signs of a tiny bit of a water stain creeping inbetween the two glass elements and the antireflective coating appears to have been cleaned with toilet tissue :)

Anyway... i'm rabbiting on!!

I want to try and combine my love of photography with my interest in astronomy, I got the scope out in the early hours of the morning and put a brief post about my experience under Observing > planets> (i'm still buzzing) I hope that in time i can learn to use the equipment properly (i tried polar aligning last night but failed miserably so used it as a spotting scope (note to self equatorial mounts don't move in quite the way you'd expect if your used to using alt azimuth style camera tripod).

If last night was anything to go by I can see my self having a lot of fun in the future!! (final note to self after 20min at -1.2C fingerless gloves may become an appropriate investment) :)

Matt

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johnh

johnh

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Welcome Matt, imaging will be a great move once you've got the visuals sorted although you'll need to spend a bit more money - if you buy from the sales section here you'll get a better standard. We will have you expert in all aspects of astronomy in time so clear skies.

JohnH.

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brantuk

brantuk

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Hi Matt and welcome to SGL :)

So long as the main axis of your mount is pointing north and your altitude is set correctly, it will be aligned fine for observing and you'll only have to track in one plane RA (with maybe small occasional adjustments in DEC). If you can find polaris with it all the better.

For photography it would need to be a lot more accurate. Enjoy the forum :)

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Matt,

A very warm welcome to SGL, now I know Peacehaven, visited twice a year when we went to stay with the wifes Uncle in Newhaven, my Son and I used to visit that lovely fishing tackle shop on the main road for bait and other supplies, but that is some many years ago now, enjoy the forum.

John.

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matt_man21

matt_man21

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Cheers for the warm welcome people! It's quite a change finding people that are actually interested in the subject rather than the glassed over (or calling the white coats) expressions that my friends often give me!

@ brantuk - I tried polar aligning (albe it poorly the other day) I think that the scope is not paralell to the mount and also my rather cheap prism based diagonal appears to be off too as when i rotate the diagonal for a more comfortable viewing position even if i have the object centered in the Eyepiece it will move out of the FOV when i rotate the diagonal by about 45degres (its a pain in the behind) Is it something that can likely be solved or is it more likely a case of cheap Chinese equipment?

@ Mick.G. - I'm actually from Hastings originally too, I moved to Peacehaven a few years ago to be a little closer to Sussex University, I used to live in the ore village/fairlight area of Hastings and walk the fire hills with my mates at night watching the skies

Cheers to all!

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