Unbelievable

[toetoe]

I have just finished looking at all the pictures that everyone sent in of there gear. I am only new to this caper but i have had this intrest for many years. My wife and kids bought me a Tasco Galaxsee 46-114375 Reflector and i am as happy as a pig in mud with this little fella. I just could not believe some of the gear that you all have in your back yard. The day will come for me to go bigger & better but what i see with what i have i am happy with. Perhaps i should try making a scope, that may be a cheaper way of going better than what i have. Any feedback or advice for a beginer would be nice to have.

[gbeal]

Welcome ToeToe,
use what you have for a while. Rub shoulders (if possible) with others who have what you perceive to be "better" gear than yours, and see whether it is actually better.
If you go down the ATM scene, then perhaps try buying the optics, and fabricating the rest.
Gary

[Starkler]

I'll agree with Garys advice to use what you have for a while and see if the astro bug really bites as it has bitten us :)

As for building a telescope, in general you will end up spending more and the main reason for doing it for build something for a specialist application. Having said that, Im currently working on a wooden tripod thats cost me about $20 in hardware as I already had the wood :)

I think your scope comes with "MA" eyepieces. The views in your scope considering it is f4 would really benefit with plossl eyepieces. These would give sharper images away from the centre of view.

When the time comes that you want to upgrade don't worry, we are great with advice on spending other peoples money for them :D

[ving]

hi toe toe!


the very best scope you could possibly have the whole world of infintisimal possiblities of equiptment avaliable to amateur and professional astronomers alike is probably the one you are using right now...

a scope is completely useless unless it is being used and you seem to be really enjoying using your :)
you should probably only upgrade if your scope nolonger does what you want (eg if kyou want to see fainter objects).

and a mighty big welcome to the forum :D

[RAJAH235]

Welcome toetoe. Just for the present, use what you have. I had a Tasco 114 EQ in '93/'94, and was able to see the impact sites from Shoemaker/Levy 9 on Jupiter with no trouble at all. As suggested, if you have an Astronomy Club nearby, ask If you can join them 1 nite. That way, you can decide on which direction you want to go. L. :thumbsup:
ps. Aperture Wins.
pps. Save up and take your time.

[mick pinner]

Welcome Toetoe,
As you persist with your interest in astronomy you will realise as l am sure a lot of us have, that the telescope itself is certainly not the be all and end all of our hobby.
When you cruise the forums you will notice time and again members repeating the line--no good having it if it's not pointing up-- or something along those lines.
There really is a lot to learn and this is one of the places to do it, as a reasonally new member myself l have found the other guys to be really helpful, my interest started as a 16 y.o with a scope very similar to yours and it has taken quite a while to get to the 12" LX200 l now own but l realise without learning the basics then even this scope with all it's advantages over my first scope would bring me no more pleasure.
It's a big sky, take your time, it's not going anywhere. Good luck. Mick.

[ballaratdragons]

G'day Toto, welcome.

For a long time I only had a 4.25" reflector. It was a peice of junk I made it out of PVC tube and I bought the mirrors from a scope shop in Melbourne (back then I paid $750 just for the 4.25" Pri mirror and 2ndary mirror).

That hunk of junk showed me amazing sights.

Now, 20 years later I finally jumped to 12".

I actually use my naked eyes more than scopes and binocs.

If you want to go up in size, test drive some other scopes at clubs and societies. The members will help you with info and pricing of each one. Don't rely on what the shops say, ask owners of scopes.

Good luck and keep enjoying the sky!

[Striker]

Welcome Toetoe..........Sell all your Wifes and Kids belongings and Buy a LX200 any size.....

[ballaratdragons]

and your house too if the bug really sets in!

Scope,

mount,

eyepieces,

camera,

observatory,

laptop,

. . . . .etc

[gaa_ian]

Welcome ToeToe
Ditto the advise of hanging out with a club ...
Take your time & explore is good advise too
:astron:

[Astroman]

I agree sell the wife and kids too, a nice celestron 20" looks good :) or a 16" RCX400 by Meade.

Seriously..... Sell the wife and kids, then goto an Astronomy Club and they should be able to guide you :) :)

[gaa_ian]

Welcome to AA, Toetoe (Astronomers Anon.)
You know ...stands up ...hello, my names Ian & I'm an Astronomy addict (crowd applauds), I havn't looked through a telescope for 3 days (crowd applauds) :P

[iceman]

Hi Toetoe, welcome to the forum! How did you hear about us?

As the others have said, if you're happy with what you've got, there's no need to go bigger or better, especially if you're only new at it.

I used binoculars and a starchart to learn my way around long before I got a telescope, so there's plenty of stuff to see and do before you think about going bigger or better.

I'd definitely recommend joining a club or attending their viewing nights.. you'll see the big scopes in action and how they compare to yours. The problem is, it may make you want more stuff the moment you leave :)

Hope to see you back regularly!

[toetoe]

Thanks to all for the input i have just read, i will take this all step by step, like one said "the sky is not going anywhere". I will try better eyepieces as a start, the wife and kids i will think hard on.. Thanks to all once again and i will be around this forum somewhere. Peter.

[xstream]

G'day toetoe,
Feel welcome to come to any of the local club meetings or viewing nights everyone is always more than welcome. First wednesday in every month 8.00pm at Victory primary.

Come to one of the viewing nights and you too will be able to look through that 30" monster. :astron: (aperture fever strikes again)

www.asaw..org.au/index.htm

[ving]

posted in 2 threads? now thats just showing off :P

hehehe!

[toetoe]

G`day iceman, i read an article about this site in Sky & Space mag so i took up the offer to become a member and very pleased that i did. I have to fight with my young bloke to get off the pc now so i can get on...

[toetoe]

Hi xtream, i would like nothing better than to come on over to Wodonga and chech it all out, but work stops me from doing that. Monday and Wednesday nights i am at work, what a bugger. Are there any other nights that any get togethers happen ? I would love to look through something better than what i have just to see what is in stall for me in the not to near future.

[xstream]

Just keep watching the events page of the asaw web site for details particularly around the new moon.
The wife and I will be at Wiruna this weekend but maybe can organise something after, as I'm on holidays for the next 4 weeks.
PM me if you wish.