[Harlequin]

G'day, I am interested in developing a lifelong hobby in astronomy. I live in QLD, on the Gold Coast. I am planning on driving 25 mins away from the coast to the national parks for darker skies when I have decided which telescope am going to invest in. I am prepared to invest $6,000 for long term hardware. I am interested in viewing high quality DSO?s and I do not plan on astrophotography.

I find the idea of an expensive computerised telescope interesting since this will allow me immediate success out-of-the-box. However the features of the large aperture DOB Truss that can be (de)assembled into my large Camry Toyota Station Wagon is also very attractive. The DOB Truss will allow me access to DSO?s other hardware may not be able to. I am prepared to spend 30 mins assembling, with an additional hour of cool down before beginning to explore space.

I am fortunate to have a local mentor who is prepared to help me with any problems I encounter. This has reduced my newbie concerns about manually locating DSO?s with the DOB style telescopes.

Please let me know if you have any advice and tips. I am looking forward to contributing to this community. Chat to you soon.


Best regards


Harlequin