[JungSte (Stephan)]

Hi all,

My name is Stephan, I am a newbie and want to say hello to all users of this excellent website.


Long time ago I studied physics, which I did completely by choice, so there was always some interest in astronomy and all the stuff around our little spaceship earth. But for me it really started when Brian Cox’s series ‘Wonders of the Universe’ was broadcasted here is Australia two years ago or so. I started thinking of acquiring some gear. But that turned out to be more difficult than expected and so I let it go for a while.

When ‘Wonders of the Universe’ was back on the telly some months ago, my interest came back and I re-started my hunt. Being unsure if I was just in a temporary mood or seriously interested I was reluctant to spend big bucks. First I was leaning towards an iOptron Smartstar mount plus a Vixen VMC110L OTA, but decided that approx. $800 was way too much for something that could become too small fairly quickly. So I thought an ETX could be the solution and threw an ‘I take it’ PM to an ETX ad on this website, but the seller decided to withdraw the ad and to keep the scope. I then found a website offering an ETX for little money and I ordered one – it looked like a perfect opportunity – but some 8 weeks later they told me that they couldn’t deliver the thing, instead they refunded the money and so I was back to square one.

I thus increased my $ limits and yep, that did the job. The other day I eventually bought a HEQ5pro from an iceinspace member – and on top a SWED80, although this wasn’t my first scope of choice. But the price was simply irresistible. Well, the scope came basically without anything. So I learned in the meantime that amateur astronomy is a synonym for spending big $s for little, tiny things: I bought nice William Optics focuser & eyepieces plus a GSO diagonal.

So I am ready to go and it’s time for some nights with clear skys! The good thing is that I live in SA, in the Adelaide Hills to be precise. 600m high and far enough from the (country) town Adelaide to have frequently good views at the milky way. The balcony will thus be a good place to start. I expect that the alignment of the EQ mount will kill me the first couple of times, but what can you do?

Thanks everyone for making this website such a useful and interesting place!

Cheers,
Stephan