[Wavytone]

Hi Bob,

I think there are four types in amateur astronomy:

- those addicted to the views from big dobsonians and fish-bowl eyepieces;

- those addicted to imaging; extreme cases don't even own an eyepiece;

- a rare few (usually retired) who live in a dark sky location with a permanent set up and can afford the time to do something more serious, or

- visual lunar & planetary observers who ultimately are high-magnification junkies.

Conclusions after 45 years:

Im my younger and sillier days I've been in the first camp but realised it meant divorcing wife and family to spend every weekend somewhere camping out in the bush with a bunch of rough blokes doing something which ultimately seems rather pointless and if you tried to explain it to anyone else they'd conclude you're nuts, with good reason.

I've dabbled in the second camp but to be "in the race", unless you are willing to stand under a cold shower and flush $100 notes down the drain on a nightly basis, stop now. Secondly I notice so many are endlessly photographing the same few hundred objects over and over again, which is quite frankly utterly pointless. How many photos of M42 does the world really need ?

Work (in the big smoke) and even if I retired, family commitments keep me firmly out of the third group.

Which leaves the fourth category. After a few mistakes (which I have sold) I eventually acquired a dream scope for lunar & planetary, which is fine where I live. While it is great to occasionally visit a dark site to point this at some DSO's and galaxies etc I don't take it too seriously anymore.