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Old 26-05-2010, 03:27 PM
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yusufcam (Colin)
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sydney
Posts: 123
excellent article, cleverly written

i remember my first scope from not that long ago, i knew little about it when i purchased it but took the apparent honest advice of the salesperson (who in hindsight sold me exactly what i had unknowingly asked for).

After i bought it and returned home, i did some enthusiastic research on the web and was immediately dismayed to find a plethora of experts pleading grimly "whatever you do make sure someone doesn't sell you one of these things".

"Sheooot, i thought", what have i gotten into.

after several months of encountering such reports i succumbed and ended up getting the recommended beginner scope (the ubiquitious 8" dob, and further down the track, a 102mm F10 refractor). The moment i first used the dob i knew what the advantages of the original telescope, a short tube refractor, where (and coincidentally at the same time found the first astronomy book which sang the virtues of ST refractors, [Phillips Deep Sky])........

Even though i knew i prefer to buy food from a restuarant and take it home to eat. It didn't dawn on me that i would defer to a scope used in our backyard rather than a trek to a remote dark site, light pollution regardless.

Yes, Astronomy is conceptual, (yet, some objects are still beautiful) and that conceptualization extends to our telescopes....

One night (when i had only the ST) i noticed how forlorn i felt when i thought about the "blinding CA and puny magnification" of my ST achro. Then i stopped momentarily and thought what happens if i think about it as being like a set of powerful binoculars (wide field, light, portable), and instantly to my suprise felt absolutely great about them....


I have found that i love the hunt and my urban setting.

Once i've found where things are and are quite familiar with their locations i drag out the dob or F10 (on the balcony) and apply the magnification.

My scopes work as a team of sorts.....

So in the end it took all that time to find out it was right from the beginning (in this case).

Enjoy, why not...

Regards
Col


to look at what each scope does best.

Last edited by yusufcam; 27-05-2010 at 11:29 AM.
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