Newbie alert!

[Bendy (Ben)]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie from Bunbury, WA.

I've been watching the forum for a little while and decided it was time to take the plunge.

I've had an interest in astronomy for several years and have been busy with the binos for the past six to twelve months. Decided it was time to step things up, so recently acquired a 4.5" reflector.

Looking forward to learning from and sharing with you.

Bendy

[Moon (James)]

Bendy Ben from Bunbury hey? Welcome to iceinspace :-)

James

[leon]

Welcome indeed, hope your time here is enjoyable,
Leon

[Bendy (Ben)]

Thanks for the welcome James and Leon.

Nice alliteration btw, hadn't thought of that

Bendy

[garin (Garin)]

Welcome Ben, at least you can get in a few nights before the rain sets in for the weekend

[erick (Eric)]

Welcome aboard Ben

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

On board Bendy Ben from Bunbury , .
4 1/2 inch scope ? , what brand are you thinking ? there are many ( how do I put this ??? ) oh well , rubbish scopes out there in this size , trust me but there are plenty of good ones but be very careful before putting your money down , do you have a model in mind ? , let us know if you do . I have an old Tasco red tube 114mm f8 up in Darwin that performs brilliantly on its solid EQ2 mount that I gave to a young up and comer and he just loves it , great scope optically that handles 200x easily when using better 1 1/4 inch Plossl eyepieces .

I would suggest a Celestron Heritage 130p or any of the 6 inch Dobs that either Bintel , Andrews or others sell , great starter scopes .

We are looking at heading down that way around October and if you want we can catch up for a stargaze ?

Good luck and keep in touch .

Brian.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hey, Ben and don't let them knock your 4.5" scope too much. I started with one of those and it surprised me just how much it was capable of seeing with a couple of decent EP's. You'll want to move up in aperture one day and try other things but enjoy and learn and ask plenty of questions on here.
I trust you have found Stellarium already and you're using it to get acquainted with the sky, especially on those cloudy nights.

Cheers
Brent

[Bendy (Ben)]

Hi everyone

Thanks for the very warm welcome indeed!

With all of the talk of dobs, maybe I have set myself up for some good-natured ribbing with the 4.5"!

Yep onto stellarium, have it loaded on the desk-top PC, ipad and smart phone just in case

Brian - a stargaze sounds great, let me know when you are down this neck of the woods.

Ben