I just purchased a Guan Sheng GS-680

[Gort (Theo)]

Hi Folks,

I couldn't wait any longer. Today I ordered my GS-680 8" Dob from Andrews and expect delivery tomorrow.

Paid $399 for the Dob, $50 for delivery to Melbourne and $49 for the cheshire collimator.

I have no idea how to use any of it BTW and I know bugger all about astronomy (apart from being able spot the moon) but I am sure the power of this great site and Google will assist.

Wife not happy with me. Told her that I am going through a mid life crisis and that we are better off me spending the money on the scope rather than on other women.

Got to say that Andrew is a very nice bloke. Spoke for ages. He was more interested in giving me good advice than making a sale.

Cheers.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Wife not happy with me.

You need to talk with h0ughy, he is a minor god when it comes to smoothing over "the missus" (messes for NZ members). A good place to start would be to read up on collimation then download a southern hemisphere sky chart http://www.skymaps.com/ which will give you a list of suitable targets and get cracking.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Hi Theo,
I bet you can't wait to take possession of your new scope.
My first bit of advice is to go to the newsagents tomorrow and buy a copy of Australian Sky and Telescope. It has a beaut all sky map that is easy to use, just hold it over your head and match up the constellations. It has quite a few objects on it for you to search for.
If you can get to a book store, you absolutely need to buy a copy of "Astronomy 2009". It has a series of good starter star charts and a month by month ephemeris to keep you up to date with what is happening "up there".
Have fun!

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

Gort,
Congratulations on making the jump. I also bought a new telescope today, a Bintel 10" dob second hand as a move up from my 70mm Celestron Refractor.
Guess what, there is a monster storm outside and I am stuck in here.
Fortunately the universe will still be there tomorrow.
Enjoy your new scope.

[DENMONKEY (Brett)]

That storm just hit Newcastle.
I grabbed a chair and a waterproof poncho to sit out back and watch the action. Sure was a ripper.
Figured I was still looking at the sky ..right ?

Congrats on the new gear Gort and Tele.

[rmcpb (Rob)]

8" dob is a great insturment. Make sure you put it out on the grass, not concrete, to cool to ambient temperature for half an hour before using it. That will give you better views. Also, don't view close to any building as the thermals coming off the building will wreck your views again. Don't try to observe objects below about 30 degrees from the horizon as you will be looking through lots of turbulent air which will wreck your view. Try to observe objects high in the sky.

Two other things that will be needed are an observing stool, I simply use one of those folding camp stools. Without that you will end up with dobbers back - read crook back here. Get a simple torch and put some red cellophane over it to preserve your night vision when reading sky charts while observing. Red light does not wreck your dark adaption as much as white light.

As for the wife, mine is very understanding. She says I could be going to the pub and spending lots more money there. Try using that argument

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

Well my minister of war and finance is a champion, she said to me its your hobbie, i know how much you love doing what your doing, so go ahead.

The other bonus i think is she actually likes looking at all the different things, though she hates mozzies, hates the cold and hates being hot :S hehehe dyam poms (no offence but i live with a house full of them).

Congrats on your new purchase, everything will be forgiven when your lady looks though the scope.

the first 2 targets to show her, Orion Nebula in the constalation Orion, and 47 Tucane in the constalation Tucane. one is a massive gas cloud that has a blueish hue, and the other is a globular cluster, that should have a reddish/gold tinge and is called a Globular Cluster.

Happy days

[koputai (Jason)]

Yep, great scope the GSO 8 incher. You'll get endless enjoyment from it, as long as you can find things to look at. Get Australian Sky and Tele-o-scope magazine each two months and you'll find a couple of new constellations to explore. Download something like Stellarium, which is free planetarium software which is a fantastic help. If you can find version 0.9.1 rather than the current 10.whatever. Version 10 is really unfriendly to use, whereas 0.9.1 is a dream.
Now you can start spending money on items the missus won't notice, like eyepieces and filters!

Cheers,
Jason.

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by koputai

Now you can start spending money on items the missus won't notice, like eyepieces and filters!

Mine noticed when an extra scope appeared in the garage!

[Coen]

In addition to Orion Neb and 47 Tuc, wonderful objects and great "first lighters":
You might also enjoy sweeping the Milky Way area in Carina. Find the southern cross and go in the direction where the pointers are not i.e. heading towards a very bright star (Canopus).

There are many open clusters including one of the best in the sky. The Eta Carina nebula complex and Eta Carina itself. There are also a number of doubles you might like to look at.

Grab yourself a star atlas and a pair of binoculars as well to help familiarise yourself with things.

I found, when I was starting out many moons ago, that scan the sky with binoculars and then use the telescope to examine the interesting thing I think I saw in the binos. Still find a pair of binos by the telescope to be quite handy to help maintain perspective.

Enjoy!

[Gort (Theo)]

Hi Guys,

The scope was delivered yesterday. Thumbs up to Andrews.

Thanks so much for all the great suggestions. I will definitely check out all the magazines, books, links, software products and targets you all mentioned.

Pretty soon I should have enough knowledge to be dangerous.

Also the wife has turned around and she is quite excited for me.

You have all been very generous with your advice.

Thanks again