Hello, new into this Hobby.

PBRStreetgang (Christian) · #1 05-01-2016, 06:50 PM

Hello lads (and lasses) my name is Christian. I have been a professional soldier for 29 years which means a lot of moving. However I have just moved to my dream home in Picton, NSW where I will settle permanently.

I have always loved Astronomy in a amateur sort of way and as a Birthday Gift my lady is going to buy me a telescope.

So we are off to Glebe tomorrow to visit BINTEL to buy a Telescope. So I am starting introductions before I even have the means to look at the night sky.

A couple of quick questions if you please:

I had a wonderful discussion on the phone with a rather patient and very helpful fellow by the name of MICK at BINTEL. Going by that conversation it seems BINTEL is a great place to buy a telescope. So I am hoping one of the experienced lads here on the forum can confirm my assumption.

Secondly is there anyone who lives in the PICTON area? I guess some personal help and hints would be appreciated.

I am told its an obsessive Hobby, which is fine (its not my first

),...I just hope I can catch the bug. This forum is a tad beyond me at this stage, but I am looking forward to contributing.

Some of the photography from the members here are fantastic and I have only just touched the forum.

The bug bites quick, doesnt it???

Any other basic hints to start will always be appreciated.

Somnium (Aidan) · #2 05-01-2016, 07:32 PM

Welcome Christian. the guys at Bintel are great, they will treat you well. the only thing is make sure you have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve or do in this hobby;
observing
planetary imaging
deep sky imaging
are you going to have to set up and tear down each night ?
how much do you want to get into the technical nuts and bolts
...
understanding this will be the key to making sure you get the right scope first time

Occulta (Chris) · #3 05-01-2016, 07:35 PM

Hey Apocalypse

Welcome to the wonderful world of Astronomy.

Any of the boys at BINTEL will give you good advice regarding this fascinating, and occasionally expensive, obsession.

In regards to your location, I would suggest contacting and joining the Macarthur Astro Society. Their details can be found in the Clubs & Societies listings on this forum.

And as you will soon discover, if you are contemplating purchasing or have actually made a purchase, you will get blamed for the crappy weather

Chris

PBRStreetgang (Christian) · #4 05-01-2016, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Somnium

Welcome Christian. the guys at Bintel are great, they will treat you well. the only thing is make sure you have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve or do in this hobby;
observing
planetary imaging
deep sky imaging
are you going to have to set up and tear down each night ?
how much do you want to get into the technical nuts and bolts
...
understanding this will be the key to making sure you get the right scope first time

Hello Aiden,

Thats excellent advice and its something I am coming to grips with as I browse the forum.

I actually have decent budget for my initial purchase and clearly the big trap is buying more than you need and particularly what one can practically utilise to the best effect.

The professionalism in this forum is astounding. Its as intimidating as its inspiring.

At this stage, observing with basic astrophotography (even though I probably don't know what basic astrophotography means).

Looking forward to talking to the team at Bintel.

PBRStreetgang (Christian) · #5 05-01-2016, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Occulta

Hey Apocalypse

Welcome to the wonderful world of Astronomy.

Any of the boys at BINTEL will give you good advice regarding this fascinating, and occasionally expensive, obsession.

In regards to your location, I would suggest contacting and joining the Macarthur Astro Society. Their details can be found in the Clubs & Societies listings on this forum.

And as you will soon discover, if you are contemplating purchasing or have actually made a purchase, you will get blamed for the crappy weather

Chris

Thanks Chris. Will do mate.

Ha ha,..........sounds like a wonderful community. Considering the weather here in Sydney,....I am certain the blame is well deserved.

Somnium (Aidan) · #6 05-01-2016, 07:55 PM

another thing you might want to do is go to a star party in your local area, have a look through different types of scopes. don't jump into a purchase to quickly otherwise it will gather dust.

AstralTraveller (David) · #7 05-01-2016, 08:01 PM

I first bought from Bintel about 1980 (Celestron silver top plossls if I recall correctly). In my experience and judging from everything I have heard you can have total confidence in them; advice, support and quality. Mick is a legend. He's been around since the year dot and is a keen amateur himself.

IMHO start out with a simple, and relatively inexpensive, dobs and begin with visual observing. Learn the sky and learn your way around astronomy. Don't forget the astro accessories: red light torch, star charts & planisphere, observing chair (worth every cent) lens pen etc.

Your nearest astronomical society is MAS and that would be the best way to find astronomers in your area. I been to a few of their evens and they're a great lot.

Welcome to astronomy.

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #8 05-01-2016, 10:30 PM

Christian
The big trap is wanting to get a scope that will do both visual and imaging work. It can be done but usually means compromise in one area or both.
If you are wanting to start with some purely visual work a dob is the obvious way to go. Good aperture, easy to setup, works in an intuitive way and unless you get a monster, the $$$ per aperture is the best value around. And if you find this hobby is not for you you haven't mortgaged the house to buy a scope!!
If looking to do some imaging, best bet is a short refractor. Again not a lot of $$$ and very forgiving. Just be aware with imaging there are a lot of things to learn.
I have found Bintel great over the years.

Good luck with the decisions

Cheers

Malcolm

PBRStreetgang (Christian) · #9 06-01-2016, 07:02 AM

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the tips. Had a bit of think overnight and I'll stick with observing. I suspect that most members who take photos had some photography experience prior to astrophotography.

Once I get to meet other members at MAS etc, then maybe I'll give the astrophotography a go.

Thanks all.

The Mekon (John Briggs) · #10 06-01-2016, 09:28 AM

Christian,

I am at Bowral, if you think you need help in learning what to observe we can meet sometime. Bargo is about half way and I know a place where it is clear to observe.

Other than that come down to the darker skies west of Mittagong.

John

dimithri86 (Dimithri) · #11 06-01-2016, 09:44 AM

Hi Christian,

I started visual, and 6 months later started astrophotography (no previous photography experience). I am kind of bored of visual now, after seeing what I can get with imaging.
If I had to start again with limited funds, I would probably go straight for imaging, because it gives me more hours of "entertainment". But I am an engineer and tinkering with
the mounts and solving all the engineering problems for imaging is as much fun for me as viewing.

Just something to keep in mind.

Of course doing both is the best. Gotta love big cheap dobs for making both possible.

brian nordstrom (As avatar) · #12 06-01-2016, 10:27 AM

Hi Christian , and welcome to IIS you will get a lot of help here and remember , there are no silly questions so ask away.

I am the opposite of the previous answer , been observing for 30 years and about 5 years ago decided to give AP a go , spent big

bucks on a CCD , fluorite refractor. , awsome goto mount , etc etc etc , but to cut a long story short found that it was not me. , sold every thing I had AP wise and now just love getting out under the night sky and observing , awesome stuff and now my sum total of shooting the sky is my phone camera through an eyepiece shooting the moon.

I second getting a nice Dobsonion mounted Newtonian 8-10 inch , good red torch �� and observing chair , these are really the single best accessory there is , as being comfortable when observing makes a lot of difference , best of all, just take your time and enjoy the learning curve. , it will last your lifetime.

Brian.

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #13 06-01-2016, 11:41 AM

The problem with jumping straight into imaging is that the investment is potentially much higher for something you may, or may not enjoy. If you already have a camera, there are things you can do such as star trails, wide constellation pictures etc that do not involve a huge investment.

Malcolm

ZeroID (Brent) · #14 06-01-2016, 08:32 PM

Hi Christian, you're getting some good advice here. I'll add my bit and suggest the 8" or 10" Dob as the best bang for buck and starting point. I'm into the imaging side now but I still have my 10" and it gets dragged out when I just feel like browsing the sky and looking at something special.
The imaging side is challenging, technical, frustrating and expensive if you want to try and get it right. I suggest the visual start with the Dob and learn the sky, the terminology and options and when you're ready then decide you want to mortgage the house and attempt imaging seriously. In the meantime you can still do afocal with the Dob and try to build moon mosaics and capture Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons with short video captures. These will all teach you some of the basics of astrophotography before you start burning money.
In the meantime, just enjoy !!

PBRStreetgang (Christian) · #15 07-01-2016, 12:04 PM

Well, I am on my way.

Purchased a Celestron Nextar Evolution 9 and 1/4 inch telescope.

Put it all together this morning and is presently charging. It looks fantastic.

Michael at BINTEL was fantastic and patient and I was impressed with the process we went through before picking a telescope. We talked for over two hours before settling on the Celestron.

Learn't a heap and scored some books. Clearly the planets and Messier objects will take a years of fun and discovery. Also got a Barlow (hopefully I got the name right) lens and a moon lens (to tone down the brightness of the moon) to go with the two eye pieces that came with the telescope (40mm and 13mm)

Gave the astro-photography a miss, although Michael showed me some tools of the trade,...particularly basic equipment. But I figure thats a year or two away....if at all??

At this stage, I have the following short term plans (not including star gazing).

The first Macarthur Astronomy Forum is on the 18th. This is important so I can meet other members and start observing with others.

Need a carry bag for all the accruements.

An IPAD to take advantage of the inbuilt WIFI system. The software that I was shown is awesome!!!

Thats about it for now.

All I need is a bit of clear sky now to align the scope and start star gazing.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

madwayne (Wayne) · #16 07-01-2016, 12:38 PM

Hi Christian

I see John (Mekon) has chimed in. We have a small relatively new group of astronomers on Facebook called Southern Highlands Star Gazers. We have a daytime workshop planned for 5pm this Saturday near Oxley College Burradoo followed by an observing session once it gets dark.

If you would like more details please join the group via Facebook (I'm the administrator of the group) or if you aren't in to social media send me a pm (private message) and I can give you more details.

The group has astronomers with John's experience right through to people who have an interest but don't own a telescope.

Wayne

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #17 07-01-2016, 12:46 PM

Christian
Great scope, I think that is the same scope that friend of has and it is very nice.

Well done

Cheers

Malcolm

PS. and good to hear of the great service at Bintel

brian nordstrom (As avatar) · #18 07-01-2016, 01:07 PM

great scopes those 9.25 Celestron,s ,mine performs awesomely, every one that looks through mine comments on the. "refractor like" quality of the stars , takes very high power (on the right night of course) and goes impressively deep , hope you enjoy yours as I do mine .
A scope that will give years of service.

I to are impressed that Bintel gave you great service. , they are a top company.

Brian.

Somnium (Aidan) · #19 07-01-2016, 02:46 PM

sounds fantastic, i am sure that will give you years of enjoyment. i look forward to seeing what you think of your first views

PBRStreetgang (Christian) · #20 07-01-2016, 07:15 PM

Great support and encouragement in this place.

Off to Burradoo this Saturday night. Cannot wait to give it a go.

Ordered me case.

Just a quick question on charging the telescope. Its quite safe and I am not worried about over charging, however when I started the red charging light dimmed and lighted. Its now steady. Does this mean its fully charged? I only ask because I expected a green light when fully charged? Its now 1918h and I started around 1000h.

Other than that, GTG.

Cheers