I was just wondering what your first telescope was and how many telescopes you have now. I would just like to have an idea of what the journey is like for most amateur astronomers over the years.
Thanks for sharing.
Last edited by OzStarGazer; 21-05-2014 at 01:15 PM.
First - Meade 60mm refractor (1995)
Second - 10" Meade Starfinder (1995)
Third - Takahashi FS-128 from AEC (1997, still have this one)
Fourth - 90mm refractor (1998)
Fifth - another 90mm refractor (1999)
Sixth - 12" Skywatcher Flex-Tube (2011 or so)
Seventh - 4" Kson ED refractor (arriving next week)
The only scope i'll hopefully never ever have to get rid of is the FS-128. it truly is the jewel in the crown. All others are gone now except for the 4" which i don't have yet.
130mm f6.9 Saxon Newt on EQ2 Mount (still have this!!)
8" Skywatcher Dob (loan scope from ASV)
70mm Meade ETX (bought 2nd hand at Star party, sold 6 months later)
12" GSO Dob (had this nearly 4 years)
15x70 Orion Binos
60mm Solarmax II Scope
20" f5 Dob (homebuilt one bought 2nd hand)
8" f4 homemade travel Dob
No Fair - Asking a question without telling us what your collection has been!!!
VAZ
PS. This feels a bit like Scopes Anonomous - Hi, my name is VAZ and I've had 3 scopes...
Oh, I just got started on the journey about 5 months ago... I was just wondering if this urge I feel to expand my collection in spite of liking what I have is normal, and I see it is... Great scopes, everyone!
Anyway, I currently have the Skywatcher Heritage 130p (my very first baby, and a real jewel for the price) and a small 70mm Celestron refractor somebody gave me for the solar eclipse (with a filter of course). Wow, I watched the first 30 seconds then everything went black. I was almost afraid I had done something wrong and damaged it.... but clouds had marched in JUST in time for the eclipse if course... For being so small and cheap it is not even bad. I can see the sun spots every day and even some flares (although small). Maybe I should buy it, I don't know... What I would really like to have is also a good refractor to see the moon's craters really huge with all the details etc. I NEVER get tired of watching the moon!
Gone but not forgotten:
8" GEM-mounted Newtonian (1985-1992)
Jason Empire 7 x 50 binoculars (1986-2008)
60 mm Tasco f/12 refractor on AZ1-type mount (1990-2013)
Current:
8" Celestron 8SE SCT on GOTO alt-az mount (2012-)
Celestron Skymaster 15 x 70 binos (2013-)
120 mm Skywatcher f/5 achromat on AZ3 (2014-)
80 mm Orion ED80T CF apochromat on AZ-EQ6 (2014-)
Future:
Permanent observatory! (2015 - when I move to my dark-sky site)
16" GOTO Dobsonion for 2015, perhaps
5" apochromat refractor, for 2016 or 2017?
Current
Tak FSQ106N
Skywatcher ED80
Orion 12" GoTo Dob
Future
Observatory, now have the rural location just saving for one day
Paramount ME or whatever is the ducks nuts when the observatory is built
16" RC or bigger plus CCD to suit
In the interrum I have my EQ6 setup in my house yard and my dob in the garage. The EQ6 is semi permanent setup and can be up and running in 5 minutes when the urge strikes to capture photons. The dob can be setup at the bottom of the driveway in a minute or two tops.
I would just like to have an idea of what the journey is like for most amateur astronomers over the years.
Takahashi FS-128 from AEC (1997, still have this one)
Great scopes, everyone!
