Hi im a newbie

[Jen]

Hello everyone im new here and nice site by the way i love the emoticons
Well a little about me im from Swan Hill Victoria so the sky is the limit here in the country woohooo any way so ive been a bit of a star gazer for quite some time now i dont know much but i know enough to work my way around the sky if i got lost lol and i would be rich by now wif the amounts of time I say dam i wish I had a telescope hehe anyway woohooo hubby finally bought me one for my birthday last month god bless him isnt he wonderful i have a skywatcher 150mm x 1000mm newtonian reflector (no idea how good it it but dam it looks cool) i was told its ok for a newbie and that was the best one available in the town at the time sooooo of i went and waited for it to get dark then dam it cloudy skys for the first week ok so i waited patiently for the next weekend
WEEK 2 woohoo skys were clear moon was awsome this scope is cool but when i woke up in the morning i had over 50 dam mozzie bites all over me so first stop was the supermarket get aeroguard woohoo Sat nite had a ball wif it found a few nebulas, mars was pretty plane just an orange ball, and Saturn was so beautiful i could see the rings for the first time i was in my eliment Saturn is my fav planet then i did an all niter and waited for Jupiter and Venus too arrive omg this was amazing jupiter looked so cool but now i want a better scope already i wanna see more and venus was so bright i need some filters i think (do they help) how do u know what color filters are for viewing what)

WEEK 3 OMG U know that lovely husband of mine that bought me the scope well he dropped it he lucky to still be alive thank god the mirror or none of the lenses smashed but he put a big dint in the tube where the finderscope must of hit the ground I WAS NEALLY IN TEARS so off to the panel beaters we go to get the dint out of the tube and thats when i found you guys i was trying to see what to do or how to fix this
So anyway while its been waiting to be fixed i was wondering if there is any other toys i can get for this scope to see more or get closer to some of the planets without buying another scope just yet lol is there better eyepieces out there that i could use? at the moment i have a wide eye 25mm and a 10mm eyepiece

WEEK 4 im missing my new toy already
Thank you for this lovely site you will be seeing me around annoying you wif lots more questions in the near future hehe im trying to get some sort of getogether sky watching in this area so if there are anymore Swan Hillians out there give me a buzz cheers Jen xoxoxo

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi Jen, to IceInSpace!

Great story! But such a sad ending! Are you talking to your husband yet?

I think a potential problem when you get it back will be collimation - in fact i'm sure it'll be way out. Collimation is the lining up of your primary and secondary mirrors to get the best, sharpest views.

Have you got any collimation tools? There's a bunch of threads here on IIS about Collimation so you might want to do some reading and get yourself a cheshire/sight-tube combo.

I hope you get your baby back soon!

Keep asking questions!

[davidpretorius]

welcome jen

[desler]

Welcome Jen,

I'm surprised your husband has been forgiven!, Shows what a nice person you must be. I think Mike has his the nail on the head with commliation. As for filters, being a Newbie myself, I've been told to give 6 to 12 Months and then make decisions. Having only seen Venus twcie myself, I'm not sure if there are any filters that would assist in your view. Better to tick with Jupiter and Saturn, simply the best things I've seen in thy sky so far!

Enjoy the dark skies.


Darren

[Zuts]

Hi Jen,

I think your scope has been irrevocably damaged and will no longer be any use for star gazing.

You will have to ask your husband to get you a 12 inch DOB to replace it

Just joking, sounds like you will have great fun when your scope is returned.

Paul

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

Mmmmm - i was thinking along the same lines Paul
what an opportunity

welcome Jen

geoff

[GrahamL]

Hi jen

Any groups near to you that hold observing nights ?

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Hi and welcome!
It's great to have another Astro Chick on board!
Sorry to hear about your recent tragedy.
I won't let hubby touch my scope any more.
Each time he has helped the focuser and/or the finder scope got a solid whack when going through doorways.
Oh well.

[leon]

Welcome Jen, you will enjoy your stay here, but be warned there are only a limited numbers of emoticons available per/user, looks like you have used half your quota already, , na just kidding, welcome aboard.

Leon

[Matty P (Matt)]

Welcome to IIS Jen,

Ouch... sorry to hear that about you new scope. I'm sure you will be back up and running in no time.

I almost had a similar experience with my new 8" SCT a while back. As I was carrying the scope into the house, one of the tripod legs got snagged on something that was lying on the ground. Before I knew it, the scope started to fall to the ground "head first". Luckily I thought quickly and grabbed it before any damage could be done. I am pretty sure I forgot to breathe after that one.

It was definately a heart stopping moment.

[Rodstar (Rod)]

Welcome Jen! When you bitten by our Great and Noble Hobby, it is a permanent condition! And it sounds like you have been bitten!

I now look at astronomical mishaps as an opportunity...to get bigger and better. In this case, maybe hubby should just get you a bigger new scope!

Best wishes with the coming months, as you learn so much, and get to enjoy the rewards of "discovering" new objects every time you go out.

[Jen]

Hey thank you all for the lovely welcome here i feel like part of the furniture in here already wow where do i start with commenting back to all your replys i would like to answer each and everyone of you i didnt think i would have any replys till at least a week hehe

Iceman yes i am talking to the husband now but he has not been game to tell me to come outside at 4am to tell me to go to bed hehe and what do u mean collimation now that sounds scary ( ok i will go check out some more threads)
Darren thak you xoxo oh yes saturn and jupiter were amazing
Paul dont you worry i was already on the net that evening after he dropped looking for a better scope than the one i got
Geoff
Nightstalker there arnt any groups around here just yet i think im gonna start one up here myself i will just wait till i get a little smarter wif the scope first lol
Hi jjjnettie thank you yes i noticed there is not many woman into this stuff keep in touch cheers we might need to find some pink telescopes or something like that
Leon :thumbs up: thanks i will remember that has anyone found any of these emoticons up in the sky
Oh Matty yes definately a heart stopping moment im glad you didnt do anydamage to your scope
LOL Rod yes i think i have been bitten and the bite is good woohooo thank you xoxoxoxoxooxoxox
Ok i think i answered you all

[Jen]

Ok so in the first of month of having a telescope for the first time everrrrr i have already learnt.................

OMG i thought i was a bit switched on to this atronomy stuff but woah have i got so much to learn, and i want to learn it all so badly (collimation???)
Make sure i have lots of aeroguard
Do not let hubby touch scope ever again
I bought myself the 2008 Australian Sky Astronomy book soooo cool
Oh and did i mention that when the moon is so bright that i got blinded when i walked away from scope that i tripped over the kiddie chair that i couldnt see and got a huge bruise on my shins i use the kids chair for a step cause im such a shorty 5'2 im on the chair then im off the chair grrrrrr it is quite an uncomfortable hobby actually then next thing i know by butts near close to the ground
I never go to bed till the sun comes up when i have the scope out
Oh and last but not least you know that saying size does matter well now i totally agree SIZE DOES MATTER and im guessing that this wont be the last telescope that I buy hehe oh and next shop will be a descent camera this is gonna become an expensive habit but so exciting bring it on 2008 wow what a month it was woohooo bring it on 2008
thanks guys again for the lovely welcome here cheers
Jen xoxoxoxoxox

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

Hi Jen and a belated to this forum, and to active back yard astronomy!


When it comes to scopes YES Size Does matter, except aroud her most f us refer to it as Aperture Fever.

I think it is time someone posted this link in however:

http://www.sdmtelescopes.com.au/about.html

You'll find many of these large custom scopes are owned by other memebrs of this forum...

(lucky sods!)

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by Jen

Ok so in the first of month of having a telescope for the first time everrrrr i have already learnt.................

OMG i thought i was a bit switched on to this atronomy stuff but woah have i got so much to learn, and i want to learn it all so badly (collimation???)
Make sure i have lots of aeroguard
Do not let hubby touch scope ever again
I bought myself the 2008 Australian Sky Astronomy book soooo cool
Oh and did i mention that when the moon is so bright that i got blinded when i walked away from scope that i tripped over the kiddie chair that i couldnt see and got a huge bruise on my shins i use the kids chair for a step cause im such a shorty 5'2 im on the chair then im off the chair grrrrrr it is quite an uncomfortable hobby actually then next thing i know by butts near close to the ground
I never go to bed till the sun comes up when i have the scope out
Oh and last but not least you know that saying size does matter well now i totally agree SIZE DOES MATTER and im guessing that this wont be the last telescope that I buy hehe oh and next shop will be a descent camera this is gonna become an expensive habit but so exciting bring it on 2008 wow what a month it was woohooo bring it on 2008
thanks guys again for the lovely welcome here cheers
Jen xoxoxoxoxox

Welcome Jen. yes size does matter but there is a caveat here - make sure you are able to lift and move it!!

Also unless your hubby gets bitten then he could become an astro widower

A personal question, but what actually got you hooked, what part of the sky?

[Tamtarn]

Hi Jen welcome to IIS

Enjoyed your story. All started out well it seems. Just make sure hubby keeps his distance

Regarding collimation I haven't got a clue how to do it David does all that technical stuff.

My advice would be to phone the store you bought it from and ask them if they can do it for you. If they can't help lets hope there's someone here on IIS near to you who can give you a hand.

Can't wait til you get a moonless night and browse around the milky way you'll be blown away . Next week is looking good

Barb

[erick (Eric)]

Jen, it's not too late. Get rid of that scope and seek urgent medical attention! You can be deprogrammed, but one more night under a dark sky and it may be too late

However, if it is too late , better pack up hubby and scope in the car over the coming long weekend and head for Snake Valley for a couple of nights. We'll fix you up re collimation etc. And you'll see telescopes that will make you drool and empty your bank account for years to come!

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=27373

Come on, it's just down the road!

ps. just read your profile - bring the kids - they can play in the lake!

Here are some pics from last camp:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=25742

[norm]

to the DARK side Jen. Not sure whats worse, spending copious amounts of time on this damn forum, looking under the stars or both!!!

[John Saunders]

Hi, Jen. Like everybody else has said - WELCOME! With filters, if you are going to start chasing nebulae you will eventually get a filter or two to help with your observing. I purchased one from the States and have not regretted it...but you'll get around to that sooner or later. Get along to a viewing night with an association - you learn soooo much that way.

Great to have another astronut on board! If you convert your husband, who will you get to make the warm Milo when you need it?

[Jen]

Originally Posted by Gargoyle_Steve

Hi Jen and a belated to this forum, and to active back yard astronomy!


When it comes to scopes YES Size Does matter, except aroud her most f us refer to it as Aperture Fever.

I think it is time someone posted this link in however:

http://www.sdmtelescopes.com.au/about.html

You'll find many of these large custom scopes are owned by other memebrs of this forum...

(lucky sods!)

Woah thanks for the welcome some of those scopes look pretty awsome thank you, now ya gonna make me go out and drop my telescope myself just so i have an escuse to get a new one hehe