Hello ICEINSPACE Community

[Grease]

After secretly spying through your Forums for a short period of time I thought I better take the leap and join. So here I am breaking the ice by posting for the first time.

The knowledge on these forums has astounded me. It really is amazing. I take my hat off to you all. I have no experience with astronomy apart from looking in awe at the night sky my whole life. Which brings me to here, my first step towards hopefully exploring that wonder that sits above us each night. ( except when its cloudy ) :D

I live in South Australia and have posted off an application to join ASSA. I am in the process of picking out a telescope or should I say researching them to death.

I'll try not to bother you all too much but I'm sure I will need to draw on your vast knowledge and experience in the very near future.

Regards Rob

[bojan]

:welcome:

[louie_the_fly]

Gidday Rob. Yes, this forum is indeed awesome. I've been on here for about 8 months or so and have learned heaps. The people on here are great.

Nice town, Strath. I have a friend who lives there. Knew an old couple from there some years ago - Bruce & Enid. They used to get around on a Norton with sidecar. You should get plenty of dark sky out there.

Cheers. Stewart.

[Ryderscope]

Hi Rob, welcome to the forum. I am sure that it will be fun.

[barx1963]

Hiya Rob
First member I have heard of from Strathalbyn. I used to know Simon Fairweather through archery who came from there.
Hope you enjoy IIS!!

Malcolm

[el_draco]

Welcome,
You'll find the members here are only to happy to help.
:D

Rom

[Ric]

Hi Rob and welcome to IIS, I'm sure you will have a great time here.

Any thoughts on what type of scope your after or are you still deciding.

Cheers

[ZeroID]

Hi Rob, :welcome: and ask away. Information is free and there are plenty on here with loads to share. They can advise you how to spend your money in the best possible way.
Before you buy, if you can, see if you can get along to a Astro Club night and look through some scopes and get local advice. Otherwise there might be a local who can speak up and offer some experience for you. Don't be in too much of a hurry and take small steps, otherwise it get expensive and frustrating real fast.
You will probably hear a lot of advice to start with an 8" or better, a 10" Dobsonian. Easy to use, big aperture so plenty to see and can be gotten for a reasonable price. The other advice is to start with Binoculars, 10 x 50 or thereabouts. You'll be surprised at what can be seen in a dark sky with them. The last one is to get Stellarium onto your PC and start learning your way round the sky.

And have fun !! :P

[Grease]

Thankyou for the kind welcome messages. Were you a good archer Malcolm? I didn't know Simon but I know he was. I haven't seen any Norton sidecars getting around unfortunately.

I have been leaning towards getting a pair of 15 x 70 or 20 x 80 binoculars and then an 8 inch dob. I am currently using a cheap pair of 10 x 50 bino's I have had for years.

Yes a star party will be on the cards. Hopefully after my application to ASSA comes back I will I know where and when they are.

I downloaded Stellarium and had a little play with it. Thanks for the advice. It is appreciated.

[barx1963]

Rob
Simon and I shot together a fair bit early on in his career. He won the National Target Championships the first time as a 17yo in Perth in '87 and I took out the Field Title at the same event. He was a much better archer than I was, going onto World and Olympic titles, while that was my moment of glory!!

Malcolm

[joshhagger]

Hi Rob,

I'm just down the road, in Mt Compass.
Not sure what your budget is for scope, but I have a CPC800 & highly recommend it. You're welcome to give it a try if you like.

Josh

[RobinClayton]

Hi Rob,

welcome to IIS, and hopefully soon, we can welcome you to ASSA. My application took a few weeks before i got any answers. You can still attend the monthly meetings at Adelaide University before being a member.

ASSA has a monthly members viewing at Tooperang hall, which is not far from you. Each month around new moon, they have a scheduled meeting. Anywhere up to 20 members with scopes, with most friendly enough to ask questions and give all sorts of advice. Even if it is cloudy, some members go for chat and coffee - in case the clouds disappear.

I suggest looking through scopes and talking to people before spending. Each person has different idea of best scope, so talk to plenty of people first.

All the best.

[noeyedeer]

go the dob rob!
I've found more objects in a week with my dob then I did with a mounted Newtonian in a year.

you won't regret it!

matt

[Rodstar]

Hi Rob, welcome to the forum. There is a lifetime of discovery ahead of you, but takes things slowly and enjoy!

[Grease]

Hey Guys.

Thanks for the advice.

Josh that sounds like a great scope but probably out of my price range. Thankyou for the generous offer. Are you involved in any groups or clubs? Just wondering if there were any groups on the Fleurieu?

Thanks Robin. Hopefully we will cross paths somewhere along the line.

That's interesting Matt. Is that because your dob is a bigger scope?

Big thankyou to everyone else. Yes still leaning towards a dob but taking my time.

Regards Rob.

[barx1963]

Dobs tend to be bigger scopes, and dollar for dollar you get more aperture with a dob than an equatorially mounted scope. But the main reason is ease of use.
My first scope was a 5" Newt on an EQ2 mount. Used it for about a year and my list of found targets was still in single figures! Only managed the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Omega Centauri, M15 and a couple of double stars.
Within a month of getting an 8" dob I had done dozens of Messier objects and lots of other targets. I found I had to start keeping notes as I couldn't keep track of what I had seen.
Dobs are easy to use, easy to set up (no polar alignment!!), give more aperture per $$ spent, and if you get serious who wouldn't want a scope you need a ladder to use!!:D

My advice, don't lean towards a dob, just go and get one!!

Malcolm