Hello, new into this Hobby.

[PBRStreetgang]

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. :D

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 :lol:),...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??? :eyepop: :lol:

Any other basic hints to start will always be appreciated.

[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

[Occulta]

Hey Apocalypse

:welcome::welcome::welcome:

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 :eyepop:

Chris

[PBRStreetgang]

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]

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. :lol:

[Somnium]

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]

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 (http://www.bintel.com.au/Night-Sky.aspx). 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 (http://www.macastro.org.au/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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

:thumbsup: 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 :eyepop: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]

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]

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]

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. :thumbsup:

[madwayne]

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]

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:thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: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]

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]

Great support and encouragement in this place. :)

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

Ordered me case. :D

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. :D

Cheers

[OwenS]

I started by going to the Messier Star Party in Victoria! Great way to meet cool people and get a helping hand!

[madwayne]

Hi Christian

My car is all packed for Burradoo, look forward to meeting you there.

Wayne

[PBRStreetgang]

Leaving Picton shortly. :thumbsup:

[madwayne]

Hi Christian

Great to meet you last night and help you with your new kit, very nice. Just thinking about the way you set it up. If I were you I would put your diagonal in place before mounting the tube. You can then leave a gap of 10 or 15mm between the bottom of the diagonal and the top of your mount at zenith (pointing straight up directly overhead) then you will never have a problem of fouling the diagonal to the top of the mount. Hope that makes sense.

Shame the dew cut us short last night but it was still a great night for our little astronomy group in the highlands.

Clear skies.

Wayne

[madwayne]

And I just realised something with my profile photo. This is NGC3324 and NGC3293 (Gem Cluster) that we were looking at last night.

Wayne

[PBRStreetgang]

Hiya Lads and Lasses,

The night before last I operated my telescope, with Wayne, Norm and other aspiring amateur astronomers, for the first time.

Great night, with some great viewing,....with plenty of ooohs and aaahs.

The arvo started off a bit ominous with a blanket of high cloud cover but miraculously as Sirius appeared the cloud quickly moved on with a clear skies as the night enveloped.

So, no blaming of my new gear this time. :D

Viewed a number of Nebulae including Orion and the Tarantula Nebulae and a distant Galaxy (more on that later).

Just a couple of observations of the night and the Celestron Telescope,....from a newby perspective.

1. The red light scope mount is mounted on a dovetail mount utilising two phillips head screws. Unfortunately the mount had a tendency to pop out of the telescope when the screws were tightened too much. So it was a fine line have the red light scope secure and tight to when the whole lot pops out. Even a slight nudge when mounted it pops out. This made alignment difficult with the main tube and I am guessing as a result I did poor job of the alignment.

The solution will be to glue the small dove tail mount in the recesses,....carefully.

2. The main scope was not properly aligned. I utilised three stars to align the main scope but it was just off to the left and low. This issue was not a big problem as I quickly learnt where to look and I pretty much nailed each time after a minute or so. I don't know if I mucked up the alignment or the GPS was slightly off. Norm had a very cool double cross hair eyepiece (for Wayne not lens :)) which is probably the way to go,....that and practice I suspect.

3. Wide view eye pieces are the way to go. That will be my next major purchase methinks. The eyepeices that came with the scope (40mm and 13mm) are fine, but the wide view eyepeices are fantastic and I found viewing much easier.

4. Although searching for deep field objects and adjusting the miss-alighned scope was not an issue initially, but as we started searching for deeper and fainter objects it became very difficult and all of a sudden I had all sorts of problems focusing. Initially I though it was because the objects were fainter and farther away (or smaller) but Wayne quickly discovered the issue. By glass shield was completely covered in dew. So today I am ordering covers/shields to try and negate the problem and in the future the battery operated heating coil that Wayne suggested.

5. Take warm clothes,...always even in the middle of summer. Thank you Norm for the jacket. :thumbsup:

6. Coffee flask, drinks and nibbles.

7. I did a terrible job recording what I viewed. Actually no recording at all. I viewed a number of Messier and NGC objects but struggle to name any of them.

So I must find a method to record every nights viewing.

8. I found it a rather lovely occurrence allowing others to view objects through my Telescope. I was fortunate, compared to others, to own a Telescope like mine and allowing others to view objects was a pleasure.

Speaking of which, Michael (at BINTEL) you maybe getting more business as a result of the night. :rofl:

9. One of the interesting aspects of the night was the differentiation of colours. Stars and Suns the colours were brilliant and diverse. But Nebulae and Galaxies there basically no colour differentiation, within those objects at all. I found that interesting. If I want colour from a Nebulae or Galaxy, then astro-photography is the go.

Oh Dear. :question: Must wait at least a year,....if at all. :screwy:

What a great night!!!!

Want to give a huuuuge thanks to Wayne and Norm with their patience, knowledge and making the whole night comfortable, interesting and fun. There was quite a good turn out with mothers bringing out their kids for the evening to learn about astronomy.

10 out 10 Wayne for facilitating that. And even if only 1 in a hundred pick it up as a hobby or a passion then its well worth it it spades. You and Norm should be quite pleased and proud of yourselves.

Thank You. :thumbsup:

So, that was my first night. Rather successful I'd say and hopefully one or two budding astronomers will get something from my post,.......from a newby perspective. :)

[PBRStreetgang]

Also, a thank you to Aiden as well who helped me out with some kit.

Once again I'd like to acknowledge the support and encouragement that I have received from members of this place.

Great stuff. :)

[madwayne]

Ahhh Christian your enthusiasm is contagious. I've not long finished updating some ISS viewing opportunities in the Highlands for this week on our Facebook group.

As fete would have it I have the sheet of paper I had as my observing list;
M42 and M43, nebula in Orion
M41 Open Cluster in Canis Major
NGC2070 Tarantula Nebula in Dorado part of the LMC
NGC3372 Eta Carina Nebula in Carina
NGC3324 Nebula in Carina
NGC3293 Gem Cluster in Carina
NGC104 47 Tuc, globular cluster in Tucana near the SMC
NGC253 galaxy in Sculptor

I was pretty sure you had a good night.

Till next time, clear skies

Wayne

[Somnium]

A pleasure Christian

[barx1963]

Christian
Thank you very much for your excellent post. So glad you had a wonderful night. Am a little surprised at the red dot finder issue. Can you post a photo of the mounting arrangement/ These are a fairly simple thing so am surprised it would give any issues.

With the alignment, what style of mount do you have? If it is a fork mount, if the alignment procedure for the go to system is done carefully. it should be quite accurate. And when you say "left and low" is that still with the target left and low in the eyepiece view?

Recording what you see is a good habit to get into. That's why I know I have logged over 1400 objects because I have 4 volumes of notebooks. It is also a good idea to enter the ones you have logged in a spreadsheet so you can easily check what you have nabbed, once you get a few hundred in the books you have trouble eg "Was that NGC 1097 or NGC 1098 i saw a few weeks ago?" Also try to describe the view. Not just the object but are their any obvious stars or interesting patterns of stars in the field. Any other objects (to often we look at the main target and miss a really obvious one sitting 10' away!) as well as a brief description eg overall size, shape, how elongated, bright or faint, any structure, any colour? This often makes interesting reading in years to come if you revisit and you find you can see more because you know what to look for.

Dew is a major issue especially with SCT scopes with their corrector. Dew shield and a dew controller for eyepiece heaters will control this.

And I know what you mean about getting to show others things in a good scope. I love few things as much as showing one of my favourite objects of in the 20"!!:D

Cheers

Malcolm

[FI93]

Evening Christian, It was a pleasure to out that night, I have entered the USA Billion Dollar lotto hoping (At 29 million to one) to win enough to satisfy my aparture fever after seeing the results through your scope. Keep a eye on our web site as there should be a few more evening scheduled now that we have proven that there is good seeing and no great disturbing lights at the viewing site.:welcome:

[PBRStreetgang]

I'll see what I can do mate......just gotta find me camera. :shrug:

Target was high and right of the eyepiece. Sorry, my wording.

[Hemi]

Hi Christian.
I'm a complete beginner as well, and bought the same excellent scope from Bintel (they are fantastic). I had the same problem with RDF. I contacted Celestron (us), and they told me that plastic piece that keeps falling off should have been glued to the dovetail at the factory. Gluing it yourself will sort it out....but may I Suggest you unscrew the dovetail and glue it in place off the scope. It's not obvious, and as a beginner your not that confident at unscrewing things off your OTA! I didn't and ended up having a proprietary Rdf dovetail permenantly superglued to my OTA:P. Not a biggie but less than ideal and easily avoided.

Cheers

[madwayne]

Hi Christian - the weather gods are conspiring against us. Norm and I have planned another observing night for Saturday 6 Feb. Again this one will be from 17:00, and we should be able observe Jupiter this around.

Be great to catch up again.

Wayne