G'day blokes and blokettes

[turtle]

New here, but have dreamed for a long time.
I live in Brisbane, Australia.:)
I have just been given a Bushmaster Mars 1000 reflective scope. I am finding it incredibly difficult to find out any info about this scope.
It does have a Barlow x2 on the eye piece. Apart from that it cant tell what size the eye piece is or any other specs. It looks reasonably well used but still in reasonably good condition.
Can anyone tell me about this scope? Is it reasonable quality etc? What could I expect from this in terms of viewing. I'm hoping my daughters and I will get to have some good times with it.

Thanks for your help.

[bojan]

Hi Graeme,
Wellcome to the forum :-)

As to your scope... see here:
https://www.productreview.com.au/p/bushmaster-mars-1000-1400-mirror-reflector.html

It can be used... but don't be put off from this woderful hobby by it's relatively poor quality (especially tripod, it will wobble a lot), you will still be able to see Moon, planets.. provided you retain your patience :-)

It is on equatorial mount, with manual controls..
To use it properly, you will need to learn how to align it accurately (lots of information on th esubject can be found on this forum).

In the future, you may go for a bigger and better scope, but the mount (when motorized) can be used for wide field photography.

[RickS]

Hi Graeme,

You will probably find it valuable to join one of the local astronomy clubs if you want to progress beyond the occasional mess about in the back yard. There are a few in and around the Brisbane area.

Cheers,
Rick.

[brian nordstrom]

:D:welcome: Graeme .

On your scope it's way better than what I started with so don't worry to much just get out and enjoy it .

Go to beginners forums here and read the ' Stickies' as there is a wealth of info there and don't worry if it seems to much to start with , take your time as its a huge universe out there and it ain't going anywhere soon , so baby steps mate ;) , baby steps .

The best advise I can give is to set up and play with the scope indoors for a couple of weeks to learn what everything does and how it all works together as this can be tough in the dark outside at night , also can you post a few photos ? that would help a lot , its easy once you learn how .

Brian.

[Rkonrad]

Welcome to the forum Graeme:welcome: