wjcoll
31-03-2007, 09:32 PM
Unfortunately, with the aid of hindsight, I've discovered that I have made just about every possible mistake in selecting my first telescope.
Now I can't say that I've ever aspired to being an avid observer, dedicated to sitting cold and lonely through the wee hours of the night to meticulously record every detail of my sightings. To confess to my sins, I've just always wanted a 'scope to just look around the night sky and try to appreciate the beauty of it all.
Purists will probably say he deserves all he gets at this point ;)
The long and short of it is that after reaching 30 years of mind-numbing servitude for my employer I was given a gift certificate to commemorate the event. Aha! unexpected windfall! I can finally justify fulfilling my long-held wish for a telescope to do some stargazing.
The only problem was that a gift certificate, even one to a VERY large shopping centre, severely limited my choices of supplier. Actually it limited it to one! :rolleyes:
So being unhindered by any knowledge whatsoever I set out to buy a terrestrial based HUBBLE clone.
My one and only option was a store more noted for their geographical magazine than their specialty knowledge in the field of astronomy. Well, before the ink was dry on my gift certificate I'd been 'up-sized' to what surely had to be a fine optical instrument. I mean, it looked so flash you'd probably be able to read the inscription on the plaque at the first lunar landing site. :lol:
Well, after reading as much as I could on the subject (after the event of course) I'm beginning to understand why the images I'm seeing aren't striking me with quite the awe I had eagerly anticipated.
The 'scope I bought is an 8" f4 (ie 800mm) Newtonian on an equatorial mount.
The first viewings were a bit less OOOOHHHHHH!!!!! and a bit more, "oh".
My initial disappointment was temporarily relieved when I started reading about collimation. Aha! that's the problem, the bumpy road conditions in China obviously knocked something out of alignment and a simple turn of the screw driver will snap all those distant galaxies into beautiful focus, I thought. :screwy:
You all know where this is going..........don't you.
Well, after a couple on months of trying to get excited about my new telescope and being fairly confident the collimation is as close to right as I'm going to get it, I have to admit my rashness.
Deep space images aren't that bad and I certainly see details and objects that do make you awe-struck, but planetary observations are still very disappointing. Images are almost impossible to get into focus due to the extreme caroma of glare reflecting off them.
I'm probably still guilty of having unrealistic expectations of what I should see, but this too is down to not doing the homework first.
The only 'face' I can save is that I didn't shell out big bucks of my own money on the deal. But if there's one indisputable piece of advice I can give to anyone contemplating the purchase of their first telescope, it's this,
"Read all you can, talk to everyone, get some hands-on experience from someone who knows what they're talking about (sales assistants don't count) and look at your money twice before spending once".
As for me, hopefully some kind soul out there might be able to give me some pointers on how I can get the most out of what I've got.
All advice gratefully accepted. :stupid:
Now I can't say that I've ever aspired to being an avid observer, dedicated to sitting cold and lonely through the wee hours of the night to meticulously record every detail of my sightings. To confess to my sins, I've just always wanted a 'scope to just look around the night sky and try to appreciate the beauty of it all.
Purists will probably say he deserves all he gets at this point ;)
The long and short of it is that after reaching 30 years of mind-numbing servitude for my employer I was given a gift certificate to commemorate the event. Aha! unexpected windfall! I can finally justify fulfilling my long-held wish for a telescope to do some stargazing.
The only problem was that a gift certificate, even one to a VERY large shopping centre, severely limited my choices of supplier. Actually it limited it to one! :rolleyes:
So being unhindered by any knowledge whatsoever I set out to buy a terrestrial based HUBBLE clone.
My one and only option was a store more noted for their geographical magazine than their specialty knowledge in the field of astronomy. Well, before the ink was dry on my gift certificate I'd been 'up-sized' to what surely had to be a fine optical instrument. I mean, it looked so flash you'd probably be able to read the inscription on the plaque at the first lunar landing site. :lol:
Well, after reading as much as I could on the subject (after the event of course) I'm beginning to understand why the images I'm seeing aren't striking me with quite the awe I had eagerly anticipated.
The 'scope I bought is an 8" f4 (ie 800mm) Newtonian on an equatorial mount.
The first viewings were a bit less OOOOHHHHHH!!!!! and a bit more, "oh".
My initial disappointment was temporarily relieved when I started reading about collimation. Aha! that's the problem, the bumpy road conditions in China obviously knocked something out of alignment and a simple turn of the screw driver will snap all those distant galaxies into beautiful focus, I thought. :screwy:
You all know where this is going..........don't you.
Well, after a couple on months of trying to get excited about my new telescope and being fairly confident the collimation is as close to right as I'm going to get it, I have to admit my rashness.
Deep space images aren't that bad and I certainly see details and objects that do make you awe-struck, but planetary observations are still very disappointing. Images are almost impossible to get into focus due to the extreme caroma of glare reflecting off them.
I'm probably still guilty of having unrealistic expectations of what I should see, but this too is down to not doing the homework first.
The only 'face' I can save is that I didn't shell out big bucks of my own money on the deal. But if there's one indisputable piece of advice I can give to anyone contemplating the purchase of their first telescope, it's this,
"Read all you can, talk to everyone, get some hands-on experience from someone who knows what they're talking about (sales assistants don't count) and look at your money twice before spending once".
As for me, hopefully some kind soul out there might be able to give me some pointers on how I can get the most out of what I've got.
All advice gratefully accepted. :stupid: