New member - is anyone near me?

[Twokids]

Hi guys,
I have only recently joined the forums after a few weeks lurking, reading the discussions.
I wanted to ask if anyone here was a member of the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical society (Victoria).
Tomorrow I will be going to the public viewing night they hold once a month and was wondering if there was any chance of anyone there having a 10 or 12 inch Guen Sheng dob for me to look at as I am considering buying one but would like to have a look first.
Does anyone in Victoria sell them so I can have a look? Is there anyone in my area that would be willing to let me have a look at theirs?

Thankyou,
Jodie

[ballaratdragons]

Hi Jodie.

As far as I know there are 2 members of the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical society in here.

Dave 47Tuc is one of them I think. Dave? And he has a GS dob. There, I dobbed you in Dave.

No-one sells them in Victoria yet. There are 2 places to get them at a good price. Andrews and Bintel and both are in Sydney.

Oh, By the way, Welcome.

[janoskiss]

Welcome Jodie. Whereabouts in Victoria are you?

[asimov]

Welcome Jodie.

[Twokids]

Thankyou for your welcome :)

I am in Tyabb, which is at the start of the Mornington peninsula.

How common are the GS dobs? Am I likely to find someone at the viewing night who has one? I am quite new to the bigger telescopes and admit I had only heard of the bigger companies before finding this forum. :ashamed: Nobody I know is into astromomy so I am pretty much learning it all by searching the web.

Thanks again, Jodie


Psst.... Do any other females post in this forum?

[Wombat_In_Space]

Welcome Jodie nice to see more peple from this neck of the woods joining the forum, I am not far from you and a 12" GSO dod that you are welcome to have a look at anytime.

[Twokids]

Thankyou so much Wombat_in_space,

Could you give me some idea of how much it cost to have the dob sent to you? I'm not sure how much the postage would add to the total.
Thanyou, Jodie

[Wombat_In_Space]

Jodie delivery to my door from Andrews was $70

[Twokids]

Thankyou, I had no idea how much it would cost to send something of that weight down from Sydney :) Jodie

[toetoe]

Looks like theres going to be another dobbie in the ranks.. ;)
Welcome to the forums Jodie, enjoy your stay and ask away. :thumbsup:

[Starkler]

Theres a few of us in the general area. Im in Hampton Park myself and have the 10 inch model.

[[1ponders]]

:welcome: Jodie Yes there are some ladies that post here, :D jjjnettie, rowena (regular posters), silvinator and anna spring to mind

[RAJAH235]

Hi :hi: Jodie. Welcome. :welcome: Best to 'try before you buy'. Get yourself along to the viewing night. Lots of advice etc & friendly people. :D L.

[iceman]

If you get a chance to check out Dave47Tuc's scope, it's a very good example of how a low-cost GSO dob can be turned into a well oiled machine.

The best zero cost mod you can do (collimation), followed by a few low cost mods including flocking and fixing the alt/az motion, followed by the best DSC computer (argo navis) and it's such a joy to use.

Well done on making the first step (and the first post!) and getting to an observnig night before making the first purchase.

[Hitchhiker]

Welcome Jodie! :welcome:

[Twokids]

Thankyou all so much for your kind welcomes. I'll let you know how I go at the viewing night tonight. I'm really looking forward to it. :)

Bye for now, Jodie

[Twokids]

Well, I went to the veiwing night and had a wonderful time :) . They had a bit of a talk first about different planets and space missions (I think this was mostly to keep the kids happy). Then they took us out to have a look at the telescopes. Luckily it cleared up just in time (I had been cursing at the clouds all day). I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't have any 10 or 12 inch dobs there, but they did have some smaller dobs,a couple of 8 inch go-to's, and a 20 inch? truss. I got to see some amazing things and they were happy to answer all of my questions and show me how things worked. The tarantula nebula through the 20 inch was probably my favourite. The more I looked, the more I could see.
Anybody who is looking at getting a larger telescope, but doesn't have access to one should get themselves to a viewing night. There is such a difference in what I could see compared to my smaller scope. The only problem is I want one NOW!!!
Oh well, I'm off outside now as it's a really clear night here. See what I can find :) Bye, Jodie

[RAJAH235]

Hi Jodie, just wish you'd stop bragging about your clear skies. Nothing but cloud & rain here again & again.
Glad you were able to get to the open night. As you found, "Aperture wins". The Tarantula in the 20" would have been abfab. Best I've seen it thru is a 17.5" & it knocked my socks off. Didn't want to give the t'scope back. Just wait till you see Orion neb thru a big t'scope. Make you want to sell the hubby/kids/car etc just to get one. Good stuff, eh?
:2thumbs: :D L.

[ving]

there are 4 regulars (some more regualr than others), and while strickly speaking I am not female.... I am not female :P
welcome aboard! :hi:

i am a GS dob owner and love it. :)
unfortunately i am nowhere near you :help:
so I can not help you... :confuse3:

so 'ill just sit here and be a nerd. :nerd:

and use as many smilies as i can :lol: :drink: :prey2:


:help:

[rowena]

G'day and Welcome Jodie!! :)

Yes there only a few of us women here.. but its growing!
The guys on here are really friendly and helpful!!

[RAJAH235]

"Really friendly & helpful", Rowena? Sorry, didn't mean to be. :P :poke: XXXXX's + OOOOO's. Back @ ya. :D L.
ps. How's Rocky?

[rowena]

air con is on :P explains it all really :) however it is cloudy today

and yes everyone on here is friendly and helpful! Where else would you find a welcoming of new members! Noo other forums i have seen welcomes members like here does! :)

[atalas]

Hi Jodie :welcome: to IIS !

[jjjnettie]

Hi Jodie,
Nice to see more women in the ranks. You'll love this forum, and the people in it.
I recently bought a 10" GSO dob and am more than happy with it.
Please concider the weight of the scope before buying. The 10" weighs a total of about 35kg. The tube on its own weighs 17kg, and can be quite awkward to carry safely, so a well padded trolly of sorts is recomended.
Welcome to the group.

[Miaplacidus]

Hi Jodie, and welcome.

Didn't I see someone trying to sell their excellently set up dob in the Buy and Sell forum? And don't they live quite near you?

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.....


Good luck,

Brian. ;)

[Twokids]

Thanks again for your welcomes.

Thankyou Miaplacidus, I have sent him a pm and hope he gets in touch with me. I was actually hoping to be able to see this dob when I went to the viewing night as he is a member of the astronomical society that I am looking at joining.

[Dave47tuc]

Hi Twokids & welcome.
As we have spoken I'm just saying welcome. No I'm not a member of the MPAS. I used to be. :)

Hope you love your new scope ;)

[Twokids]

Thanks Dave,

Now I'm just hoping for clear skies next week so I can play with my new baby. :prey:

[Twokids]

Well, I've done it :) . Today I bought Dave's beautiful 10 inch dob with the Argo Navis.
I would like to publicly thank him for taking the time to show me how to use it and answer my probably silly questions :P .
I've had a lovely time playing with it this afternoon, just getting used to it. Sadly I had to go out to a family dinner so I had to leave it, and then it rained while I was out. It has cleared up now, but the ground is still wet so I won't be taking it out tonight.
Hopefully, we'll get some clear weather and I can take it out sometime soon and see what my new baby can do.
I'm a happy, happy girl.

[janoskiss]

Well done children! To the both of you. That is beautiful scope with the Argo! I think everyone who saw it in action at Star Camp was impressed (there's been a few ArgoNavis purchases since I believe). I'm sure you will have loads of fun with it. And I gather you have snapped up some of the accessories too (because I thought I was quick but then Dave told me: "sorry, sale pending").

You've got a fab new scope and I've got a whole bunch of new eyepieces. Now let's get some clear skies over here. :D

[Starkler]

Congrats !
Thats about the most finely tuned gso dob out there, nicely modded and accessorised with nothing more to do . You have a BIG headstart over someone dragging a brand new one out of a carton.

[jjjnettie]

A square sheet of canvas on the ground, and you can plonk your scope on that without worrying about the damp.
I'm playing with the idea of laying square slabs of concrete in various places around my property so I can have multiply viewing areas.

[[1ponders]]

Way to go Jodie. :thumbsup: Congratulations. Enjoy.

[acropolite]

:welcome: Jodie, Bintel have just announced the opening of a store in Melbourne. They will be able to supply a GS dob. Bintel set up and collimate their scopes before despatch as well...:D

[janoskiss]

Get with the program, Phil. :poke:
:rofl:

[xelasnave]

Welcome Jodie. I have a number of scopes the largest being a 12 inch DOB purchased from Bintel. I was concerned about the optics being OK but I have had (dont laugh) a 2x barlow plus a 3x barlow with a 12 mm eyepiece in the scope to push it and I was impressed with the view (It was only to detect a flaw) Personally I cant fault it and would be surprised if you did not find it to be all you expect and more. Bintel were fabulous to deal with. I bought the scope and was trying to get it out the door on a trolley when Mrs Smith (one of the owners) spotted me and insisted on driving me and the scope to Cheltenham where I was staying.. that is service of the highest order and deserves the highest praise. Andrews are on the ball also shipping on time and I have had no hassles with mail order thru them. Just do it ..you owe it to your kids.. it is for them isnt it?
alex

[xelasnave]

Further comment.. Bintel colminate the scope which means you can be sure to use it when you get it home..also get the delux model it has a fan (very handy) and a crayford focuser which is fantastic. Well worht the little extra cash. Also have a look at Photon Collectors images in Deep Space forums herein he uses the very same scope with amazing results.