Hello..

[Thoreau]

Hi,
My name is Callum, I am fourteen years old and like you all, I love interstellar viewing. My obsession is driven by one thing, the unknown. My other interests are herpetology (scientific study of reptiles, also generalisation for those who keep reptiles), skateboarding and astronautical engineering. I hope to study both astronomy and engineering, eventually specialising in astronautical engineering. At the moment (unfortunately) I do not possess a telescope but I have my eyes on a 12-inch Collapsable Dob (with tracking of course!).
Well, thanks all and happy viewing!

[Octane]

Welcome to the gang, Callum.

Loads of very knowledgeable people here specialising in all forms of astronomy.

Enjoy!

H

[M54]

Hi Callum,

:welcome:

Registering here is one small step for a boy, one giant leap for a budding astronomer.:D

[that_guy]

the tracking's not the best on a dob so i would go for a larger aperture with out the tracking ability...

my two cents worth anyway.

[Suzy]

Hi Callum,
:welcome:
Fantastic that someone as young as you knows exactly what they want to do with their life, and is so knowledgeable!

[Screwdriverone]

Welcome to IIS Callum,

I would hazard a guess and say that Hydra would have to be your favourite constellation yes?

Good choice with the collapsible dob, dont rule out the 10" tracking one though, its more portable than the 12" which is pretty big and heavy and sometimes I just couldnt be bothered lifting it all outside - and I am 6'9". Keep in mind if the scope doesnt get used, it doesnt matter how big it is.

Welcome aboard.

Cheers

Chris

[Liz]

:hi: Welcome Callum!! Astronomy is a fantastic hobby which you will love. :astron:
I have the 10" coll-dob and its great. The 12" would have better views, as long as you have muscles to lift it ;)
There are a few guys were into those scary reptilian creatures too. :scared2:





... geeze Chris!! aah .... you look so short in your pic!! ;) :D

[orestis]

:welcome:To ice in space,like you i am only 14yrs old and joining up took some courage but after joining you have the power of asking questions and by asking questions you learn heaps:thumbsup:.I'd say for starters go get yourself a good pair of binoculars 10X50 would be good and just learn the constellations and learn your way around the stars before going in and buying a telescope.

Hope you get under the stars soon;)
Regards orestis

[Thoreau]

Thankyou for the warm welcome guys,
My mum promised (she would intergect otherwise) she would buy me a telescope, but apparently $1000+ is ridiculous for a telescope, I suppose ignorance is bliss in some circumstances.. No, Chris, unfortunately your hazardous guess is incorrect, Hydra is not my favourite constellation (is that a recurring theme for newbies?). I am split between Serpens (as it contains NGC 6611 - Eagle Nebula) and Scorpius (as it contains NGC 6334 - The infamous Cat Paw Nebula). As currently all of my funds are engaged into my Herping obsession, it will take me (if I tried) maybe 6 months to save up for the beauty my eyes are set on.

Oh and don't worry, I am quite "buff" so I don't think the 12" will be too much trouble for me.

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Liz,

Nice one, must be my short squat head eh? :)




Hi Callum,

No doubt you can bench press a small car, most 14 year olds can... ;)

Being strong is not the issue, the bulk of the scope when assembled is quite big and awkward to carry far in one piece. I can do it fine, but the novelty wears off quickly after a while. You also bash the base board into (my) knees a lot when hoisting it up and down stairs. Pulling it apart and carrying the tube and the base separately is OK, but the point is I am physically capable of doing both quite easily, but groan at the prospect of lugging it all out the backyard or in the car, to the dark sky site, lug it out, set it up, pack it up and reverse etc. simply because of its size. This means that I don't use it as much as I should.

If I was smart about it, I would have got the 10" and it would have been much easier and THEN....the scope would get MUCH more use.

I reckon an 8-10" dob has to be the most suitable size for portability versus aperture.

The Hydra reference was for the Herpetology reference only...trying to be funny :)

Cheers

Chris

[WadeH]

Another Sandgroper! Welcome to one of the friendliest communities I know Callum. :welcome::welcome::welcome:

A couple of things to consider while waiting for your own scope. Maybe purchase some good 10X50 bino's to fill the gap, they are always useful afterwards. And join/go along to, a society such as the Astronomical Society of WA. Meet like minded people and use their equipment.

Whatever,

Cheers :thumbsup:

[that_guy]

could always get a trolley! Also, I own an 8" dob and it gets PLENTY of usage. When ever a clear night?! Bang on the deck and I'm off, and they also come cheaper so you can spend it on other Awesome accessories, e.g. telrad, laser pointer (depending on which state your in of course), Barlow, DECENT BINOCULARS(!!!!), plus goody eyepieces. 8" comes under 500 dollars! But the choices are initially up to you...

P.S. I actually don't have all this stuff... * but you could!

[Suzy]

I second what Chris had to say in regards to portability and transportability of the dob. I have a 6" dob and recently was looking at getting a 10". But wise advise from the forum here. The 10" would have been to hard to handle by myself (yes, you said you're strong), but the beauty of a 6" or 8" is you don't need any notice, zip your out there door in a minute. I use my 6" heaps and heaps, I wouldn't be with a 10". They said as a beginner i should learn on my current one first, true true. Remember the best scope is the one you will use the most.

Another thing... when i first put my scope in the car, i never thought it would be a problem fitting. Hah. :eek: I have a Mitsubishi Magna (large family car with a big boot). The stand would not fit in the boot, so it took up half the back of the car, the scope went in the boot (wasn't happy about that) so have to find something to protect it in the boot next time. Then let's talk about the gear.. boxes of stuff (eyepieces,accessories, lamps, torches maps, blah blah), warm jackets, food, your stool (you'll need that with a dob), a small table, etc. End result, the car was pretty packed! And I'm not even into imaging. So just be sure your car can handle the load!

Also, don't forget buying the scope is only one part of this purchase. You will want better eyepieces. You just will. :P Then you'll want filters. You will then want a barlow. You'll realise those binoculars would have come in handy and wished you bought that when you could. You'll need to buy books, maps, dew zappy things and, and, and.. Oh, and did i mention you'll want to buy more? Yep, sorry, touchy subject with me :screwy: But it's the norm. I don't think there is anyone that has simply bought a scope and that was it.

I hope I didn't depress you.. I'm just a realist. Just thought I'd give you the big picture.

And all that being said and none of it is a problem.. onya matie:thumbsup:

[mjeremy]

Hi Callum-welcome

Suzy as usual has given a good response to which there is little to add

My View - Binoculars are a great way to learn the sky and the constellations. Once you have the cash (or your rents have committed the money) then a 6 or 8 inch Dob is the Go. You can retrofit an argo narvis later - the fun (and on occasions the frustration) is using your knowledge to star hop out to your intended destination. There is a huge level of satisfaction being able to regularly find a an object in the TS when you understand where everything is.

It's the difference between using a map to drive there or using the TomTom to get you there without thinking.

Mike

[ArcaneMagik]

Welcome!

I have to agree with the suggestion for a smaller dob. While the weight is not the issue, I am finding the 8" I have is already at the point I am thinking of a more mobile scope for some situations.

The base of my dob takes up a seat in the car by itself, and the scope tube takes the whole back seat of a civic.

While I would love to have a look through a 12"+ scope, I wouldn't want to have to move it to a dark area by myself and most of all I wouldn't want to have to pack it up and get it home at the end. The 8" I can do easily, and a 10" I could do if I had a bigger car.

Binoculars are a must have. I just grin when I sit in my chair and just stare up at the sky for most of the night. You learn the shapes and positions of the constellations and appreciate the movement of the stars through the year. It also becomes handy when you are dating and can use it as an excuse to get them out in the dark and cold with you.

[Suzy]

You guys hope to get lucky:2thumbs:, but she'll fall asleep:zzz2: out boredom. When she wakes up she'll be begging:prey: you to drive her home. Won't work... uhmmm and I'll just list that in my book for No.120 fact of secret guys business that I now Know. :P:cool: Cause you see... this is why this such a lonely hobby, we do not chose to be out there alone while our respective other halves our comfortable and warm inside. :rofl:

You left the door wide open for that one, couldn't help myself (sorry!);)
One a serious note, that was great advice about learning the stars, I totally agree.

[marki]

Hello Callum and welcome. An 8 or 10" scope is plenty, any more is just a pain to drag out and setup and as Chris said will not get used that much. I have a number of scopes big and small but seem to use the 80mm refractor the most as its just so easy to throw together. Large scopes are only really practical when you have a permenent observatory to set them up in no matter what the aperture freaks say. The other thing of course is there is bugger all difference between an 8, 10 and 12" scope if you live in the city...light pollution rules and you will only see a real improvement if you go to a dark site in the bush. I also live in Perth and the light pollution effectively knocks a lot of items off the viewing list no matter how big your scope is. Save your money, buy a good quality scope of smaller aperture and I guarantee you will be out there more often soaking up the celestial delights. Also remember quality eyepieces are expensive but will do more to enhance your viewing pleasure then an extra few inches of aperture ever could. An optical system is only as good as its weakest link and the difference between good and bad EP's is very large. A bad EP can make the best scope a dog to look through.

Mark