New Member saying Hello

[Vorlon]

Hi Guys
I am just getting back into stargazing after 30 years or so.
My First Telescopes were an expensive Kmart Refractor and later on a Reflector, They were both crap But I did not know any better back then.:question:
I am Just about to pick up a new Bintel 12" DoB :eyepop:Which should give me a better new start into astronomy.
Can any of you suggest what accessories, Eyepieces for the new scope I should pick up as well.
Cheers Al :thumbsup:

[supernova1965]

Make sure you get a Talrad (http://www.backyard-astro.com/equipment/accessories/telrad/telrad.html) you will be thankful for the rest of your astro life. Welcome to IIS

[dynobolt]

Welcome Alan. I got back into Astronomy after a similar break and still have my Kmart refractor from 35 years ago. I joined an Astronomy Club and highly recommend it. Ice In Space is a wonderful resource(very helpful and friendly).

You're off to a great start with the 12inch dob. I suggest getting a collimator for it.

Dave

[jjjnettie]

Welcome!
I think you'll find the scope comes with a couple of eyepieces. And while they aren't top quality, they'll certainly do the job well enough for the time being.
A good idea is to take yourself and your scope to a couple of star parties, and sample a few premium eyepieces. Then decide what will suit you best.

[Giorgio]

Hello Alan,

Welcome in this nice fellowship.
Hopefully inside 1 or 2 weeks, I'm going, as well as you to get a 12" Lighbridge Dob and I too share your curiosity about what EPs, etc better will serve my goals (mainly DSOs).

I'm still a beginner but I fully agree with Warren's advice about the Telrad finder. It has been to date my best buying so far in terms of what I was expecting and what it actually delivers.
Moreover it, above other zero power finders, has the added value of not few star chart resources using its pattern over the maps( like these ones (http://www.astro-tom.com/messier/messier_finder_charts/messier_maps.htm)). At least, I found it very helpful in my whereabouts upthere. :thumbsup:

[RB]

Welcome Alan,

Another vote for the Telrad, I love it, very useful piece of equipment.
Bintel stocks them too.

:thumbsup:

[Ric]

Hi Alan and welcome to the group.

There's a wealth of info here at IIS as well as a great bunch of people.

Cheers

[Vorlon]

Thanks for the welcome and hints.
Looks like I will have to get a telrad, never heard of it before, can someone point me in the right direction to find out about them and were to fit it.
Cheers al

[supernova1965]

In my post the word Telrad is a link to a page explaining what a telrad is and how it works and it shows a pic with it mounted on the telescope they go at the top and the bracket and it is held on with double sided tape and then the telrad it's self is removed and put on with a quick release system.

Oh yeah and download and install Stellarium it is a wonderful free skymap for the PC or mac or linux OS's

[RB]

Yep have a look at Warren's link, and here's a link to Bintel's Telrad page:
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=5329

:)

[Vorlon]

Hey Dave
Did your kmart scope come with a screw on sun filter as well? Lol

[BlackWidow]

WARM CLOTHING ... Coffee flask or brandy bottle (small) and some good friends to share the nights with you looking at the sky...

Great Choice of Scope.. You will have lots of fun with it.


Regards
Mardy

[supernova1965]

+1 for the laser collimator

[Giorgio]

And what about a free, and actually really well done Star Atlas? (http://www.uv.es/jrtorres/triatlas.html):eyepop: (to find the links to the PDFs scroll the page down nearly at the bottom).
Actually it comes in 5 different editions, with the most detailed one (Set C) displaying stars up to 12.6 magnitude by 571 A4 single page maps:eyepop::eyepop:

And another + for laser collimators!

[Poita]

Agreed on the clothing, the absolute best thing I ever purchased for this hobby was a second hand ski-suit for $28.
I'm always perfectly comfortable and dry no matter what the conditions, I grabbed some for the kids too and it means we are often out for a few hours instead of 30 minutes.

There is an op shop in goulburn that always has some in stock, the one for my partner still had the Harrods £100 price tag on it!