how many telescopes have you had?

[man on the moon]

:eyepop: Hey guys, just wondering how many telescopes you have had, and over what period of time, I'm not sure weather I am changing too quickly. I have had 1 telescope before, and 8" dob, but now, 2 years later, I want a 12", do you think that if I feel the need for a new telescope, I should Get one, or do you think I should keep the 8" a little while longer. (if i am buying the 12", Ive got to sell the 8" as I don't have enough money for the larger one without doing so.) :help: :thumbsup: :shrug: :rofl: :hi: :whistle: :doh: :screwy::eyepop:

[ving]

hmm.... i could very well say 3 scopes over 30 years, but I probably shouldnt :)
My father bought me a small refractor when i was 7-8yo but for most of my life i have been scopeless. in 2004 (feb) i bought my 60mm wobble-o-tronic refractor which got me into this hobby, 2 months later i bought my 8" dob (my current scope) and now it has an Eq mount (thanks to chris) :)
soon I'll be advertising my 8" for sale hoping to get about $4000 for it so i can buy a 12" lightbridge and an ed80 on a eq5 for grab and go :P

what you have sir is a very common disease amoung astronomers, its called aperture fever :) the only cure of course is to buy a bigger scope :P

[h0ughy]

mmmmmm, your asking the wrong man if you ask me! I have had 9 telescopes in 19 years, 6 in 6 years .LOL I still have 5 of them

[man on the moon]

I have caught aperture fever, and am hoping to cure it soon lol, well, I can see that i'm not rushing too much.

[matt]

:lol: @ ving

Good luck with that very special deal, ving.

$4000 for an EQ mounted 8" dob:rolleyes:

[RB]

12" is the minimum for curing aperture fever......:rofl:

Just kidding Man on the Moon, yes bigger will be better in terms of detail etc.
But will you be travelling to your observing site or is it at home.
You have to think about portability.

What do you intend to do? Is it mainly visual observing your into?

:thumbsup:

[ving]

should i ask for more? :confused:
oh, the origanal dob mount is what it gets sold with... but I'll throw the eq in for free ;)

:P

[asimov]

I'll be receiving my 9th scope in about a week. Got my first one @ age 11 I'm now 43.

[[1ponders]]

Ahhhh.....Ummmmm....Weelllll.... let's see...up until about 2 years ago I had only 1. Since then I've had another 6. So 7 all up and I've never owned a reflector yet :P

Maybe some nice person here would be kind enough to help me out with this serious disability. Preferably a Dob that will fit on a G11 mounts thank you. :D Gotta complete the quiver. Oh and a Mak and a Mak-Newt or Schmidt-newt would be nice too.
Thanking you in advance.

[man on the moon]

I am gonna take it to diferent occasionally, but will be mostly, at home. I am not interested in astrophotography. Our car is very large, and a scope of this size will easily fit.

[RB]

Sounds like you've just made up your mind. :thumbsup:
I think it's a good move if you go up in size.
As for the number of scopes, you can never have enough scopes, I recon. :lol:

[ving]

try and tell cheryl that BB! :)

I have one currently and keep saying i need more! she thinks one is enough! :)

[Vermin]

6 in the last 10 years.

1) 70mm, old no name excellent quality terrestrial refractor - smashed when it fell off the roof of the City Hall (damn lucky it didn't kill someone).

2) 6" second hand Tasco Schmidt newt with wobbletronic focuser, and very low quality 0.9" eps - returned to seller.

3) 70mm medium quality spotting scope - sold to help finance...

4) Tele Vue TV101 4" refractor - still own

5) Astrosystems 16" Dob Telekit - still own

6) Skywatcher 70mm f10 refractor for use as a guidescope - arrives in the next week or so.

[RB]

Yes you're right David, even one is too much according to my beautiful wife. :whistle:
I love you dear......:D

[Miaplacidus]

A while ago I was thinking a thread like this might be useful for newbies (and oldies), giving people an idea of common progressions along the astronomy road, and also perhaps some "wrong turns", "dead ends", and "great destinations". So far I've owned 6 scopes, and the only thing I'm sure of is that I've got the wrong combination of scopes at the moment. Still, if I could keep only one it would be my 8 inch dob.

Cheers,

Brian

[allan gould]

I started out with a 10" LX50. Tried to do astrophotography with mediocre sucess due to the RA drive. Eventually shifted the OTA to a Losmandy mount and still have it. Looking for a good portable set up, I bought a 4" achro 500mm refractor, a 5" achro 1200mm refractor and 5" Mak (all Synta). Still have the 4" - others sold as I then got an old orange 8" celestron SCT that I refurbished and put on HEQ5-Pro mount. This is my most used scope but when I want to get serious the 10" has superb optics and the G11 makes it a joy to use. Then I wonder why I have the 8". But recently I looked through a 22" Dobsonian.................Me want!!!!!!
Regards
Allan

[Starkler]

Three scopes in three years.

1: Saxon 8" f5 dob sold
2: GSO 10" dob
3: Orion ed80 soon to be sold

No 4 is comming soon :D

[Robert_T]

11 scopes all up, at least that I can remember... 6 in my first burst of enthusiasm some 20-25 years ago ranging from 3inch to 12 inch ... and then another 5 in the last 12 months :D (I've still got four of 'em too)

I don't have a problem ;)

cheers,

[man on the moon]

The 12" is the scope for me, now to convince mum lol!

[snowyskiesau]

Only owned one which I still have, a C8 on an SP mount that I bought in 1991 from Astro Optical. ($2995).
It's been a little neglected in the past few years but I've just added a dual motor drive and an Argo Navis so hope to get more use out of it.

[jaramillo]

Hey,

I've owned 4 telescopes in my life:

1) A small refractor (50mm aperture?) with plastic lenses:lol:. It was a christmas gift I got from my parents in the late 1970's (when I was 6 or 7 years old). I can't remember, but I used it only a couple of times and stored it in the loft of my parents house. It was forgotten and could not be found anymore:rofl:.

2) In 1997 I started my studies of Geology at the University of Cologne. Besides the "normal" lectures I also visited lectures in Cosmochemistry, Cosmology and Theoretical Astrophysics (really ultra-hard stuff:screwy:). In 2002 I decided to buy a 8" f/6 Skywatcher Dob to experience the wonders of the universe with my own eyes. My old dream had become true :D.

3) In 2004, after adding some nice ep's to my collection:D, a 102/1000 Celestron refractor followed me home;). This is my instrument for planetary and moon observing and fast viewing.

4) In summer 2005 I sold the 8" Newton and bought a superb 10" f/5 ATM-mirror (Strehl= 0.98 according to the certificate) from a friend of mine. My father runs a carpentry and my brother is a carpenter. So, it wasn't a problem to built a telescope around the mirror (no problem for my brother:D).

5) Next year I'll need more aperture:D:D:D, but the 10" f/5 is unsaleable;).


Clear skies,

Mathias

[Roger Davis]

Homemade, 20ish, commercial, 2 (Vixen 4" Fluorite on GP mount & Meade 8" SCT TAO).
Ground 20ish primaries, ground 6ish secondaries.
Figured that I could buy the secondaries for all the effort it took.
Still working on the 4th surface of my 5" refractor (last surface, flat).
Finally decided on a shell in which to place my 13.25" f/4.5 mirror which I have had sitting in the cupboard for the last 5 years.
Smallest scope made: 50mm Dobsonian (sitting the the ASV club rooms)
Largest scope made: 686mm Dobsonian (for ASV with a Graham Loftus mirror)

[Lester]

1970 =8" newtonian
1974=8" SCT Celestron which I still have (for Sale)
1980=16" DS Meade (Optics for sale)
1982=5.5" Celestron Comet Catcher (I still use)
2006=14" SCT Meade hope this one will satisfy my thirst for many years.