Hey,
I've owned 4 telescopes in my life:
1) A small refractor (50mm aperture?) with plastic lenses
. 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
.
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
). 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
.
3) In 2004, after adding some nice ep's to my collection
, 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
).
5) Next year I'll need more aperture
, but the 10" f/5 is unsaleable
.
Clear skies,
Mathias