Thanks Alex, I've tried to stick to 2nd hand bargains to keep the splash zone low. Hell my whole budget might only cover the CCD only 10 years ago. I've found the key to scope acquisition syndrome is to be unapologetically irresponsible, it's certainly not a cure and there are some pitfalls, but it is liberating
If you took a look at some of my rejects you might be reminded of crayons
I image every night that's not raining and even some of those if the window is worth it. The first time I grabbed orion was because it was the only thing bright enough to see through the fog that night. Full moons are good, you can see everything, clouds, stuff you normally trip over, the dog and you get gradient removal experience for free. Any image is a good image if you had fun and maybe learned something.
I do remember those days although I was more of a motorolla guy. Pouring over reams of datasheets. I have the utmost respect for learning things properly. These days you get it all for free with arduino, raspberry pi, teensy and the like. Same with software, my IDE of choice was a text editor for so long. When I got over myself I found IDE's a great thing, kids these days have got it so easy. Today I wouldn't be able to do astro if not for the leaps and bounds made in the last few years. Just to start I couldn't crouch down to look through the polar scope without the high risk of my knee going POP and then needing crutches for weeks. I probably wouldn't see much through the scope anyway, glasses or not. I'm immensely grateful for all those who've made it so relatively easy such that I, and others, can enjoy it.