well.. been reading the forums for a short while and thought i'd better sign up and post a somewhat obligatory "new n00b" post, which are then followed by the "get the 8" dob" posts :p
kinda 'stumbled' into astronomy whilst reading the austech forums(which is where i got the link to here) and saw a thread reviewing the cheap dickies telescope. I know the cheap department store scopes are frowned upon here.. but for $50 i figured well hey.. i might not be able to make a go of this astronomy stuff.. so $50 ain't much. Luckily.. i think i've fallen in love(don't tell the mrs though.. i think she already suspects me of being unfaithful :p) . Haven't even tried looking at any DSO's, just trying for planets so far.. got the moon.. and jupiter.. then.. the rain and clouds came. Bought a book, got a couple of sky map programs for my pda.. now looking at buying a new scope once my finances allow, and yes, am looking at an 8" dob.
tossing up between the andrews and the bintel, as most people do. The andrews on the price, but the bintel becasue it's been pre-collimated(cause the collimation seems a little daunting).
anyway.. just thought i'd say hi!
el
