[ekendra]

So here's a little on how I got back into astronomy.

I live about 15km west of Murwillumbah in Northern New South Wales. About an hours drive from here is a Chinese place we occasionally like to have dinner at on the Gold Coast. A few shops down is Star Optics.

Because the restaurant is only open in the evenings, every time I've gone there the Optics shop would already be closed. So I would look through the window at all the lovely wares they had on offer and remember the enthusiasm I had for astronomy before life sent me in another direction. I've got three boys so have been thinking about getting them interested in the night sky. Unfortunately, the cost of decent equipment has gone up so much that it is staggering.

Earlier in the week I had to pick something up during the day from Jaycar which is in the same strip of shops. I noticed a signboard in front of Star Optics that said "closing down sale - stock clearance" and naturally paid a visit.

When I woke up that morning I had no idea that in the evening I'd be assembling a 10" collapsible SkyWatcher/Saxon dob. Got it for a cool $489. It came with 25mm and 10mm plossl eyepieces. I picked up a 2x Meade Barlow for good measure.

We've had some cloudy skies since then. The only exceptions were when I've had an early start the next morning so couldn't get out more than once for some early morning moon observation. It has, however, left me with plenty of evenings that I could read extensively online about the Southern Sky.

I've got a TelRad and a laser collimator on its way from BinTel so that should help things along.

My 7 year old seems very keen on this so far.

Any advice? For all practical purposes, I'm a beginner here.