Thread: Hi all.
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Old 21-02-2005, 08:39 PM
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rmcpb (Rob)
Compulsive Tinkerer

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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Blue Mountains, NSW
Posts: 1,766
Welcome Sounder we seem to have a good spread of members geographically speaking and I do envy you your dark skies.

As your scope is a dob I assume you don't want guiding software, etc so a simple planitarium package would be of some use, Starry Night comes to mind as its what I use. However, if this is your first scope do yourself a favour and get a simple planisphere and a pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars to learn the sky. Usually when I go out this is the first step in any viewing session to have a quick look around at what's up while waiting for the scope to cool down - takes at least 30 minutes. As well as the planisphere and binocs I would suggest a cheshire eyepiece to allow you to collimate your scope and possibly a telrad to help aim the beast at the things you find with the binocs.

In short, I think that while a planitarium software package is great, there are other things I would be spending my money on first up.

Clear skies
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