What was the first thing you bought when you got into astronomy?

[kittenshark (Cheryl-Ann Tan)]

For me, it was a trolley.

Everything else I borrowed or rented and I used the trolley to cart the club's rental dobs around. Till this day. The only thing I owned during that time was a trolley and a T-ring that was given to me...

What was the first thing you bought when you got hooked? A book? Tent? Binos? Scope? Sleeping bag? Star chart?

The next thing I bought was...
...a camping chair.

You can borrow scopes, books, binos etc. but gotta bring your own chair.

[Atmos (Colin)]

A HEQ6 & Sky Watcher 10" F/4.75 reflector (blue tube). I have since dubbed it "The Devil", got little to no use in the year that I owned it. Why the floor salesman at the now closed store thought that it would be the perfect beginners telescope for a 19 year old I'll never know. Best thing I ever did was sell it and get a 10" Meade LX200.

[kittenshark (Cheryl-Ann Tan)]

Gee that's no beginner setup, but that said the other half bought a very similar setup as a first scope and it took 3 weeks to get it to point at anything!

Who else? Bonus points for non-telescope related stuff!

[RickS (Rick)]

When I was 10 years old it was a star chart. When I started again in my 30s it was a 6" dob. When I started again about 5 years ago it was a Tak FSQ-106ED. Next time will have to be pretty impressive

Cheers,
Rick.

[Atmos (Colin)]

Totally agree! I believe they shut shop some 6 months later so I have wondered if they were more interested in getting than out the door than selling a cheaper 10" dob. Distant past now

Can I say "experiences" I have an early memory of my grandmother taking my cousin (she is maybe 3 years older) and myself away in their mobile home to watch a meteor shower. I was maybe 5 at the time.

[kittenshark (Cheryl-Ann Tan)]

Did anyone start collecting space memorabilia soon after? I bought a few odd things from the Smithsonian when I visited some years back.

I started collecting some space Snoopy merchandise and shirts, which is now part of the official shop uniform because I say so!

[Stonius (Markus)]

My parents bought me a little Tasco 60mm refractor for Christmas one year as a 'maybe he'll like this' present. I used that little scope to death. In fact the reason I stopped was because I got frustrated with all the wonderful stuff that lay just beyond the reach of that little scope and was young enough that there were no $$$ for an upgrade, so I'd reached 'the end' as it were. Saw some pretty cool stuff with it though - Halley's comet, SN1987a. Good times.

When I was 30 my wife bought me an 8" dob and reignited the passion.

Still got that scope. Don't have the wife anymore though :-)

...which leaves more time for astronomy! :-)

Edit; forgot to mention the first things I actually *bought (the above were gifts). I can't remember which came first but I think it was;

1) Norton's star atlas
2) A wider field eyepice that in retrospect was probably quite a decent eyepiece suffering from being in a scope of poor - middling quality
3) Sky Atlas 2000

[deanm (Dean)]

A simple vice.

When I was ~12, my parents bought me a (?) ~2" refractor, but no mount or means of securing it to the planet.

So I scored a simple woodwork vice, fixed it to an end-on empty packing crate and have spent the rest of my life watching Jupiter's moons dance around!

Dean

[leon]

The first thing i bought was a 10" steel tube that i had made at a sheet metal place so i could build my own 8 "reflector, which i did, then all the other bits and pieces as i went along.

It all turned out pretty well actually and i had many great nights under the stars.

Leon

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

I bought a Dick Smith Electronics 4.5" Newtonian on an EQ mount for $200. It was terrible but good enough excuse for weekend away in Kyneton where I saw that Saturn had ears! That made me join this site and seek out a better scope so I could take a better look. Over a decade later I'm still gobsmacked when I look at Saturn on a good night.

[deanm (Dean)]

Well said, Steve!

Dean

[kittenshark (Cheryl-Ann Tan)]

I just remembered another thing I bought... eclipse glasses for the Transit of Venus and several solar eclipses after that.

I don't remember the exact time I looked at planets and go wow I'm going to do this for the rest of my life, but a total solar eclipse (even clouded out) was something else altogether--the sky getting dark, birds confused, sunset colours etc.

Transit of Venus was amazing in that it won't happen again in a lifetime!

I think it was solar that really got me interested at first, before I moved to far, far more dimmer objects. I'm rediscovering solar now after playing with a few solar scopes.

[Rick Petrie]

After my first scope as a birthday present and seeing as it was August.
I found the first thing I needed was plenty of warm clothing before any astro gear. Ha!

[AEAJR (Ed)]

1960s it was a Sears 60 mm telescope that I used for years.

Put that away for 45 years

When I decided to get back into astronomy I found the scope to be virtually useless.

I bought Gordon 10X50 binoculars, a planisphere, red flashlight and Turn Left at Orion.

That is what got me back into astronomy. All based on recommendations from people on one of the astronomy forums. That was about a year ago.

Been good times ever since.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

First thing that was bought for me was a Tasco 4 inch refractor on a terrible alt az mount (you know the type). But from a backyard in Paddington (in the MIDDLE of Sydney), and with Northern Hemisphere directions, I was lucky to see the moon, and thats all. Way to end your enthusiasm.

First thing I bought (40 years later) was a 6 inch Newtonian on an EQ mount. Now living in Central Coast of NSW, where you can see the milky way and Magellanic Clouds, it was a happier experience, and soon led to an expensive path down the road of aperture and more expensive scopes along the way.

(Please excuse my going on But ... ) The second thing I bought was more important - a bunch of Southern Hemisphere orientated Astronomy books.
(one of which even led me to IceInSpace website)

[Dealy (Kev)]

My first buy was a 2nd hand Edmund Scientific Astroscan - a great little 4 1/2 inch reflector. Still have it.

Then I was given 2 x 8" mirror blanks, which after many, many hours of grinding I turned into an 8" F7 on a home made eq mount. Still have that too.

[blink138 (Pat)]

i had cause only this week to remember one of the my first experiences in astronomy
professor cox flicking through his first (and mine) astronomy book called "the race into space", it was a card collecting book actually and the cards were found in a brand of loose leaf tea packets!
i really loved that book!
pat

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

My first excursion into astronomy was 42 years ago. I was given camping binoculars to use in my foray into scouting (Boy Scouts USA). My first purchase was a beanie for my head, and a pillow to lay on while staring up into the night sky through the binoculars.

Then, after way too many years, of way too many adult responsibilities, I upgraded to a Celestron 130 Astromaster to try and get serious about the hobby. Still have it but don't use it much at all. What has really cemented my interest was the most recent purchase of a Celestar C8.

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

After buying the How and Why Book : The Moon, for 5 shillings out my own pocket money at the age of 10, I considered myself to be an Amateur Astronomer. It literally was a book that changed my life.

[PCH (Paul)]

Originally Posted by blink138

i had cause only this week to remember one of the my first experiences in astronomy
professor cox flicking through his first (and mine) astronomy book called "the race into space", it was a card collecting book actually and the cards were found in a brand of loose leaf tea packets!
i really loved that book!
pat

PG Tips Pat. I still have the full set in the album along with many other sets from years before.

If I remember correctly, one of the last few cards depicted was an artists impression of the proposed manned flight to Mars in 1981 (which was at that time a decade or so in the future).