By any measure I am a very poor Astronomer but..... I am however a gifted collector of all things Astro. I am always intrigued to read the equipment lists of other Astro buffs.
My question is this..... are there other novice Astronomer's with bulging, neigh ponderous collections of Astro gear. Are there other Astron' buffs who spend more time thing "what-if" about purchases then "looking up"?
The reason for my question is that I would like to open the discussion "I am an Astronomer and I buy stuff"
I think I have to put my hand up here. Almost 12 months in to the game, several books, 4 telescopes, 3 mounts, 2 boxes of ep's, and and amount of extras, and still scouring the classifieds.
Andrew.
p.s. But I do have really really dark sky's (rural Victoria).
Can only afford one at a time....
Just managed to get a second main scope, and it's not a precious one - just a value for money one.
I'd love to spend some proper money on a 5 inch Tak APO but a 4 inch Skywatcher clone is all I'm gonna have! At least it's nearly an APO.
I think I have to put my hand up here. Almost 12 months in to the game, several books, 4 telescopes, 3 mounts, 2 boxes of ep's, and and amount of extras, and still scouring the classifieds.
Andrew.
p.s. But I do have really really dark sky's (rural Victoria).
We both started at roughly the same time... we have both followed the same acquisitive path. Though I live in Sydney I still have reasonable skys, I also use "good skys" as an excuse.
Guilty LOL, here is a pic of some of my collection.
For 30 odd years I have only had one scope, but in the last 4 years my collection has swelled a bit. And you don't need to be rich just lucky and quick to find the bargains. This lot cost me around $500 all up. The two "ugly duckling" dobs in the background were renovators delights (a quick and cheap home resilvering on the mirrors and they were back in action).
I now have 8 scopes, 5 eq mounts (eq 2,3 and heq5, two portable eq piers... a cave and a sampson) 3 sets of binoculars a stack of 80's astronomy magazines and telescope catalogues and books. And then there's the box of eyepieces (old and new) the dslr camera's, lenses and adaptors, the ccd security camera. None of my stuff is top of the range but each serves its purpose and didn't blow my meager budget. I do get to spend a lot of time looking up though.
Clearly I also have a dreadful case of GAS! Its great to find a name for the syndrome, maybe we could establish a survivors network? Every time my wife sees my Credit card my life is in jeopardy, I live in a constant state of fear & dread.
I've always wondered why I keep scanning the 'For Sale' section and our local TradeMe website. Now I know, I've got G.A.S. ( don't stand behind me ... )
Forget telescopes ... I'm looking for a nice little country property to build an observatory on ... that's gonna' cost me ... !!!!! ouch !!!
Damn this hobby.... it's expen$ive for $ure....
.
YES 
)
You just get more creative with your purchases,.. buy this, trade that, sell the other, two for the price of one etc etc etc 
