Leaving Astronomy : guts but no glory.

[robz (Robert)]

Well, firstly, a sincere thanks to all that have provided information, assistance in my feeble attempt at getting back in to astronomy.

I firstly purchased an 8 inch old model Orion newtonian on a non driven Gazer mount at Cash Convertors...........at least a start?............no,.........neede d a good mount, so I blew my entire tax refund check on a Skywatcher EQ6 PRO GOTO when I really should not have with all the expenses due on the horizon.

The 8 inch was properly collimated with a top quality Howie Glatter collimater (thanks Shane)...........first light..............S*** HOUSE image.
Was the collimation out?...............no, it wasn't.

Have since tried collimation on at least 20 occasions using well known and effective methods with simple tools (peep hole eyepeice/cross hairs etc) and triple checked mirror centre spot.
All was in order......................but stars would not focus cleanly and despite buying two new, good quality 2 inch whopper eyepeices.........severe coma and astigmatism........even after hours of cool down time.

I put the problem down to the focusser. However, after applying some much needed, stratigically placed shims in the focusser housing,there was no image gain noticeable............again with perfect collimation.

After at least a dozen different views on separate nights and early mornings, Jupiter looked ordinary and showed very little detail except for one band and some comet tailed spikey moons.If the planet was not slightly off centre to the field of view, it would blurr out.........pathetic

D.S.O.were o.k................if you looked in the midde of the field of view.

With a $25,000 dollar plus daughter's wedding due in just over 2 months,there will be no chance of buying another scope at any price.

I can tell by my wife's unconvincing tone of voice that she really doesn't want me to buy a scope despite her constant reassurance that I should buy what I want and : ''just be happy for a change''........I know her too well after 30 years of marriage.

So friends, I'm not looking for sympathy, please believe that.

I envy all of you that own a large dob, or cat. or a great refractor. I wish I could share your enjoyment of owning such great gear.

The money spent on the 8 inch newtonian I don't care about.......someone knew what it was like when they sold it to C.C.........and that's probably why it didn't sell (and was no doubt bought and returned numerous times without me wising up to the fact that something fishy had to be up with this scope).
By the time I had the chance to pull it apart and clean the mass of dust off the optics, the warranty/return period had expired.

The EQ6 mount has not even seen daylight, but will be sold in due course, and, as I don't have the originall packaging anymore, I will not get back what I paid for it............such is life.

I hope that one day I can return and buy my dream scope and share my delights with you all..................I've been waiting since my late teens and am now 53...................say no more.

Regards,
Rob.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Sorry to hear, mate.

I'm not a visual person so can't offer any advice, unfortunately.

Hope to see you back and in the swing of things.

H

[Alchemy (Clive)]

Can you het a local to come out and gibe you a second opinion.

If the daughter eloped, you could have whatever scope you wanted. The wife might not be too happy though.

Having myself got married, ( and marriage is a great thing) knowing what I know, I'd have got married in a park, and had a barby and saved the wedding money for a house deposit. The whole wedding do is a bit overrated.

So get someone to at least have a squiz before you drop away.

[Spares (Glenn)]

Well Rob,
I can feel your pain brother, Astromony can be a black hole for every single cent a man has!
It does remind me of a email that got around a little while ago. A bloke was selling his go fast motor cycle with the reseaon as quote from girl friend "do what the F*%k you like" didnt mean what he thought.
Good luck with your future hobbies.

Spares

[Mighty_oz (Marcus)]

Might just be a dud scope, i got a spare 8" newt u can put together if u like to try it out sometime and u can use it for awhile as it;s in pieces ? Also the supplier of the mount might help ?

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by Spares

It does remind me of a email that got around a little while ago. A bloke was selling his go fast motor cycle with the reseaon as quote from girl friend "do what the F*%k you like" didnt mean what he thought.

$25K for a wedding mmm?... a BBQ in the park sounds good to me too

Good luck mate

Mike

[Suzy]

Robert, it sounds to me like you live your whole life to please others and that you come last. If we all listened to the extra tone not vocalised from our spouse and analyised every response, we would all be puppets without any voice or desire of our own. I apologise for being harsh, but from you said about your wife's response sounds like the epitome of passive aggressiveness. Take your stand, and do something for yourself for a change. Keep the mount and buy a second hand scope. If you give it up now and lose the opportunity for which you have waited so long for, and already started a journey on, it sounds to me you will live to regret it big time and harbour resentment. She told you to buy the scope - just buy the scope. If you don't go for it now, you may well be waiting another 40 years to have a go. Give yourself some happiness - I'm sure you deserve it. No one should have to wait that long to pursue something that has been so passionate for them.

$25,000 plus for a wedding?! That's outrageous! I'm assuming you are paying for the whole lot. Everyone I know, myself included and even the young-ens of today have paid something towards the cost of their own weddings. That amount would be a serious deposit on a house.

I honestly hope I'm not coming across too harsh Robert. I'm saying all this because this post has pulled on my heart strings and I want you to be happy (even tho I don't know you).

[avandonk]

When I got married for the first time my father offered to pay for all the booze. My father in law to be was very glad he accepted this generous offer as the booze bill was HUGE! All my father did was make all us nine brothers pay to him what we thought we would consume plus our freeloading mates.

That would get a decent mount and telescope even today!..


Bert

[h0ughy (David)]

keep the mount and get yourself a ED80 - its a solid reliable setup

[andrew2008]

It's unfortunate but i'm sure you aren't alone in having been burnt buying from CC's or department store scopes that just don't perform. They probably do more harm than good for the hobby.

For what it's worth i'll just say keep the mount, throw away the newt and join a club. Most clubs here in Brisbane have scopes (generally dobs) that can be loaned for a small monthly fee. With this and observing at club nights you can try a range of scopes and buy something for yourself once these expenses have past.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by andrew2008

It's unfortunate but i'm sure you aren't alone in having been burnt buying from CC's or department store scopes that just don't perform. They probably do more harm than good for the hobby.

For what it's worth i'll just say keep the mount, throw away the newt and join a club. Most clubs here in Brisbane have scopes (generally dobs) that can be loaned for a small monthly fee. With this and observing at club nights you can try a range of scopes and buy something for yourself once these expenses have past.

What brilliant advice and what a great compromise!

[sejanus (Gavin)]

IMO sell the Eq6 and get a 8" or 10" Dob from Bintel. Chuck the CC scope in the bin.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Hi Rob,

I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. I have to agree with Clive about the value of getting someone from IIS or a local astro club who knows telescopes well to have a good look at your scope. I would be very surprised if it couldn't be sorted. Low power wide field eps can be ordinary in a fast scope and I'd be quite interested in what it's like with higher power eyepieces. Collimation may still be part of the problem and someone quite experienced may be able to pick up something that you've missed. An 8" newt should be a very good workhorse and yours may well be salvageable.

All the best with whatever you choose.

[bartman (Bart)]

Rob,
Don't give (it) up mate!
Keep the NEQ6 - maybe buy a dob and the if you like that you can convert it to sit on the NEQ!
Bart

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Hey Rob, not meaning to laugh at you, but WITH you.

You currently have 2 threads running.
One in search of a scope, and this one saying you are getting out of it.

Now, what I gleen from reading between the lines of both threads is that you truly desire to do Astronomy but financial restraints have now made that extremely difficult.

All I can say, Rob, is don't sell the mount. Eventually (sooner than you may now think) you will get a scope to put on it.
A nice little Mak, or that Skywatcher Refractor, or whatever.

Whichever one you end up with, you'll need a mount to put it on.
You've already got a great one
Don't make it so you have to start from scratch again.

[AdrianF (Adrian)]

Buy a step ladder as a wedding gift . With an instruction manual.

I have been going to give astronomy away almost every weekend since march this year and even advertised the gear for sale. Everytime I make a terrible picture I want to give up. So far I think I have made 3 good photos out of several hundred I have taken.

Adrian

[adman (Adam)]

one of the things that I like most about astronomy at my stage of life with three young kids is that my only free time tends to be at night - which coincidently is the best time to observe! So it is my little bit of time for myself that doesn't take time away from my other responsibilities - I think I would have gone nuts by now without it.

So give it some long hard thinking before you chuck it in - everyone needs something they do that is truly their own.

Keep the mount, and keep an eye out for a decent, cheap scope. I bought my 8" newt 2nd hand for $250 and wouldn't trade it for the world!

Good luck
Adam

[robz (Robert)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Robert, it sounds to me like you live your whole life to please others and that you come last. If we all listened to the extra tone not vocalised from our spouse and analyised every response, we would all be puppets without any voice or desire of our own. I apologise for being harsh, but from you said about your wife's response sounds like the epitome of passive aggressiveness. Take your stand, and do something for yourself for a change. Keep the mount and buy a second hand scope. If you give it up now and lose the opportunity for which you have waited so long for, and already started a journey on, it sounds to me you will live to regret it big time and harbour resentment. She told you to buy the scope - just buy the scope. If you don't go for it now, you may well be waiting another 40 years to have a go. Give yourself some happiness - I'm sure you deserve it. No one should have to wait that long to pursue something that has been so passionate for them.

$25,000 plus for a wedding?! That's outrageous! I'm assuming you are paying for the whole lot. Everyone I know, myself included and even the young-ens of today have paid something towards the cost of their own weddings. That amount would be a serious deposit on a house.

I honestly hope I'm not coming across too harsh Robert. I'm saying all this because this post has pulled on my heart strings and I want you to be happy (even tho I don't know you).

Thanks Suzy..............you HAVE worked me out..........I'm putting myself last here as I know that it's not a good time to spend........and I already have when I shouldn't have.

My sincere thanks to all others for their support and advice.

Yes, we are paying for the entire wedding.......... 25k is , believe it or not, quite reasonable for 110 people (and that's with some ''who you know'' thrown in, if you know what I mean?).The daughter and her man have indeed contributed to various aspects of the wedding.Not only that, they were smart enough during their engagement to save a considerable amount of money for a deposit on a new house and land package and are now living in that exact home.........good on 'em!

My daughter's fiancee's father is on a pension after receiving a heart transplant many years ago. His wife does not work for obvious reasons.
We made it quite evident from the start that we did not expect any major contribution from his side.

As I have been off work for nearly 2 weeks with a chronic knee problem, today I called in to Gerry Gibbs Camera House here in Cannington W.A. and was gob struck by a 12 inch Skywatcher Flex- Dob.

What a magnificent beast...................had no idea they looked so beautiful.....................one day,one day............

[bartman (Bart)]

Spoke to Russell at Midland Camera house recently (last week) and he said he was going to do some sort of promo on the Dobs soon!!!!Advertising etc , so keep an eye out or call him!
bart

[dannat (Daniel)]

my suggestion would be to advertise a trade for a heq5 + cash for the EQ6. the heq5 will still hold the scope for visual + you can hold onto the cash or buy a smallish refractor