How old were you when you got your first telescope? - Page 2

syzygy · #21 21-07-2005, 02:36 AM

I must have been about 10. My mother took me to the Easter show in Sydney and the Amateur Astronomers Supply Co (long since Astro Optics) had a stand in the exhibition hall.

I'd never seen a telescope before and was just transfixed. After my first Nortons Star Atlas and the Golden Books Astronomy guide and some months of pleading, mum took me over to their Crows Nest store and put an Ascotron 4.5" F8 reflector on lay-by for Xmas. I was so proud to show her Saturn from our backyard. Memories....

Regards,
Chris

cahullian · #22 21-07-2005, 02:14 PM

Sounds like Tasco has a lot to answer for lol

astroron (Ron) · #23 21-07-2005, 04:42 PM

Interest in astronomy since Sputnik in 1957, first scope was a 50 mm spotting scope in Malaya 1968 , Jason 60 mm refractor in July 1986 20 cm SCT in 1990, 40cm Dob 2002, Next scope 1 metre, ( only kidding)
now 62 so I was 26 astroron

Kieken · #24 21-07-2005, 05:48 PM

9 or 10 years old and a cheap department store scope

. And to be honest I've never seen anything with it.

Striker (Tony) · #25 21-07-2005, 06:05 PM

I was 7 months younger then I am now.

I'm a Late starter.

h0ughy (David) · #26 21-07-2005, 08:43 PM

well looking at the data so far it seems as though the future generations need to be influenced at a young age? And then at an older age they are more than influenced!!

[1ponders] (Paul) · #27 21-07-2005, 09:42 PM

Shouldn't that be "more Affluenced" h0ughy. IF I'd had the money and the LX200 was around when I was 12 I would have bought it.

h0ughy (David) · #28 21-07-2005, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [1ponders]

Shouldn't that be "more Affluenced" h0ughy. IF I'd had the money and the LX200 was around when I was 12 I would have bought it.

Whatever, but the kids between 10 and 15 seem to be the ones to target. primary schools and the lower years at high school are the ones our Society seem to attend for viewing nights. Mind you I have done a couple of HSC nights for some high schools.

I remember (a long time ago)

in year 9 playng with a 10" newtonian in science. Even though it was daylight it hooked me!

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #29 31-07-2005, 02:15 PM

Something is wrong here. In the main forum it says the last post was made at 10:58 today (31st) but the last post above is on the 21st at 9:53? What's going on?

slice of heaven · #30 31-07-2005, 02:33 PM

Its the time the last person polled

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #31 31-07-2005, 03:43 PM

Ah ok. Thought me computer was on the blink!

gaa_ian (Ian) · #32 06-08-2005, 12:05 PM

Like almost everyone else my first scope was a Tasco refractor (12Y.O)
Looked at the moon & stars etc ....that lasted a few years.
Bought my 10" Dob 2 1/2 yrs ago, but have remained interested since I was a kid, now a I'm a big kid with kids who are starting at the right end of astronomy , with a DOB.

mickal555 · #33 07-08-2005, 04:06 PM

I got mine when I was 14...

Last september, it was a gift from a telescope shop: Sirius Optics.

It's an 8" Newt. Dob. 1200mm.

I love it!

TJD (Trevor) · #34 02-03-2009, 09:04 PM

age is not a problem until you you buy a 125 pound 16" and you have to carry it 100 yards. not that i could do that.

Ric · #35 02-03-2009, 09:25 PM

I kicked off at around 11 with a Tasco 2.5 inch but quickly moved up to a Celestron C8 orange tube. Still got it too.

Cheers

Ps: it then took another 30 years to get the LX200R 12", at that rate I'll be 76 before I get the 16" and 106 when I get the 20"

bones · #36 02-03-2009, 09:31 PM

When I was about 8 one of my older brothers got a 60mm white Tasco up to 60 times with the clicky eyepiece to increase magnification. I used it a bit through my teens. I remember mucking around one day trying to see sun spots on a piece of paper and wondering why I could smell burning plastic ... Whoops. Bro wasn't happy. Anyway I always said I'd get something decent if I ever bought one for myself ... I was 38 when I finally splurged on a CPC11 (with my wifes blessing of course) and been stoked ever since.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #37 02-03-2009, 09:48 PM

I bought my kids a 60mm refractor for Christmas 2004.
No prize for guessing who used it the most. I was 41 at the time.
12 months later I sold one of my horses to fund the purchase of a 10"Dob.

Lester · #38 02-03-2009, 09:50 PM

I was 13, got a 8" Newtonian kit to assemble, made the EQ mount out of 3/4" water pipe.

That was in 1970.

Barrykgerdes · #39 02-03-2009, 10:25 PM

I first used a telescope when I was about 8 but I never thought of looking at the stars. I was more interested in trains that I could see great with a telescope from my grandparents house.

My next telescope was one I made when I was 14, a spectacle lens with a focal length of about 30", two concentric cardboard tubes and the lenses salvaged from the viewfinder of Box Browny. It enabled me to see craters on the moon and Jupiters 4 moons. It was not much good for land objects because the image was upside down. However I figured out that a second lens in the focus tube would make the image upright which it did so I stopped gazing at the stars and used it as a normal land telescope.

My interest in astronomy was not rekindled till about 1990 when I bought a 4.5" Tasco reflector. I quickly progressed to an 8" in a Dobsonian mount and then a LX200 10". Next was a 12" LX200GPS. I will beat Ric to the 16" because I will have mine at 74 in about 6 weeks.

Baz

pgc hunter · #40 03-03-2009, 12:06 AM

I was prolly 9, I got a Tasco 60mm refractor for christmas and i was overjoyed!. Then, the next day, one of the screws holding in the mount broke, redering the scope useless. Took 2 months for them to replace

But I still got much joy from that scope - gave me my first ever view of Saturn on a warm summers evening, will never forget it and the excitement of owning a scope