Leaving Astronomy : guts but no glory. - Page 2

GrahamL · #21 21-10-2010, 08:16 PM

Sorry to hear of your dissapontment and frustration Rob.

Is it at all possible your scope is a reasonably high quality astrograph from from orion optics (uK).. the mount and Fl (4.4)you mention fits there europa series.. as far as Mr google tells me ??

As to whats up with it I have no clue , but I'd look a little more at
possible causes before throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Failing that you have a pretty good fallback in your good wifes

Quote:

constant reassurance that I should buy what I want and : ''just be happy for a change''

man I'd be runnin for the hills with that one

cheers graham

el_draco (Rom) · #22 21-10-2010, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

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

Good luck mate

Mike

I got married Sept 5 this year. Cost 2.5k, at a local winery, famulous meal, good company, great location... fun... happy time. Plenty left over for a new scope...

If your kid wants to go blow the bank on a party, tell her to get a grip and let her pay for it herself! Cripes, the change would by a Paramount ME and pay off a C14!!!

Watch that stupid Wedding show to see what a farce it all is. Ridiculous expectations!

... and to top it off, the marriage is stataistically got 33% chance of surviving beyond the warrantee period on the ME!!

Poor investment, poor investment, poor investment!!!

Rebel, Let the Astronomer be free!!!! Mwa a ahhhh !!!

OICURMT · #23 21-10-2010, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

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

Good luck mate

Mike

Only problem I see is that statistics dictate it will be a waste of money.... Why?

Divorce.

astroron (Ron) · #24 21-10-2010, 10:45 PM

I feel sorry for you mate,$25K is just a rediculous price for a wedding,
they could have put a good portion of that towards a house and still had a good wedding celebration

TheFacelessMen (Rob) · #25 22-10-2010, 12:02 AM

Ouch $25K for the wedding.

I had 100 guests, four course silver service meal, bottled wine, open bar and hired the entire function centre at the Vines Resort (in WA) for less.

And that also included Shirley Basseys band and 2 conservatorium opera singers hired privately for the evening.

They are really ripping into young folks getting married nowdays.

Give em $15K and save $10k for a scope

Screwdriverone (Chris) · #26 22-10-2010, 12:02 AM

Hey Rob,

There is a very nice 150mm Black Diamond Mak going for $650 on Icetrade...

Whack that on your mount and scope it!

Trim the guest list by 3 people and you have enough to buy it. (25K/110= $227 a head!) Probably drink all the booze too, those freeloading relo's...

Cheers

Chris

g__day (Matthew) · #27 22-10-2010, 10:14 AM

My thoughts,

1. Get someone from a club to really look at the scope to understand what is wrong and advise if its easily fixable or total junk

2. Keep the mount - look second hand for a 80mm refractor or a newt to mount

3. Don't rush things and don't get bitter, learn there is risk out there that can be minimised through experience, your own or borrow others!

4. Ask the kids if they'd rather have the money invested in other people or themselves; put simpler - lavish wedding that is really for everyone else followed by a cheap honeymoon, or have a simple, small but elegant wedding and major, lavish honeymoon? It boils down to it's their life together - are their priorities on their indirect life experiences - several hours at a once-off event, that many other will share and enjoy in, or their major priority is on private moments over several days / weeks? A wedding is for the crowd, a honeymoon is for the couple!

Good luck!

terrynz (Terence) · #28 22-10-2010, 11:55 AM

Rob mate,

Don't worry about the wife or ya daughter. Sometimes you just gotta do what is right for you.

My wife saids similar things.... you're never happy, you always want a bigger scope.

Having been through all you've been through I recommend you Tell ya daughter to scale down the wedding, buy the wife a nice ring and you get another better scope.

Sometimes its all about you - after all you earned it!

Fox · #29 22-10-2010, 03:24 PM

Hi Rob, I assume that you still happy with the mount per se, and you don't think its size/weight will become a problem with your knee. If that's the case, I agree with everyone who said keep the mount, since it will clearly accommodate anything from a small to very large scope. Yeah, link up with a club or local IIS member, since I'm sure someone will have a surplus scope that will help you out. I wouldn't throw aside your keeness for the skies just for the sake of a dud $200 optical tube, no way...! Cheers, Fox.

mick pinner · #30 22-10-2010, 03:53 PM

at 53 you are entitled to put yourself first. if you have the $25000 to spend on this wedding you have obviously been working hard to accumilate that sort of money so you dictate what you will spend on the wedding and let them organise the festivities around that sum. then go and buy yourself a decent scope.

bokglob (Darrell) · #31 22-10-2010, 06:22 PM

Maybe convince a kindly relo to buy the happy couple a nice telescope as a wedding present and then you can borrow it...

el_draco (Rom) · #32 22-10-2010, 08:15 PM

Just tell them to GET OVER IT! Give them 10k toward the mortgage which will reduce the interest by another 50k, (60k Wedding present!!!!!), and buy yourself a decent scope! If the misses wont leave you alone, tell her where to go and use the scope to show her the right direction... if it will point below horizontal

!

aaaaaaaggggggghhhhh!!!! Sustainable lifestyle!!!!!!!!

rcheshire (Rowland) · #33 22-10-2010, 08:44 PM

Really helpful advice...

I would keep the mount, and for the time being use it with just a camera and lens. The cost of replacing these items is probably more than hanging onto them. Get an expert appraisal of the scope and go from there.

Your family is none of my business, so I won't comment.

robz (Robert) · #34 22-10-2010, 10:40 PM

[QUOTE=nightstalker;648173]Sorry to hear of your dissapontment and frustration Rob.

Is it at all possible your scope is a reasonably high quality astrograph from from orion optics (uK).. the mount and Fl (4.4)you mention fits there europa series.. as far as Mr google tells me ??

As to whats up with it I have no clue , but I'd look a little more at
possible causes before throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Failing that you have a pretty good fallback in your good wifes

man I'd be runnin for the hills with that one

Firstly thanks again guys...............had a good laugh with some of the comments...............you crack me up!

Graham, yeah.................It is most likely the europa series astrograph from Orion...............thus my surprise on the performance problems.

However, this scope has an acessory which I believe is the culprit:

It's a big black 2 inch adaptor with a 1/1/4 inch adaptor inside that.
This is because the original focusser did not accept 2 inch eyepeices at the time of manufacture.

Now.............this thing does not sit square to the focussser's tube as I have found out today.............something fishy is going on here

A change in focusser to a new GSO or something like that should sort out the problem?

Rob

andrew2008 · #35 23-10-2010, 06:59 AM

If you could get a pic of the newt up it I'm certain someone here will know what it is.

Lismore Bloke (Paul) · #36 23-10-2010, 08:10 AM

I agree with the other guys - post some detailed images of the scope. It may help to identify any problems or unwise modifications. Some owners can't help but fiddle with scopes and do more harm than good. I once bought a small newt for a song, wondered why it wouldn't focus. The last fool of an owner had the mirror in back to front. Don't give it up yet, the great folk on this site are wonderfully supportive.

robz (Robert) · #37 23-10-2010, 04:15 PM

No probs.......................photos will be uploaded this week end

montewilson (Monte) · #38 29-10-2010, 07:53 AM

Don't fret - The stars will always be there and when you get back later equipment will be better and cheaper than it is now. I had to sell all my toys to be able to study full time so I understand the dilemma!

Jeffkop (Jeff) · #39 29-10-2010, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by el_draco

Just tell them to GET OVER IT! Give them 10k toward the mortgage which will reduce the interest by another 50k, (60k Wedding present!!!!!), and buy yourself a decent scope! If the misses wont leave you alone, tell her where to go and use the scope to show her the right direction... if it will point below horizontal

!

Oh man .. what an advise column this is Rob ... got to admit tho, there is a common theme in all the replys. I just got married, probably cost $11K for wedding for 110 people in small country dance hall and 2 week honeymoon on Norfolk. We had the BEST time at the wedding and holiday too Rob. Now in saying that, by any description, we had a very modest wedding. No food provided, guests had to bring a plate of finger food a flower for the bouquet, and BYO grog, and NO presents, but all the small incidentals all added up to about $5K. Celebrant was $750 for a start. bla bla bla. I remember having the odd thought about what extra I could have astronomy wise with the money the wedding was costing

but there's no way I would trade that 2 week holiday, it was just the best.

I dont think there is any way out for you now, all and sundry have made plans now and its all based on the $25K deal and its 8 weeks away. DONT even THINK of doing away with the mount, you KNOW there is an itch to be scratched here and it ISNT going away mate. All you'll do is end up spending more to replace what you sell now. When the dust settles just take you wifes advise and replace the newt with something of your liking.

Enjoy your new toy when it arrives.

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #40 31-10-2010, 12:57 AM

Just had a quick read through this thread and someone may have answered this but have you checked the retaining clips on the primary. If even a little bit too tight will generate a lot of astigmatism and make images very poor (I know!!). They should just be tight enough to hold the primary in place. Sorry if this doesn't help.