Why are you a member of this forum?

[OzStarGazer]

Originally Posted by Neutronstar

I joined here for the camaraderie within the astro community, but I find unless you are in the "in crowd" your posts will be ignored like this one.

I am not coming here so often any more and am relatively new to the hobby myself (I haven't done much in the last 12 months or so). I would never exclude newbies as they are the future of astronomy. And every question is important. We have all been there. One must start somewhere.
Personally I have always avoided in-crowds (for example in school or at the Uni).
PS: When I first joined I did find a lot of help (in particular from a couple of people) with a lot of questions I am now almost ashamed of. For some reason now that I am a bit more advanced I am more afraid of asking questions.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by OzStarGazer

PS: When I first joined I did find a lot of help (in particular from a couple of people) with a lot of questions I am now almost ashamed of. For some reason now that I am a bit more advanced I am more afraid of asking questions.

Same here, when i look back at some of the questions i asked i cringe a little, which makes me think that the questions i ask now have a really simple and obvious answer that i am not aware of. but, if you never ask you never progress. so bring on all the newbie questions. it is for this reason that i try to respond to as many newbie questions as i can, because i remember asking the same thing, and understanding the difficulty in parsing all the information that is available.

[OzStarGazer]

You are right. I have also noticed that many newbies quickly lose interest, that's why it is important to answer as many questions as possible so that they don't give up. It is easy to give up after some initial enthusiasm, particularly of you compare yourself to people who have been into astronomy for 50+ years...

[raymo]

I have been in this hobby for over 60 yrs, and rarely have to ask any
general astro or equipment questions, but with the advent of the computerised and digital age I am asking questions quite frequently;
don't ever be afraid to ask.
raymo

[skysurfer]

Originally Posted by raymo

I have been in this hobby for over 60 yrs,

Even more than me, I have been for 50 years now. I live almost on the other side of the world, in the EU, but visits to the southern hemisphere in recent years (South Africa) was a reason for me to join a 'southern' astronomy forum.