New member - is anyone near me?

Twokids · #1 03-11-2005, 10:57 PM

Hi guys,
I have only recently joined the forums after a few weeks lurking, reading the discussions.
I wanted to ask if anyone here was a member of the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical society (Victoria).
Tomorrow I will be going to the public viewing night they hold once a month and was wondering if there was any chance of anyone there having a 10 or 12 inch Guen Sheng dob for me to look at as I am considering buying one but would like to have a look first.
Does anyone in Victoria sell them so I can have a look? Is there anyone in my area that would be willing to let me have a look at theirs?

Thankyou,
Jodie

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #2 03-11-2005, 11:06 PM

Hi Jodie.

As far as I know there are 2 members of the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical society in here.

Dave 47Tuc is one of them I think. Dave? And he has a GS dob. There, I dobbed you in Dave.

No-one sells them in Victoria yet. There are 2 places to get them at a good price. Andrews and Bintel and both are in Sydney.

Oh, By the way, Welcome.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #3 03-11-2005, 11:21 PM

Welcome Jodie. Whereabouts in Victoria are you?

asimov (John) · #4 03-11-2005, 11:31 PM

Welcome Jodie.

Twokids · #5 03-11-2005, 11:35 PM

Thankyou for your welcome

I am in Tyabb, which is at the start of the Mornington peninsula.

How common are the GS dobs? Am I likely to find someone at the viewing night who has one? I am quite new to the bigger telescopes and admit I had only heard of the bigger companies before finding this forum.

Nobody I know is into astromomy so I am pretty much learning it all by searching the web.

Thanks again, Jodie

Psst.... Do any other females post in this forum?

Wombat_In_Space (Darren) · #6 03-11-2005, 11:42 PM

Welcome Jodie nice to see more peple from this neck of the woods joining the forum, I am not far from you and a 12" GSO dod that you are welcome to have a look at anytime.

Twokids · #7 03-11-2005, 11:50 PM

Thankyou so much Wombat_in_space,

Could you give me some idea of how much it cost to have the dob sent to you? I'm not sure how much the postage would add to the total.
Thanyou, Jodie

Wombat_In_Space (Darren) · #8 04-11-2005, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twokids

Thankyou so much Wombat_in_space,

Could you give me some idea of how much it cost to have the dob sent to you? I'm not sure how much the postage would add to the total.
Thanyou, Jodie

Jodie delivery to my door from Andrews was $70

Twokids · #9 04-11-2005, 12:13 AM

Thankyou, I had no idea how much it would cost to send something of that weight down from Sydney

Jodie

toetoe (Peter) · #10 04-11-2005, 12:37 AM

Looks like theres going to be another dobbie in the ranks..

Welcome to the forums Jodie, enjoy your stay and ask away.

Starkler (Geoff) · #11 04-11-2005, 12:46 AM

Theres a few of us in the general area. Im in Hampton Park myself and have the 10 inch model.

[1ponders] (Paul) · #12 04-11-2005, 01:16 AM

Jodie Yes there are some ladies that post here,

jjjnettie, rowena (regular posters), silvinator and anna spring to mind

RAJAH235 · #13 04-11-2005, 06:04 AM

Hi

Jodie. Welcome.

Best to 'try before you buy'. Get yourself along to the viewing night. Lots of advice etc & friendly people.

L.

iceman (Mike) · #14 04-11-2005, 06:12 AM

If you get a chance to check out Dave47Tuc's scope, it's a very good example of how a low-cost GSO dob can be turned into a well oiled machine.

The best zero cost mod you can do (collimation), followed by a few low cost mods including flocking and fixing the alt/az motion, followed by the best DSC computer (argo navis) and it's such a joy to use.

Well done on making the first step (and the first post!) and getting to an observnig night before making the first purchase.

Hitchhiker · #15 04-11-2005, 07:37 AM

Welcome Jodie!

Twokids · #16 04-11-2005, 07:45 AM

Thankyou all so much for your kind welcomes. I'll let you know how I go at the viewing night tonight. I'm really looking forward to it.

Bye for now, Jodie

Twokids · #17 06-11-2005, 01:20 AM

Well, I went to the veiwing night and had a wonderful time

. They had a bit of a talk first about different planets and space missions (I think this was mostly to keep the kids happy). Then they took us out to have a look at the telescopes. Luckily it cleared up just in time (I had been cursing at the clouds all day). I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't have any 10 or 12 inch dobs there, but they did have some smaller dobs,a couple of 8 inch go-to's, and a 20 inch? truss. I got to see some amazing things and they were happy to answer all of my questions and show me how things worked. The tarantula nebula through the 20 inch was probably my favourite. The more I looked, the more I could see.
Anybody who is looking at getting a larger telescope, but doesn't have access to one should get themselves to a viewing night. There is such a difference in what I could see compared to my smaller scope. The only problem is I want one NOW!!!
Oh well, I'm off outside now as it's a really clear night here. See what I can find

Bye, Jodie

RAJAH235 · #18 06-11-2005, 02:35 AM

Hi Jodie, just wish you'd stop bragging about your clear skies. Nothing but cloud & rain here again & again.
Glad you were able to get to the open night. As you found, "Aperture wins". The Tarantula in the 20" would have been abfab. Best I've seen it thru is a 17.5" & it knocked my socks off. Didn't want to give the t'scope back. Just wait till you see Orion neb thru a big t'scope. Make you want to sell the hubby/kids/car etc just to get one. Good stuff, eh?

L.