Calling for reviews!

[iceman (Mike)]

Hey guys.

I'm looking for more content for the reviews section of the website.

With a mortgage and 3 young kids, I don't buy a lot of astro gear myself, so I can't do a lot of reviews myself. I'm hopeful that some of the IceInSpace Forum members will help me to do this by doing reviews of some equipment/gear they have purchased recently.

Mark Hodson, Stuart (Beren) and Paul H (rumples riot) have done some great reviews so far of a couple of scopes, eyepieces and a de-rotator, but i'm after more.

The reviews can be about any piece of astro-gear or related-to-astro gear, including:

• Telescopes
• Mounts
• Accessories (filters, other add-ons, anything, batteries, whatever)
• Eyepieces
• Books or software

A review doesn't need to be a scary thing to do, just be pragmatic and follow a structure. David Knisely has written a nice How to Write a Review article for CN. It has some good ideas and I suggest you at least give it a read if you're contemplating writing a review.

Most importantly, be objective and unbiased.

Make sure you include pictures too. You can write it up as a word document or whatever it most convenient.

Just email me your review and i'll get it up on the site as soon as I get a chance (ie: it'll go on the to-do list )

Thanks!

[ving (David)]

how about this for a great idea....

there are people who like writing reports and people that arent that great at writing reports and of course people who dont like writing reports, right?

what if we were to come up with a report type form that gets filled out? some wouldnt know what to even put in a report and it would make it easier if they could just do some sort of indepth questionaire... It would ensure that reports are to a certain standard too.

just an idea.

[silvinator]

Not a bad idea Ving...let me guess, you're one of those who don't like the writing part ain't ya you lazy sod

Mike, what kind of info would you want in a book review? I'm interested in doing a book review or two but I'm unsure what to talk about.

[iceman (Mike)]

That's not a bad idea Ving.. I think you'd need a specialised "review form" for each "type" of equipment, but it could work. I'll give some thought to creating one.

Silvie, there's no hard and fast rules.. i'm just thinking about some book reviews I've read There's a couple of book reviews in the latest S&S, and maybe the AS&T as well.. see how they write their reviews.

I guess you'd want to outline the facts first, like the title of book, the author, the publisher, # of pages, ISBN etc, and then a bit of your subjective/objective thoughts about the book..
the aim of the book, the chapters, how it was written, how easy it was to follow, factual or narrative, what you got out of it, whether you'd recommend it, who you'd recommend it for, etc.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head.

Appreciate it if you do end up taking the time Silvie! Thanks.

[jackenau]

That was a pretty "moo Ving" idea Ving and you are so correct. Some "udder" people are very good at writing reports, whilsts some of us lack the experience, format, just not sure what to write. Putting it in an agreed format with subjective headings would work well.

NO BULL Ving, a good idea!

Ken M

[rumples riot]

Will get my A into gear soon and do some reviews of the Super Wedge and the ED 80mm Orion that I have bought, just need to finish the Observatory first.

[ving (David)]

sooo... for example, what sort of info would you like to see in a review for an EP?

to star the ball rolling...

general physical description (size, weight, finish quality)
Eye relief
clarity
contrast (guess we need some sort of measure)

er... what else peeps?

[iceman (Mike)]

Just bumping this to remind people again.. still no extra reviews! I'm currently writing a review for the Andrews ED 14mm and the GSO SV 30mm, but i'm holding off until after this weekend so I can give them a good test under dark skies and with different (slower) scopes. I'm sure they'll perform differently in Rod's F/10 compared to my F/5.

With all the new members lately, they may not have seen this call for reviews.. So if you just got a new scope, or a new piece of equipment, or anything, please take the time to write a review so the experience can be shared with the rest of us, and with those who may be in the market for the same thing.

Thanks!

[Striker (Tony)]

Striker's review on the 17mm Nagler Type 4......

Absolutely Brilliant.....Buy It...best ever 17mm I have ever used.....

Their done...how was that.

When and If I get the 31mm Nagler I will also do a full review like I have done on the 17mm Nagler......hehehe