Hello from a new observer

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SkyChaser
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Hello from a new observer

#1

Post by SkyChaser »


Yes I am new but feel old. Finally at 70 years of age three weeks ago I purchased my first refractor with a beautiful tripod and mount and had one night to enjoy it due to clouds, clouds, and more clouds!

Three years ago custom built a beautiful 10" with Moonlite focuser, Aurora Precision AZ-10 mirror mount, three quality eyepieces, all on a rockerbox made of baltic birch. I say this not to brag of the money I put into it but I was not going to short change myself on my first and last dob. I wanted a quality scope.

How many times have I observed in those three years with my dob? ONCE. It sits in my garage covered with a Tele-Gizmo 365. It's just too heavy and big to move it to my observing deck. BUT things have changed a week ago. My wife is certainly not a happy camper but I will use that dob weekly from here on out. Both telescopes now sit proudly in our living room, Yes that is what I said, our living room waiting for the clear skies to arrive though my wife frowns.

Fifty years ago seeing Saturn for the first and only time, with a friend's 6" reflector with the mount made of plumbing pipe , I have arrived and become a full time observer thanks to my lovely wife.

Happy to be here.
Scopes AstroTech AT102ED, Berlebach Uni 28 Tripod, Stellarvue M0002C Mount
Custom built 10" dob, Baltic birch rockerbox
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Welcome on board SkyChaser! You have a perfect combo: small refractor for quick sessions and larger DOB to go deeper when occasion calls for it.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2437, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 257
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smp United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#3

Post by smp »


Hi SkyChaser, and welcome here to the Forum!

smp
Stephen
- - - - -
Telescopes: Questar 3.5 Standard SN 18-11421; Stellina (EAA); Vespera II (EAA)
Solar: Thousand Oaks white light filter; Daystar Quark (chromosphere) Hα filter
Mounts: Explore Scientific Twilight I; Majestic heavy duty tripod
Local Club: New Hampshire Astronomical Society
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The Wave Catcher United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#4

Post by The Wave Catcher »


Welcome SkyChaser!
Steve Yates

Astro-Tech AT102ED, 102 mm, F/7, ED Achromatic Refractor
Astro-Tech AT80ED, 80 mm, F/7, ED Achromatic Refractor
Bresser AR102s, 102 mm, f/4.5, Achromatic Refractor

Explore Scientific Twilight I Alt/Az Mount
Bresser Nano Alt/Az Mount
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Ylem United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#5

Post by Ylem »


Welcome to TSS SkyChaser! Thanks for joining us 🙂
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
Celestron C5, 6SE, Celestar 8
Vixen Porta Mount ll
Coronado PST
A big box of Plossls
Little box of filters
:D



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avid.astronomer United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#6

Post by avid.astronomer »


Welcome to the forums, @SkyChaser and welcome back to the hobby! I'm afraid you'll have to get used to the cloud curse. It affects all of us. Every time I pull my telescope out into the yard, the clouds all come running to see what I'm up to.
Tom Campbell (astro.tomandjul.com)

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SCOPES: Sky-Watcher 300p f/4.9, Discovery DHQ-8 f/6, Meade DS-2080AT 80 f/10, Meade AS80 f/5
BINOS: 10x50, 16x50, 10x70
1,124 Observations, 603 Objects (97 Glxy, 185 OC, 58 GC, 17 Neb, 39 PN, 171 Dbl)
AL Awards: Messier, Double Star, Bino Messier, Planetary Transit
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messier 111 Canada
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#7

Post by messier 111 »


:text-welcomeconfetti: to tss .
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#8

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Hello and welcome to the forums :)
Gabrielle
See Far Sticks: Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser 127/1200 BV, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS 100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, SXP2, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II, Stellarvue M2C, Argo Navis encoders on both
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Tak prism, TAL, Vixen
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss (1011110)
The only culture I have is from yogurt
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Butterfly Maiden Great Britain
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#9

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Hello SkyChaser and welcome to the Forum.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Unitron48 United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#10

Post by Unitron48 »


Hello and welcome aboard! Never too late to enjoy the night skies!!

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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pakarinen United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#11

Post by pakarinen »


SkyChaser wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 11:03 pm Both telescopes now sit proudly in our living room, Yes that is what I said, our living room waiting for the clear skies to arrive though my wife frowns.
Brave man! :lol:
=============================================================================
I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
=============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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KingNothing13 United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#12

Post by KingNothing13 »


Welcome to TSS, SkyChaser, I hope you enjoy your time with is - this is a good place to be! :)
-- Brett

Scope: Apertura AD10 with Nexus II with 8192/716000 Step Encoders
EPs: ES 82* 18mm, 11mm, 6.7mm; GSO 30mm
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars
List Counts: Messier: 75; Herschel 400: 30; Caldwell: 12; AL Carbon Star List: 16
Brett's Carbon Star Hunt

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Makuser United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#13

Post by Makuser »


Hello SkyChaser. It's great to have you on board with us here at TSS and that was a very nice introduction from you. And I agree with Bigzmey (Andrey) in that you have a great combination of telescopes to enjoy the skies. Welcome to the forum SkyChaser and the best of wishes on your astronomy hobby endeavors.
:text-welcomeconfetti:
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
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helicon United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#14

Post by helicon »


Hello and Welcome to the forums..
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#15

Post by jrkirkham »


:text-welcomeconfetti:
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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JayTee United States of America
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#16

Post by JayTee »


Hello and welcome to TSS. Glad you joined us.

Cheers
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6R, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100 ∞ AP Gear: ZWO EAF and mini EFW and the Optolong L-eXteme filter
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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Richard South Africa
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Re: Hello from a new observer

#17

Post by Richard »


Welcome to TSS
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
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